Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Hack, Elizabeth Jane Miller, 1878-1961
- Abstract:
- The Hastings, L. mss., 1904-1957, consists primarily of letters from author Elizabeth Jane Miller Hack, 1878-1961, to Lyndona Hastings Rutherford, 1891-1989.
- Extent:
- 1 Box (1 standard)
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
[Item], Hastings, L. mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Background
- Biographical / Historical:
Elizabeth Jane Miller Hack, 1878-1961, was born near New Ross, Indiana. She graduated from Manual Training High School, took classes at Butler University, and graduated from Indiana University in 1899. In 1904, under the name Bessie Miller, she published a historical-religious novel, The Yoke, with Bobbs Merrill. In 1907, she read her work alongside Indiana authors James Whitcomb Riley, Meredith Nicholson, George Ade, and Charles Major at Purdue University, and she developed relationships with Indiana literary figures Laura Smith, Anna Nicholas, and Esther Griffin White. She married Oren Stephen Hack, 1876-1942, in 1908. Her novels include The Yoke (1904), Saul of Tarsus (1906), The City of Delight (1908), Daybreak (1915), and The Science of Columbus (1921), all published under her maiden name.
Lyndona Hastings Rutherford, 1891-1989, was born in Denver, Colorado, on 6 December 1891. When she was a child, she met Elizabeth Jane Miller, who started writing her letters. She married bookstore owner Carl Boatman Rutherford, 1890-1978, in Littleton, Colorado, on 3 July 1915. In 1948, the Rutherfords moved to Long Beach, California. Lyndona died in Los Angeles, California, on 24 November 1989.
- Scope and Content:
The Hastings, L. mss., 1904-1957, consists primarily of letters from author Elizabeth Jane Miller Hack, 1878-1961, to Lyndona Hastings Rutherford, 1891-1989. Miller made the acquaintance of the Hastings family while staying in Denver, taking a particular interest in both Lyndona and her sister, Leona Elizabeth. In her first letter to Lyndona, Miller reported having read her "story of the nickel" and was so delighted by it that she had to tell her "so on paper." Thereafter Miller writes about her life and activities in Indiana, her own children and what they are reading and doing as they grow up, and comments on the general state of affairs of the country. In a short note of 9 July 1930, she tells of her brother Percy's death following a knife and gun battle with a hold-up man in Los Angeles, and in her letter of 8 December 1950, she encloses an article published in the Sunday Indianapolis Star Magazine about her. Also present are two letters to Lyndona's mother: one from Mrs. Buchanan, "News" representative, who requests information regarding Miss Miller's visit to the Hastings and about her "opinion of Colorado," and one from Elizabeth Miller in 1920, thanking Mrs. Hastings for the photograph of Lyndona and her young daughter. A photocopy of "Clergymen, College Presidents & Prominent Men of America Praise THE YOKE ... by Elizabeth Miller" (Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1906) completes the collection.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift: 1995
- Arrangement:
This collection is arranged following original order.
- Physical location:
- Lilly - Stacks
Indexed Terms
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
This collection is open for research.
Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
[Item], Hastings, L. mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
1200 East Seventh StreetBloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- CONTACT:
-
(812) 855-2452liblilly@indiana.edu