HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG3085.AM: Sarah Ann (Harvey) Copley, 1892-1969
Diary: 1930-1931, 1933
Red Cloud, Webster County, Neb.: Homemaker
Size: 1 volume on 1 reel of microfilm
BACKGROUND NOTE
Sarah and Benjamin Copley, natives of Inavale, Nebraska, were married in 1915 and lived in Red Cloud, Nebraska. During the Depression, they sold their family estate (July of 1930) and Ben worked as a salesman, selling cars and also Fuller Brush products. In September of 1930, they moved to Mankato, Kansas. They had at least seven children: Robert Edgar, Orta Irene, Benjamin Eugene, Glen Elton, Hugh Fenton, Ila Mryl and Phyllis May.
Sarah Copley died in 1969 and is buried next to her husband in the Red Cloud Cemetery at Red Cloud, Nebraska.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
Sarah (Mrs. Ben) Copley began this diary in 1930. The bulk of the entries are from 1930, starting with April 26 and continuing until the end of the year. The first entries on pages 6-35 of the diary (January 1-March 1) are from 1933. Entries on pages 36-38 (February 28-March 4) are from 1931. The entries deal with the everyday life of a homemaker and her family in the early days of the Depression. The entries have very little commentary, but rather are brief listings of weather and the doings of the Copley family members. Entries heavily concern housework, cooking and baking, but also relate subjects such as small pox vaccinations, the birth (on May 2, 1930) and care of their baby, and social events.
The diary was loaned for microfilming in July of 1988. The NSHS does not hold the original diary.
INVENTORY
Reel 1
Diary, 1930-1931, 1933
Subject headings:
Copley family
Copley, Sarah Ann (Harvey), 1892-1969
Depressions — 1929 — Nebraska
Economic conditions — Nebraska
Red Cloud (Neb.) — History
Social life and customs
AIF 07-1988
Revised KFK 2003
Encoded TMM 03-16-2010