Mislabeled Date Section

Thanks for sharing, Margaret! I found the section in question here: https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/anna-e-dickinson-papers/dickinson-family-correspondence/mss184240028/?

I'm calling on our Dickinson experts in LOC Manuscript Division to weigh in on whether these pages might be mislabeled/misordered and if so why that might be the case.

Thank you for your message, Margaret!

After some digging into the original documents and checking into other letters from both 1882 and 1883, I believe it is correctly identified as 1882 and is in the correct order.

Looking at the locations from where she was writing, it lines up pretty well with Ohio in 1882. Anna Dickinson was traveling Ohio at the time, in September 1882, which is recorded in newspapers as well, for example, in this newspaper article from Jackson, Ohio. Jackson is not too far from Columbus, where she wrote this letter on September 22, 1882 only a day after the Jackson lecture event.

If we also take a look at her letter from the same October 2, 1882 and October 2, 1883, she marks two different locations. So it appears that while she may have been traveling around Ohio a year apart, the years are correctly labeled. This comparison also lets us see the way she is writing her “2” and “3” in her dates.

If you still have questions about the dating, I will be glad to forward your comments to one of my Manuscript Division colleagues who has expertise in American literary history.

I hope this helps!

Lara
Reference Librarian
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress

Thank you for your message, Margaret!

After some digging into the original documents and checking into other letters from both 1882 and 1883, I believe it is correctly identified as 1882 and is in the correct order.

Looking at the locations from where she was writing, it lines up pretty well with Ohio in 1882. Anna Dickinson was traveling Ohio at the time, in September 1882, which is recorded in newspapers as well, for example, in this newspaper article from Jackson, Ohio. Jackson is not too far from Columbus, where she wrote this letter on September 22, 1882 only a day after the Jackson lecture event.

If we also take a look at her letter from the same October 2, 1882 and October 2, 1883, she marks two different locations. So it appears that while she may have been traveling around Ohio a year apart, the years are correctly labeled. This comparison also lets us see the way she is writing her “2” and “3” in her dates.

If you still have questions about the dating, I will be glad to forward your comments to one of my Manuscript Division colleagues who has expertise in American literary history.

I hope this helps!

Lara
Reference Librarian
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress

Lara, thanks so much for looking into this!  I would be grateful if you would forward my comments to the Manuscript Division just to double-check. This is especially confusing since she did two similar tours. 

The main reason I believe these letters are from 1883 is because she talks many times about the managers on her tour (Wentworth and Hunting).  As far as I can tell, they were not her managers until 1883.  Here is the signed contract between Anna Dickinson, Jason Wentworth and Percy Hunting dated 1883:

https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss18424.mss18424-023_0116_0158/?sp=6&r=0.568,0.261,0.394,0.196,0

The other reason is that when you see her "2s" side by side with the other "mystery" number (that I think is a "3") they look very different.  Here is an example:

Once again, thanks so much for your time and work on this.

Margaret

Great detective work Margaret!

Hi Victoria,

I found a page that is misplaced in the section 1937 Mar-May for Mary Church Terrell. The first page is dated 1938. The second page is in the correct place.

https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/mary-church-terrell-advocate-for-african-americans-and-women/letters-between-friends-allies-and-others/mss425490116/mss425490116-9/

Thanks,

Henry

Hi Margaret,

We will reach out to you via your Ask A Librarian query with additional contact information.

Best,
Lara

Hi Henry,

Thanks so much for pointing this out! We have brought it to the attention of Manuscript Division specialists.

Best wishes,
Lara
Reference Librarian
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress

Hi. I have a page in Mary Church Terrell where the left page is in the wrong place. I am in Letters to friends,allies and others Jan-Mar 1938. The left page is dated March 2, 1937. The right page is correct.

Henry

Hello Henry,

Thank you for alerting us to this. The image of the two letters is taken from a frame of the microfilm edition of the Terrell papers, which was produced by the Library of Congress in 1977 shortly after the collection was processed. The 1937 letter also remains in the same location within the original manuscripts, Correspondence series, Box 11. It may be that the document has been misfiled since the Terrell papers were processed, or it may be that the author simply misdated the letter and that it was actually written in 1938. However, the issue has been reported to our technical and curatorial staff to consider. Best wishes,

Lewis

I found another misplaced page in Mary Church Terrell. I am working in Jan-Mar 1940. The right page is dated February 2, 1951. It is sitting "in progress". Let me know when I can submit it.

https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/mary-church-terrell-advocate-for-african-americans-and-women/letters-between-friends-allies-and-others/mss425490127/mss425490127-16/

Thanks,

Henry

Also, these are misplaced. I am working in MCT Jan-Mar 1940. These are Thompson Restaurant documents. They are not dated. I don't know if these are drafts but the only date is 1950 and the actual date is not filled in.

https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/mary-church-terrell-advocate-for-african-americans-and-women/letters-between-friends-allies-and-others/mss425490127/mss425490127-17/

https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/mary-church-terrell-advocate-for-african-americans-and-women/letters-between-friends-allies-and-others/mss425490127/mss425490127-18/

https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/mary-church-terrell-advocate-for-african-americans-and-women/letters-between-friends-allies-and-others/mss425490127/mss425490127-19/

Another possibly misplaced letter. I am in Apr-June 1940. This has a questioned date of 9-19-45.

https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/mary-church-terrell-advocate-for-african-americans-and-women/letters-between-friends-allies-and-others/mss425490128/mss425490128-46/