The world of Belle Dickey: A study of child life and childhood education in mid-nineteenth century Illinois
Marton, Patricia
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/22028
Description
Title
The world of Belle Dickey: A study of child life and childhood education in mid-nineteenth century Illinois
Author(s)
Marton, Patricia
Issue Date
1991
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Belting, Natalia M.
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Biography
American Studies
History, United States
Women's Studies
Education, History of
Language
eng
Abstract
The following study of Belle Dickey and her life and times is not only the study of the life of a child at a particular point in American history, but an example of the development of middle-class itself--and the changing roles of children and the family. The focus has been on letters written by Belle, her brother Charles, and other members of their family from 1855 to 1932. The bulk of the letters, some fifty-five, appeared in 1856, when Belle was ten and Charles thirteen. They are part of the Wallace-Dickey Papers (1816-1934) in the Illinois State Historical Society, Springfield, which consist of diaries, letters, genealogical information, programs, and military maps relating to the lives of Theophilus Lyle Dickey, lawyer and judge, his law partner William Hervey Lamme Wallace, and their families. This discussion of childhood and a child's life is based upon these letters. Subjects included are education, recreation, household duties, moral and religious training, clothing, and illness. The study is divided into five sections: Background of the Period, Early Childhood in Ottawa, School Days in Bureau County (1856), Late Childhood: Hot Springs, Chicago, and Nazareth, Kentucky (1857-59), and the Conclusion, which provides additional biographical information on the family members from the Civil War (1860) through the deaths of Belle and Charles in 1932, together with a final analysis. Supportive material comes from letters and writings of other children and adults of the period in Illinois and elsewhere.
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