Lydia O. Jackson Papers

The Lydia O. Jackson Papers consist primarily of autobiographical materials, correspondence, manuscripts, and publications containing her poetry. Also included in the collection is a series which contains pedigree information on John P. Jackson's, Lydia's father-in-law, Holstein cattle herd and the sale of the herd in 1925. A variety of information can be elicited from the collection which in turn illuminates both the strengths and weaknesses of the Jackson collection. The papers reveal the picture of an intellectually curious and industrious farm homemaker and poet from the 1930s through the early 1980s. As social history, Lydia Jackson's correspondence and poetry detail the values held dear by many women of the time period, whether rural or urban: devotion and duty to family and home. The autobiographical material describes only briefly the particulars of her life. It instead lists her literary achievements, a task she did almost yearly since 1951 to maintain her membership in the Fargo branch of the National League of American Pen Women. The short autobiographical notes she wrote for Who's Who entries also list her achievements. Insights into Jackson's daily life and thought come mainly from a reading of her round robin correspondence with several poet friends across the country, none of whom she ever met. This correspondence lasted twenty-eight years, from 1943 to 1971. Additionally, two notebooks contain copies of letters written to relatives during the Depression. They describe living and farming conditions on the Jackson farm besides mentioning the groups and activities Lydia participated in off the farm. The collection, however, contains little other information regarding her club activities. Several of her essays are also autobiographical in nature. Secondly, the collection reveals the publishing and editorial world of the small poetry magazine and newspaper poetry column, both of which published Lydia Jackson's poetry. Correspondence between Jackson and poetry editors describes the difficulties of maintaining the continued publications of these small magazines. Social historians have recently addressed the question of women's friendships in the nineteenth century. Lydia Jackson, twentieth century woman of rural North Dakota, maintained many lasting friendships via pen and paper between not only poet friends, often publishing in the same poetry magazines, but also her poetry editors. Particularly noteworthy are the letters from Helen Lange, 1958 to 1984, editor of "The Lighter Side", a Chicago newspaper poetry column. These are located in the enclosure folders following Jackson's poetry notebooks. Thirdly, the Jackson papers only minimally delineate Lydia's intellectual process of writing poetry. Several scraps of paper is all that is available to describe the process of rough draft to finished piece of poetry, although in one essay she reflects on various forms of poetry and illustrated each form with an example of her own poetry. Her round robin correspondence also mentions her excitement of attempting new forms of poetry and her successes and failures. An interesting exception to the above are the letters from Hilario and Rosalia Nieves, Culion Sanitarium, in the Philippines. The Nieves were sponsored by the Jacksons and their correspondence vividly describes life in a leprosarium.