Letters home, November 1917

The tenth folder in the Natalie Gookin papers contains letters home written by Bryn Mawr College sophomore Natalie Gookin to her mother, father, and aunt during November 1917. These letters are arranged chronologically according to the date that they were written. In her letters to her family, Natalie describes her everyday life as a student at Bryn Mawr College and the challenges of the academic world. She writes everyday about her grades, her various crochet projects, making trench candles for the war effort, and her endless social engagements. Her letters also mention various aspects of the USA’s relation to the First World War, such as the discussion of shutting down Pennsylvania railroads for the war effort. Some highlights of her letters include her attendance of a lecture by ex-president Taft whom she thoroughly enjoyed and traveling to her good friend Anne Coolidge’s house in Boston for Thanksgiving. These letters would be of interest to anyone studying women’s colleges, student activism, World War I, and home relationships.