Aug 28
I recently found Vast Public Indifference via a link from Boston 1775 (it was a bumper day for finding blogs that make me realize how far I have to go), and this post reminded me that I own a copy of Stones by Betty Willsher and Doreen Hunter. Read more
The Hylanders (line 77) on the 1900 US Census. Click to enlarge
December 17, 1963: To continue with the story of my life – After getting my new sewing machine I made many dresses and earned quite a lot of money. Read more
Tonight was the first episode of Series Eight of WDYTYA?, about June Brown. Read more
Here is an opportunity for detective work (and speculation): Augusta refers to Ellis Island several times, but as far as I can gather, her arrival in America predated the 1892 opening of the immigration station there by a year or so. Read more
A shorter extract now, wherein seventeen-year-old Augusta studies dressmaking in Malmö so that she’ll have a marketable skill before embarking on her solo journey to America. Read more
This section is a bit of a digression within Augusta’s story – she turns aside from the account of her imminent emigration in order to describe Sturup village life and Swedish festive traditions. Read more
Just found this piece by academic June Hannam on the Making History website, and thought I’d link it here. Among other things, she clarifies how the feminist approach to history in general is distinct from the subject of women’s history. Read more
September 20, still 1959
This is written in Hamilton, back from Brooksville, Maine. I am sitting in my room here at Ray and Gay’s house [Gay was Augusta's daughter], writing at the big desk that came to us from Sweden after my husband’s sister Maria died. It is a beautiful desk, now considered a valuable antique. My husband’s father built it himself. The slanted front comes down to form a good writing surface, and inside are eight small drawers, four on each side. Read more
Certain aspects of the life Augusta describes here seem rather like some sort of mad endurance challenge: the frequent lengthy walks to and from church (her church, in Börringe, is pictured here); the memorizing of entire testaments for confirmation, as well as two-hour sermons each week for her father’s approval; the responsibility of caring for her much-loved mother after a “bad shock” (what was that, then? Desperate to know, but I probably never will); and, of course, the arduous daily routine of rising at 4:00 AM to see her father off to the brick factory before knuckling down to do all the housework and domestic management. Read more
Just a quick little update here, in case anyone is puzzled about the focus of the blog shifting away from colonial America over the past week or two without explanation. Read more
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