The Salisbury Papers were microfilmed in two sections. At the beginning of the reel is the first section--diaries microfilmed in 1972. Following the diaries is the second section--additions microfilmed later in 1972 and spliced onto the same reel. These additions consist of correspondence and writings of D. C. Salisbury and correspondence and miscellany of his daughter Winnifred.
The majority of the first section are typescript copies of diaries kept by Salisbury from 1860 to 1914. The entries initially were made almost daily; gradually the intervals lengthened until in the 1870's they were made only once or twice annually, then decreased even further in later years.
The entries reveal a particularly articulate, temperate, and level-headed individual. He reported on daily activities, the success of crops, pleasures and disappointments. During the Civil War, entries recorded war news apparently gained from newspapers. Family and friends held a central position in the diary entries as Salisbury included reports and anecdotes on their health and activities. The diaries reveal that he bore his personal sorrows with a great faith in God, though his grief was particularly eloquent at the death of his daughter Alice, almost three years old.
An unidentified person prepared typescripts of all but one diary. The original of this diary, covering most of 1863 and early 1864, is included in the film. Also included are notes made by another unidentified person summarizing the entries for 1860-1861, and one additional volume kept by Salisbury containing miscellaneous farm accounts and scattered diary entries, 1867-1876.
The DeWitt Clinton Salisbury documents in the second section consist of correspondence and writings. The correspondence includes some originals and some typed copies of letters written and received by Salisbury plus earlier letters between relatives in New York. The early letters mainly report on the health and activities of the writers' friends and families. DeWitt's letters are addressed to his parents, brother Harrison, wife and daughters, and friend William C. Bennet, with most dated during the Civil War.
Comprising the writings are poems and essays written for various Oregon newspapers which Salisbury apparently produced. A number of birthday poems for his wife are also included here.
Winnifred Salisbury was involved in various phases of social work for more than forty years. In 1906, she worked at University Settlement in Milwaukee under the first graduate fellowship to be offered by the University of Wisconsin in the field of sociology. She later was employed in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York among other cities. About 1946, she retired to live in Evansville, Wisconsin with her sister Grace. She died there in the 1960's.
Her papers on this microfilm consist of correspondence and five miscellaneous items. The correspondence contains a series of letters written by Winnifred in 1906 while at University Settlement in Milwaukee in which she describes Settlement activities plus her experiences working in a burlap factory and in a candy factory. Other letters are of scattered date and were written mainly by Winnifred's sister and niece. The miscellaneous items include a report by Winnifred on her University Settlement experiences, a 1941 resume, reminiscences of her childhood, a 1957 speech about the development of the social work field, and a 1958 clipping about her career.
