Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Smith, (Emma Lena) Diaries
SPC.2017.005
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
California State University Dominguez Hills Archives and Special Collections
Title: Emma Lena Smith Diaries
creator:
Smith, Emma Lena
Identifier/Call Number: SPC.2017.005
Physical Description:
2 boxes
Physical Description:
.60 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): April 1935-September 1953
Date (inclusive): October 1955-August 1967
Abstract: This collection comprises 23 diaries of Emma Lena Smith. These diaries reflect upon the daily life of a housewife from California's
Central Valley, her small-town husband, other family members and neighbors as they go about their day-to-day life of work,
church and community events. Emma posts daily information about the weather, her role of taking care of the house, which includes
canning fruits and vegetables and Andrew's various jobs, such as farming his own land, working at the city plant and working
odd jobs for pay or in exchange for goods or services.
Emma Lena (nee Quain) Smith was born on September 22, 1870 in Michigan and died on December 31, 1968 in Stanislaus County
in California. She resided in California's Central Valley near Modesto, mainly in the towns of Merced and Ceres, with her
second husband, Andrew (1874-1959). Emma and Andrew were married on August 22, 1917 in San Leandro, California and separated
in 1952 when Emma was 82 years old. She lived the remainder of her life with her daughter, Mildred (nee Macey) Goodwill (1899-?),
son-in-law Mitchell (1895-1961) and grandson, Richard "Dick" Lee Goodwill (1938-2015).
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
[Title of item], Emma Lena Smith Diaries, Courtesy of the Department of Archives and Special Collections. University Library.
California State University, Dominguez Hills.
The Emma Lena Smith Diaries contain 23 composition books and spiral notebooks that cover the years 1936 to 1967. There is
a gap in the diaries from September 1953 to October 1955. Emma Lena Smith was a housewife in the Central Valley of California.
Her diaries cover her day-to-day life including canning fruits and vegetables, her interactions with her husband, family and
neighbors, and attending weekly and annual events, such as church services, the Ladies Aid meetings, the Women's Christian
Temperance Union conventions (WCTU) and school graduations. Many of her entries are written about her second husband Andrew,
her sister Bertha, her daughter Mildred, son-in-law Mitchell, grandson Dickie and a various neighbors. Andrew's daily work
was on the farm, at the local plant, helping neighbors with their farm work and his participation in local associations, including
the Veterans Camp.
There is mention of a local Japanese American family that Andrew, Emma's husband, would occasionally help with their farming
needs and also picking up some of their belongings when they returned from a WWII Incarceration Camp. This would most likely
be in reference to Toraichi Fukui and his wife, Fusayo Fukui.
This collection was processed by Louanne Heintz in 2017.
Arranged in two boxes.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Homemakers
Housewives
Separation (Law)
Farmers
Japanese American Farmers
World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Japanese American
Woman's Christian Temperance Union of California