Content Description The collection consists of three diaries that belonged to housewife Laura Sutterfield of Sikeston, Missouri. In the three hardback volumes, Laura described the daily lives of herself and her family: husband Jeff, son Rodney, and daughter Ruth through the years 1938, 1945, and 1946. From the tail end of the Great Depression to the final stages of World War II and the beginning of peacetime, Laura documents the weather, daily plans, weekly church attendance, and personal reflections....

Content Description The diary of a young man from the Midwest who enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1945 documents his enlistment and early days in the U.S. military during the waning days of World War II. The unidentified young man is attending school in Illinois as noted in the early entries when he receives a draft notice. He mentions Shelbyville, Effingham, and Sullivan as well as traveling through Fort Sheridan before arriving at a base in Georgia for his training. He mentions attending a lecture about sex...

Content Description The collection was created by an unidentified young woman and includes her diary with entries from January-July 1942 and six letters from January-February 1944. The diary begins with a brief recap of 1941 and continues to document the author’s interest in securing a civil service position in Washington, D.C. during World War II, working in government positions (including doing indexing) and the Observer newspaper, listening to President Franklin Roosevelt on the radio, and other facets of...