Edith Tippets Hayes papers, 1904-1992

This collection contains the papers of Edith Tippets Hayes and spans the period 1904 to 1992. It is divided into two main categories: correspondence and scrapbooks.

Edith's correspondence is an interesting collection of letters dating from the 1930s through 1990s documenting various aspects and events in her life, such as her service at the Douglas Aircraft plant in Long Beach, California, her interest in poetry, and her care for the elderly in southeast Idaho. These letters were not just from family and friends, but also from her pen pals (which included soldiers in World War II, people living in Ghana and the Philippines, and even a Michigan prison inmate, Ed Hamblin). The correspondence is organized alphabetically by the last name of the sender. Letters from Colleen (Layland) Pederson, Edith's daughter, make up the largest part of the correspondence, and these letters are organized chronologically. Letters to Colleen, but not from Edith, have been separated and placed under the heading "Colleen Layland Correspondence (from senders other than Edith Hayes)." Letters Edith sent to soldiers during World War II are also separated and placed under the heading "WWII Soldier Correspondence." Finally, some letters could only be identified by first name, and family letters have been separated from this group when possible.

Scrapbooks are the other major component of Mrs. Hayes' papers. Dating from 1944 to 1988, these books include journal entries, newspaper clippings, poetry excerpts, and pictures, and they are organized chronologically. Most of these scrapbooks cover a period of one year, but Edith also made scrapbooks that covered the years 1949-1973 and include postcards, greeting cards, and photographs. These were placed at the end of the chronological run of scrapbooks.

Other items include Edith's poetry, some of which she entered in contests and submitted for publication in small hobby journals. Her school papers, family histories, as well as various personal and family keepsakes are also housed in this collection. More information about Edith's life can be found in her autobiography "A Hop, Skip, and Jump through My History" (Box 28, Fd 1) and The (Cache) Citizen article, "The Twilight Years" (Box 29, Fd 13).