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This fonds documents aspects of the personal and professional life – and particularly the First World War experiences – of Captain Arthur Flowers, a British military careerist and mid-20th c. immigrant to Essex County. Series I contains records and images relating to his personal life and political views; Series II contains records relating to his military career, including correspondence and health records from the First World War; Series III contains official First World War correspondence and publications circulated by the British military to boost morale. Series IV contains records relating to Flowers’ wife Annie, including correspondence, a 1914 travel diary, and souvenirs of the British Royal Family.

This fonds contains 20 manuscript love letters written by modernist writer Katherine Mansfield to her lover Garnet Trowell, September-November 1908, and 1 letter from Mansfield’s close friend Ida Baker to Trowell. Mansfield’s letters are breathless and passionate, regretting their time apart and looking forward to a future together. These are the only Mansfield letters known to have survived from this period of her life.

23 personal letters received by George Philpot. 22 of them were written by Irene R. [surname unknown], containing personal news, romantic hopes and feelings, and occasionally strife within their long-distance relationship. Irene’s news touches on aspects of her rural social life, the progress of her Normal School studies, news and advice from mutual friends and previous graduates of the Normal School, applying for rural school positions in competition with friends and acquaintances, physical conditions and amenities in one- and two-room rural schools, gender inequities in hiring and salary practices for teachers, the challenges of rural school fairs and timetabling as a multi-grade teacher, interactions with rural school trustees, and the prevalence of gossip about young women and schoolteachers in rural communities. 1 letter is from Betty Smith, who thanks George Philpot for his assistance in securing her a position at the Fuller Brush Company.