Summary Information
Lilian Tracey Welda Papers
1902-1973
- Welda, Lilian Tracey, 1900-1973
La Crosse Mss BL
0.8 cubic feet (2 archives boxes)
UW-La Crosse Murphy Library / La Crosse Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Papers of Lilian Tracey Welda, a La Crosse, Wisconsin, osteopath and various members of her family. Included are correspondence, financial records and a ledger, certificates, photographs, and a diary. The correspondence concerns family matters and various health care issues such as Lilian Welda's views on abortion and birth control and her observations about conditions in hospitals and clinics, and the nature of her medical training, and the deteriorating mental health and treatment of her brother LLoyd Tracey. Also included are discussion of education and teaching from her aunt Ida Johnson, a teacher in Ashland, Wisconsin, and accounts of a U.S. Navy submarine cruise to the Philippines and China in the early 1920s by Lester Tracey.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-lx00bl ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
La Crosse osteopath Lilian Beatrice Tracey Welda, daughter of John and Matilda Tracey, was born in Onalaska, Wisconsin in March 1900. She attended the local schools and graduated in May 1919, with an intention of studying osteopathy. She spent the next two years working at various jobs and considering the possibility of becoming a seamstress, but she did not repudiate her earlier career goal. She moved to Madison and in the fall of 1923 enrolled in the school of nursing at the Madison Sanitarium. After two years of study and practice, she transferred to the Laughlin Hospital in Kirksville, Missouri, where she continued her schooling as a nurse for one semester. In January 1925 she enrolled at the Des Moines-Still College of Osteopathy in Des Moines, Iowa, graduating four years later. Lilian Tracey then returned to Madison where she worked in a general delivery ward for two months. Seeking more lucrative career opportunities, she moved to La Crosse to work for a vacationing doctor for a period of 15 months. Upon the doctor's return, Lilian Tracey went into business for herself. She continued to practice osteopathy in La Crosse until her death in 1973.
In addition to her professional career, she briefly ran the Elgin Hotel in La Crosse from 1958 to 1960 and invested in the stock market.
Lilian Beatrice Tracey married Raymond Welda of La Crosse on June 29, 1956. Raymond died in 1971. The Weldas had no children.
Scope and Content Note
The Welda papers consist mainly of personal correspondence supplemented by financial records, certificates, photographs, and a diary. Although the collection, which spans the years 1902 to 1973, is catalogued under the name of Lilian Tracey Welda and the majority of the papers concern her, the collection is in fact a collection of papers of the Tracey family. In addition to the papers of Lilian Tracey Welda, there are papers written to her mother, Matilda Tracey, and smaller quantities of documentation concerning George Wood (Matilda's cousin, primarily concerning the disposition of his estate), Dr. A. U. Jorris (Lilian's business associate), Lester Tracey (Lilian's older brother), and Lloyd S. Tracey (Lilian's younger brother).
The collection for the most part deals with everyday life and community affairs such as the weather and illness, but there are also references to topics of more general concern such as taxation, temperance, and local politics. During the period of her medical education there are many comments concerning medical and health care issues, although information about her active practice is more limited. This period in her career, however, is documented by a financial ledger. The correspondence also tends to divide into subjects which were of particular concern to the writers. For example, within Matilda's correspondence, early in the century her sister Ida Johnson, a teacher in Ashland, talks at length about schools and the teaching professional. Matilda's son Lester discusses his training in the U.S. Navy at Mare Island, California, and an extended Pacific submarine cruise that took him to the Philippines and China. There are also many letters from son Lloyd Tracey, a railroad employee in Idaho who later suffered from mental illness. In addition, Matilda documents her own experiences in the stock market during the Depression and the pre-World War II era.
The correspondence concerning Lilian B. Tracey Welda reveals her professional interests and training, for there are frequent references to conditions and policies within hospitals, sanitariums, clinics, and mental institutions from the years 1925 through 1965. Some of the topics within her correspondence include abortion and birth control and treatment of the mentally ill. Although her own practice in La Crosse is little covered, she received numerous letters from friends who were in practice.
Photographs (primarily family portraits) received with the collection were retained by the La Crosse Area Research Center.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Edwin Hill, La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1982-1983. Accession Number: M82-521 and M83-108
Processed by Randal Sivertson and Carolyn J. Mattern, 1987.
Contents List
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La Crosse Mss BL
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Mathilda Tracey
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Box
1
Folder
1-3
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Correspondence, 1902-1941
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Financial records, 1927-1937
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Lilian Tracey Welda
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Box
1
Folder
5-6
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Correspondence, 1902-1973
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Diary, 1927
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Box
2
Folder
2
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Diplomas and certificates, 1929-1956
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Financial ledger, 1926-1936
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Box
2
Folder
4
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Miscellaneous financial records, 1929-1936
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Lester Tracey, correspondence, 1917-1926
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Box
2
Folder
6
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Lloyd S. Tracey, correspondence, 1936-1937
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Box
2
Folder
7
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George Wood, correspondence, 1922-1946
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Dr. A. U. Jorris, 1922-1946
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