Background & Reference Works

Bartis, Peter, and Paddy Bowman. A Teacher's Guide to Folklife Resources for K-12 Classrooms. Online. Washington, D.C.: American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, 1994. Available from http://lcweb.loc.gov/folklife/teachers.html. Internet.

Wilson, Charles R., and William Ferris, eds. Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989.
Online description from the publisher: http://sunsite.unc.edu/uncpress/quiz/esc.html

Books, Articles, & Theses

Brookover, Mary Ruth. "The John Carter House: A Reminiscence." Franklin County Historical Review 12 (1981): 91-97. The author relates memories of her childhood visits to her grandparents' home in Winchester.

Bush, Florence Cope. Dorie: Woman of the Mountains. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1992.

Gilbert, Gerry Beth. "An Examination of the Influence of Social and Economic Development of East Tennessee Dress From 1790-1850." Master's thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1971.

Jensen, Joan M. and Mary Johnson. "What's in a Butter Churn: Objects and Women's Oral History." Frontiers 7 (1983): 103-108. In an oral history interview, East Tennessean Mary Morrell discusses her butter churn.

Lane, Patricia G. "Birth, Marriage, and Death: Past and Present Customs in East Tennessee." Tennesssee Folklore Society Bulletin 48, no. 2 (1982): 53-60.

McMillen, Sally G. Motherhood in the Old South: Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Infant Rearing. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990. The author relates the varied experiences of many Southern women, including Tennessean Virginia Campbell Shelton (1812-1867).

Murray, Eleanor Barnes. "Minerva Ball and Her Belvidere Farm." Franklin County Historical Review 12 (1981): 15-22.

Present, Thelma. Dear Margaret: Letters from Oak Ridge to Margaret Mead. Knoxville: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1985.
Richard and Thelma Present moved from New York City to Oak Ridge, Tennessee so that he could continue his work on the Manhattan Project. Thelma Present's letters provide a unique source for information about the social networks and living conditions present during the formative years of this scientific community.

Ramsey, Bets. The Quilts of Tennessee: Images of Domestic Life Prior to 1930. Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1986.

Richards, Mary Stovall. "All Our Connections: Kinship, Family Structure, and Dynamics Among White Families in the Mid-Nineteenth Century Central South." Tennessee Historical Quarterly 50 (Fall 1991): 142-151.

Riedl, Norbert F., and Carol K. Buckles. "House Customs and Beliefs in East Tennessee." Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin 41, no. 2 (1975): 47-56.

Rothrock, Mary U., ed. "Family Letters: Home Life in Carroll and Gibson Counties, Tennessee, 1868." West Tennessee Historical Society Papers 25 (1971): 107-34.

------. "Family Letters: Home Life in Gibson County, Tennessee, January-June, 1869." West Tennessee Historical Society Papers 26 (1972): 94-130.

------. "Family Letters: Home Life in Madison and Carroll Counties, Tennessee, 1864-1867." West Tennessee Historical Society Papers 23 (1969): 110-28; 24 (1970): 106-29.

Tolbert, Lisa C. Constructing Townscapes: Space and Society in Antebellum Tennessee. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999.

Manuscripts & Archives

Campbell Family. Letters. Manuscripts Department, Williams R. Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
This collection includes letters by and about Tennessean Virginia Campbell Shelton. Excerpts from these letters can be found in Sally G. McMillen, Motherhood in the Old South: Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Infant Rearing (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990).

Casey, Josephine (Westmoreland). Memoirs, 1910. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville. Microfilm.
Daily life in early Giles County.

Chester Family. Papers. Special Collections, University of Memphis Library.
These papers include letters about the lives of female family members for the years 1836 to 1870.

Clayton, Rebecca Sharp. Diary, 1878. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.
Includes Clayton's comments about how the outbreak of yellow fever affected her family in West Tennessee.

Collection of Heiskell, McCampbell, Wilkes, and Steel Family Materials. Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Online finding aid: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/h/Heiskell,McCampbell,Steel

Diaries. Collections. Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections, East Lansing.
Although most of these diaries relate to women in Michigan,Sue E. Hoyt's diaries and account books provide information about farm life in McMinnville, TN (and Vassar, MI) for the years 1914 to 1932.

Dillon and Polk Families. Papers, bulk 1866-1912. Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Online finding aid: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/d/Dillon_and_Polk_Family

Folklore Recordings Made in the Great Smoky Mountains, late 1930s-late 1960's. Special Collections, Library of Congress.
Brief online description: http://lcweb.loc.gov/spcoll/105.html

Foster-Woods. Papers, 1809-1908. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.
Online finding aid: http://www.state.tn.us/sos/statelib/techsvs/manud/6.htm.
This collection includes correspondence of several Middle Tennessee women, most of which occurred before the Civil War.

Fox Family. Papers. Special Collections, Hoskins Library, University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Online description: http://www.lib.utk.edu:80/UTK-Online-Catalog/manuscripts/a1714

Gale and Polk Family Papers. Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Online finding aid: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/g/Gale_and_Polk_Family.html

Gardner, Nora. Diary and Papers, 1858-62. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.

Gift, George Washington. Papers. Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Online finding aid: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/g/Gift,George_W.

Gleaves, Betty A. Journal, 1858-59. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.
Gleaves lived near Ashland City.

Henegar Family. Papers, 1845-1924. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.
Online finding aid: http://www.state.tn.us/sos/statelib/techsvs/manud/90-304.htm.

Hill and Grosvenor Family. Papers, 1860-1952. Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Includes four diary volumes by Mary Martin Hill (1835-1922) of Memphis.

Jones, Jane Margaret (Wood). Papers. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville. Microfilm.
Jones (1832-63) kept diaries in 1850, 1857, and 1859.

Judah-Brandon. Papers. Indiana Historical Society Library.
This collection includes correspondence between Mary Judah (1851- 1930), a Memphis resident from 1887 to 1900, and her mother, Marie Butler Jameson of Indianapolis.

Kennedy, Mary Hunter. Papers, 1759-1979. Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Online finding aid: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/k/Kennedy,Mary_Hunter

Lynn Family. Diaries. Special Collections, Hoskins Library, University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Online finding aid: http://www.lib.utk.edu/UTK-Online-Catalog/manuscripts/a1698

Martin Family. Memoirs, 1792-1915. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville. Microfilm. Originals also held at TSLA.
Martha Martin (1796-1886) describes daily life in early Middle Tennessee.

Nicholson, Caroline (O'Reilly). Papers. Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill.

North, John Wesley. Papers. The Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif.
North and his wife Ann Hendrix Loomis North lived in Tennessee from 1865 to 1869.

Parham, Mollie A. Diary and Essays, 1863, 1873. Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Polk, George Washington. Papers. Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Online finding aid: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/p/Polk,George_Washington

Polk, Lucy Williams. Papers, 1730-1897. Ca. 1,300 items. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh.

Robbins, Mrs. Frank. Diary, 1897-1898. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.
Madison County woman records such activities as quilting, picnics, church gatherings, and horseback riding.

Smith, Mary Morriss. Papers. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.
Smith (1802-95) was a teacher, mother, and housewife. Her 1892 manuscript provides information about women's roles in home life and religion.

Strickler, Mary Jane. Diary, 1847. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville. Microfilm.

Westerfield, Peggy. Papers. Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Westerfield describes rural life in Epperson, TN, from 1938 to 1945.

Williams, Nannie (Haskins). Diary, 1869-1890. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville. Microfilm. Originals held in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill.
Williams (b. 1846) was a native of Montgomery County, Tennessee, but moved to Kentucky in 1870.