The book chronicles the letters of Medora Espy to her mother Helen Richardson Espy through her growing up years, including time spent in Olympia. The author, a descendant of Medora’s sister, Dale, places the letters in the context of their time. Richly illustrated, the book is a prime example of using primary non-traditional women’s history sources to tell an important story. Ms. Stevens will also sign copies of the book for sale at the Museum on July 30th.
"Like many children, Sydney Medora Little (now Stevens) was captivated by the many old toys, books, and other mementos tucked away in her grandparents’ home. At age eleven, while spending a year there, she came across a diary written by Medora Espy in 1914. The two shared an unusual name, one that had been carried down through five generations of daughters, so it was not surprising that this aunt she had never known intrigued her. She read and re-read the journal, and almost certainly plied her grandmother with questions. Yet it took many more years before she was able to truly pursue her past and generously share her intimate portrait of a loving, responsible, and precocious young woman, and an extraordinary mother-daughter bond."
"Now Stevens herself resides in the historic home. "The furniture, the china and silver, the books and bric-a-brac which have become treasured keepsakes of the family and of a bygone era are now a part of my daily life. As I have used her dishes, dusted her marble-topped dressers and refilled the kerosene lamps against the inevitable winter power outages, I have come to know a whole new dimension of my grandmother's life, albeit nearly one hundred years later.""
"Woven through letters, diaries, and miscellaneous keepsakes, the remnants of that life—enough to fill ninety large cardboard cartons—filled nooks and crannies until they were gathered up and donated to the Washington State Historical Society. But not before Stevens, a retired school teacher, began to research and write about her remarkable family."