Ella Sheldon Rogers Collection
Scope and Contents
Ella Sheldon Rogers received this five-year diary on July 13, 1935 from Alice Sheldon Curtis and Anne M. Sheldon. She began to write faithfully every day after that and kept it going through the first quarter of 1936. After that up until January of 1942 there are periodic entries. At this time, Ella is living with her daughter Eloyse and her husband Leon Leonard and their children in Delton, Michigan so she refers to activities surrounding them. She talks about buying a refrigerator for their 12th anniversary (a Frigidaire). In the back of the diary is an account of the purchase ($251.84) and a record of her installment payments which amounted to $7.58 a month. Ella also covers daily activities and visits with her son Sheldon and his family and other relatives including Margaret, her sister-in-law and her other son, Donald and his family. She taught at Kingley School and in August of 1935 received $79.00 a month which was a $29.00 raise. She had been teaching for four years and in 1935 had 25 students in the early grades. It appears that Eloyse also taught and helped her husband at the store in Delton. Ella also discusses traveling to Northwestern University in the summer to attend classes in the School of Speech. She also notes birthdays (one year receiving a mattress from Eloyse and Leon) and her wedding anniversary (October 11, 1935-would have been 42 years). She also talks about taking the train to Kalamazoo to shop, visit the dentist or go to the theatre. She once attended the M.E.A. conference and notes that she saw Dr. Brown, Mr. Sprau, Mr. Foley and Mr. Slusser from Western State Teachers College. Her only mention about World War II is buying a $50.00 defense bond in 1942.
Dates
- Creation: 1919-1949
Creator
- From the Collection: Rogers, Ella Sheldon (Creator, Person)
- From the Collection: Leonard, Eloyse, 1898-1997 (Creator, Person)
- From the Collection: Leonard, Leon (Correspondent, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions
Extent
From the Collection: 0.10 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Repository Details
Part of the Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections Repository
Charles C. and Lynn L. Zhang Legacy Collections Center
1650 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5307 US
(269) 387-8490
arch-collect@wmich.edu