vihart00337A Guide to the Bettie Hiter Willis Papers, 1864-1942 SC 0224Chelsea TholenJames Madison University Libraries Special Collections

April 2013

820 Madison DriveMSC 1706Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807Telephone: (540) 568-3612library-special@jmu.eduURL:

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-10-10 07:02:47 -0400.Description is written in: English, Latin script.Describing Archives: A Content StandardApril 2019Digital files were arranged and described by Sarah Roth-Mullet James Madison University Libraries Special Collections Bettie Hiter Willis Papers Willis, Bettie Hiter, 1850-1923 Angelil, MaryMay SC 0224 /repositories/4/resources/225 0.48 Gigabytes 41 digital files 1864-1942 The Bettie Hiter Willis Papers, 1864-1942, is comprised of digitized diary entries and letters from Willis, including documents created during the Civil War. English Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk. (library-special@jmu.edu).

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], Bettie Hiter Willis Papers, 1864-1942, SC 0224, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The items loaned to Special Collections by MaryMay Angelil in September 2012 for scanning, after which, the originals were returned to the donor.

Provenance

MaryMay Angelil is the great-granddaughter of Bettie Hiter Willis. The letters have been in the family's possession since the Civil War.

Processing Information

The pages were flattened and then scanned on an Epson 10000 XL scanner at 600 dpi. The scans have been separated into the original journal segments and letters. The collection was kept in the original order for scanning. The scans were created as TIF files and assigned sequential unique identifiers. These files were subsequently converted to pdfs for access, and the files were renamed by form of content and the date of creation. The collection was formerly assigned collection number SC 5053.

Biographical / Historical

This collection contains digital images of the correspondence and diaries of Bettie Hiter Willis, including journals from 1864-1865 and 1878-1879. She writes about her experiences with the Civil War as well as personal relations. She lived in the Culpepper, VA, and for a short period in the Shenandoah Valley, and wrote about local deaths in the War as well as her own personal take on Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The collection begins at age 13, in 1864, and continues with her children's correspondence until 1942.

Scope and Contents

The Bettie Hiter Willis Papers, 1864-1942 consist of 41 digital files that were created by Special Collections from thirty-eight letters, three journal segments, and one poem. The bulk of the letters were written to family members in Virginia. Several letters and diary entries written by Bettie Hiter Willis as a young girl describe local events from the Civil War.

Arrangement

The material is arranged into two series:

Journals, 1864-1874, undated, is comprised of scanned excerpts of journals written by Bettie Hiter Willis, and further arranged by date. The scanned documents are accessible as 3 pdfs. Correspondence, 1867-1942, undated, is comprised of scanned letters, a postcard and a poem, and further arranged by date. The scanned documents are accessible as 39 pdfs. Letters (correspondence) North American women's letters and diaries Diaries Postcards Postcards -- United States -- 20th century Poetry Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives Virginia -- History, Local Angelil, MaryMay Hiter family Willis family Journals1/repositories/4/archival_objects/186441864-1874, undatedJournal/repositories/4/archival_objects/186451864 May 15-1865 October 2SC0224-SET-001Journal/repositories/4/archival_objects/186461873 December 28-1874 August 30SC0224-SET-001Journal/repositories/4/archival_objects/18647undatedSC0224-SET-001Correspondence2/repositories/4/archival_objects/186481867-1942, undatedLetter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186491867 February 19SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186501869 September 22SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186511869 November 27SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186521876 September 24SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186531880 February 27SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186541899 March 26SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186551917 March 1SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186561917 October 28SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186571920 August 18SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186581921 December 15SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186591921 January 9SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186601921 January 11SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186611922 January 1SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186621923 March 8-14SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186631923 June 29SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186641923 December 18SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186651923 March 1SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186661923 Feburary 24SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186671924 January 3SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186681934 December 9SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186691939 January 9SC0224-SET-002Letters/repositories/4/archival_objects/186701942 September 11SC0224-SET-002Letters/repositories/4/archival_objects/186711942 September 16SC0224-SET-002Letter/repositories/4/archival_objects/186721942 September 17SC0224-SET-002Envelope, R.A. Freeman/repositories/4/archival_objects/18673undatedSC0224-SET-002Letter (partial)/repositories/4/archival_objects/18674undatedSC0224-SET-002Letter from Sallie (partial)/repositories/4/archival_objects/18675undatedSC0224-SET-002Letter from Sue (partial)/repositories/4/archival_objects/18676undatedSC0224-SET-002Letter to Bess/repositories/4/archival_objects/18677December 8SC0224-SET-002Letter to Bess/repositories/4/archival_objects/18678June 28SC0224-SET-002Letter to Bess, Sunday night/repositories/4/archival_objects/18679undatedSC0224-SET-002Letter to Bess, Wednesday morning/repositories/4/archival_objects/18680undatedSC0224-SET-002Letter to Bob, Saturday night/repositories/4/archival_objects/18681undatedSC0224-SET-002Letter to Bob, Saturday night/repositories/4/archival_objects/18682undatedSC0224-SET-002Letter to Daughter/repositories/4/archival_objects/18683May 30SC0224-SET-002Letter to Mick, Sunday night/repositories/4/archival_objects/18684undatedSC0224-SET-002Letter to Mick, Thursday afternoon/repositories/4/archival_objects/18685undatedSC0224-SET-002Postcard/repositories/4/archival_objects/186861911SC0224-SET-002Poem, A. O. Body/repositories/4/archival_objects/18687undatedSC0224-SET-002