{"id":3768,"date":"2013-09-11T09:21:11","date_gmt":"2013-09-11T15:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/digitalservices\/?p=2305"},"modified":"2013-09-11T09:21:11","modified_gmt":"2013-09-11T15:21:11","slug":"helen-cline-papers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/coolathoole\/2013\/09\/11\/helen-cline-papers\/","title":{"rendered":"A Slice of Life: The Helen Cline Papers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who is Helen Cline? In the grand scheme of things, she’s not an important person from our nation’s past, but in a way she is: she is an example of the millions of “ordinary” people who make the world go ’round.<\/p>\n

The\u00a069 letters<\/a> sent to Cline from her mother detail the kinds of concerns women had in the late 1940s. Mrs. Lewis’s handwriting can be a bit challenging, but the benefit of reading through a cohesive collection like this is you begin to learn the writers’ individual styles.<\/p>\n

A sample letter is transcribed below, from Mrs. Lewis, living in the big city of Los Angeles, to her daughter Helen in Evanston, a moderate-sized town north of Chicago on Lake Michigan:<\/p>\n

\"letter<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday Afternoon
\nJune 9 1948<\/p>\n

My dear Helen<\/p>\n

The clouds have been
\nheavy all day — but its
\ngood for us and all
\nthe growing things<\/p>\n

I baked cookies
\nthis morning — just the
\nOld Fashioned cookies
\nI always make — I have
\nnot tried your recipe yet
\nwill next time thank
\nyou for sending it<\/p>\n

I have been and am
\nfeeling miserable — Tis said
\nthat people who are always<\/p>\n

\"letter<\/p>\n

well hollow<\/a> the loudest
\nwhen they get something
\nthe matter with them but
\nI feel like going up stairs
\nlocking the door, getting
\ninto bed & staying<\/span> there<\/p>\n

When I have finished
\nthis I am getting dressed
\n& taking Miss West a box
\nof cookies — thats not a
\nbait — I really like her
\nand find her quite
\ninteresting — and she
\nis good for what ails
\nme — lonesomeness —
\nshe calls for me in her
\nCadalac limozine<\/a> with<\/p>\n

\"letter<\/p>\n

a very<\/span> dignified negro
\nman at the wheel —
\nshe tucks the robe
\naround me as if I were
\nher mother — and God knows
\nI need a little such
\nattention — & get very little
\nof it these days —<\/p>\n

Every one<\/span> says she
\ndeserves a great deal
\nof credit — as does
\nJoan Crawford<\/a> — both
\ncame from nowhere<\/span>
\nboth have succeeded
\nbeyond their own expectations<\/p>\n

I read not so long
\nago — that when Joan went
\nto a party — when she entered<\/p>\n

\"letter<\/p>\n

it was likened to
\nturning on a great
\nchandileir — she has
\nstudied & studied — always
\ntrying to make herself
\nmore better<\/span><\/p>\n

Right here [near?] should
\nto find out just what they
\nwould take for the house
\nwe looked at day before
\nyesterday — How well I
\nknow that question does
\nnot make a sale — But this
\nis the nearest<\/span> I have ever
\nto a deal with her<\/p>\n

Well I suppose I had better
\nnot say more — I suppose it
\nhas already put me on
\nthe black list — but if
\nStalin or Al Capone or Joe Louis<\/a><\/p>\n

\"letter<\/p>\n

would call on him Ask
\nhim if he could do
\n[?] with them or
\ngather his raiment tight
\naround him for fear he
\nwould be contaminated
\nI would even close
\na deal with Henry Wallace<\/a><\/p>\n

I have not yet heard
\nfrom your friend Margot.
\nI will try and call her
\nsome day soon —<\/p>\n

I hope you are well
\nand that the [?] did
\nnot (get you down \/ do you in)<\/p>\n

Write whenever you can<\/p>\n

From your Mother<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who is Helen Cline? In the grand scheme of things, she’s not an important person from our nation’s past, but in a way she is: she is an example of the millions of “ordinary” people who make the world go … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":426,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5884,6463,4932],"tags":[5111,4933,3711],"class_list":["post-3768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everyday-life","category-letters","category-small-collections","tag-1940s","tag-family","tag-dating"],"yoast_head":"\nA Slice of Life: The Helen Cline Papers - What's Cool at Hoole<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/coolathoole\/2013\/09\/11\/helen-cline-papers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Slice of Life: The Helen Cline Papers - What's Cool at Hoole\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Who is Helen Cline? 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