Guide to the Schwerin and Kelly Families Photographs and Writings
1889-1980

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Overview of the Collection

Creator: Schwerin, Etta Studley, 1883-1987Kelly, Elizabeth E. Peiffer, 1887-
Title: Schwerin and Kelly Families Photographs and Writings
Dates: 1889-1980 ( inclusive )
Quantity: 0.4 linear feet (1 box, 1 folder)
Collection Number: USHTM_WCMss15
Summary: Autobiographical writings and photographs of two Walla Walla Valley agricultural families
Repository: Whitman College and Northwest Archives

345 Boyer Ave.
Walla Walla, WA 99362
(509) 527-5922
http://www.whitman.edu/content/penrose/archives
archives@whitman.edu

Languages: Materials are in English 
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical Note

Etta Studley Schwerin was born in 1883 to George E. Studley and Anna Barbara Neuenschwander Studley . One of four children, she spent her childhood in several communities in Washington state, including Olympia, Oaksdale, and Bossburg. After her mother’s death, she and her siblings lived with their grandparents in Olympia. Her father died shortly thereafter, and the children scattered, living with various relatives until they reached adulthood.

Etta Studley Schwerin moved to Nebraska with her Aunt Cora when she was fourteen. She attended normal school in Nebraska and taught two terms there. She then taught three terms in Ritzville, Washington, where she met and married her husband, C. A. (Charlie) Schwerin. Etta Studley Schwerin died in 1987.

Elizabeth E. Peiffer Kelly was born in 1877 in a Kansas dugout. In December 1888, her father decided to move the family to Washington Territory by train. The family settled in Dixie, Washington, where her father worked as an agricultural laborer. She married L. C. Kelly in December 1896 and together they had a son and a daughter. They farmed in Dixie their entire married lives, except for a brief stay in Sunnyside, Washington from 1911-1913. L.C. died in 1942.

Content Description

The collection consists of writings and photographs from two apparently unrelated families. Etta Studley Schwerin’s writings include her childhood memoirs, genealogical information about her siblings, and a Neuenschwander family tree. Elizabeth E. Peiffer Kelly’s writings describe her childhood in Kansas and young adulthood in Washington, her experiences as a farm wife and mother, and a brief history of Dixie, Washington. Researchers should note that the writings are photocopies of original documents. The photographs depict turn of the century homesteads in Western Washington, members of the C.A. and Etta Schwerin family, and agricultural equipment and processes of early twentieth century wheat farming.

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Access :  

Collection is open for research.

Restrictions on Use :  

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. Copyright not transferred to Whitman College.

Preferred Citation :  

Schwerin and Kelly Families Photographs and Writings, Whitman College and Northwest Archives.

Administrative Information

Arrangement :

Flat arrangement; organized alphabetically by file.

Acquisition Information :  

Donated to the Whitman College and Northwest Archives by Bob Schwerin in August 2005.


Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Box/Folder
1/1 Etta Studley Schwerin Writings 1971
1/2 Elizabeth E. Peiffer Kelly Writings 1963-1980
1/3 Photographs: Agriculture 1907-1915
1/4 Photographs: Homesteads 1889-1929
1/5 Photographs: People 1918-1923, undated
MC1.2/Oversize 2 Photographs, Oversize 1909-1919, undated

Subjects

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

  • Personal Names :
  • Kelly, Elizabeth E. Peiffer, 1877---Archives
  • Schwerin, Etta Studley, 1883-1987--Archives
  • Geographical Names :
  • Dixie (Wash.)--History
  • Subject Terms :
  • Agriculture--Washington (state)--Walla Walla County
  • Children--Kansas--Dickinson County
  • Children--Washington (state)--Walla Walla County
  • Women--Washington (state)--Walla Walla County

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