The Waldo-Henderson papers were primarily collected by Anne Jackson Foster and Ruth Straubel Hartman as part of their interest in family history. The collection is unusual because it chiefly concerns the women in the family. The collection consists of original and transcribed copies of diaries, correspondence, clippings, writings, notes, and genealogical material. Also, there is a substantial collection of photographs of members of the family and several albums and loose photographs documenting the life of Anne Jackson Foster. The papers are organized alphabetically by name and followed with a combined file of letters transcribed by Mrs. Foster and others and some miscellaneous clippings and biographical information.
Best documented of the family are Morris A. Waldo and his first wife, Ann Eliza Appleton Waldo; her sister, Susan Appleton Brown; their daughter, Mary Adele Waldo Henderson; and two of her daughters, Anna Laura Henderson Jackson and Ruth A. Henderson; and her granddaughter, Anne Jackson Foster. The exchanges between Waldo and Ann Appleton Waldo concern family matters both before and after she migrated from New York to Wisconsin to join him. Later letters document her concern with his health and safety during his service in the Civil War. There is also an autobiography and numerous letters to Susan Brown from Della Waldo Henderson, whom Mrs. Brown had cared for for several years. For Laura Henderson Jackson, there are school papers, copies of radio talks concerning historical and patriotic topics, and correspondence. A large portion of this correspondence consists of World War II letters exchanged with her daughter, Anne Jackson Foster, primarily concerning child care and family matters. For Ruth Henderson, there is a copy of an oral history (also at the UW-Madison Archives) and correspondence written during the 1930s to Della Henderson.
