ELIZABETH HERMANN COWIE:

Elizabeth Claire Herrmann was born in 1923 in Saint Paul to physician Edgar T. Herrmann and his wife Else. Betty graduated from Summit School in Saint Paul in 1941, and attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, completing a 1948. The couple had three children: Anne Elizabeth, Henry Norman, and James (Jamie) Edgar.

Return to top

The collection consists primarily of correspondence between Betty and her parents while she was away at school. Betty's letters include discussion of notable events and experiences related to the war, such as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (1941), prejudice against Japanese Americans, Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES) activity on campus, war rationing, and Nazi concentration camps. Her parents' letters include discussion about goings-on at home in Saint Paul. The collection also includes printed transcriptions, and digital copies of both transcriptions and photograph collages. Edgar's letters sometimes also include transcriptions of letters written by Betty, Else, and others. Annotations refer to photograph collages, historical events, and to Herrmann family history.

Return to top

Access Restrictions:

Originals are closed. Access and use requires the curator’s permission.

These files are located off site in Remote Storage. Advance arrangements are required in order to view the files.

Please consult reference staff for more information.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Cowie, Elizabeth Herrmann. College years correspondence. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Location of Master Files:

Digital masters of the transcripts and collages are maintained on the Society's secure digital collections storage servers and are managed and preserved in accordance with archival best practices.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 16,836

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, April 2014

Digitized by: Minnesota Historical Society, May 2019

Catalog ID number: 990078653630104294

Return to top

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

Topics:

Japanese Americans.

Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941.

Women college students -- Minnesota.

World War, 1939-1945.

Persons:

Herrmann, Edgar T., author.

Herrmann, Else, author.

Organizations:

Smith College.

United States. Naval Reserve. Women's Reserve.

Document Types:

Letters (correspondence).

Photographs.

Return to top