James Madison University Libraries Special Collections
880 Madison Drive MSC 1704 Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807 Telephone: (540) 568-3612 library-special@jmu.edu URL: https://www.lib.jmu.edu/special/
Chelsea Tholen
Repository
James Madison University Libraries Special Collections
Identification
SC 0224
Title
Bettie Hiter Willis Papers 1864-1942
Quantity
0.48 Gigabytes, 41 digital files
Creator
Willis, Bettie Hiter, 1850-1923
source
Angelil, MaryMay
Language
English
.
Abstract
The Bettie Hiter Willis Papers, 1864-1942, is comprised of digitized diary entries and letters from Willis, including documents
created during the Civil War.
The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library.
For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk. (library-special@jmu.edu).
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this
collection.
Provenance
MaryMay Angelil is the great-granddaughter of Bettie Hiter Willis. The letters have been in the family's possession since
the Civil War.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], Bettie Hiter Willis Papers, 1864-1942, SC 0224, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison
University, Harrisonburg, Va.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The items loaned to Special Collections by MaryMay Angelil in September 2012 for scanning, after which, the originals were
returned to the donor.
Processing Information
The pages were flattened and then scanned on an Epson 10000 XL scanner at 600 dpi. The scans have been separated into the
original journal segments and letters. The collection was kept in the original order for scanning. The scans were created
as TIF files and assigned sequential unique identifiers. These files were subsequently converted to pdfs for access, and the
files were renamed by form of content and the date of creation. The collection was formerly assigned collection number SC
5053.
This collection contains digital images of the correspondence and diaries of Bettie Hiter Willis, including journals from
1864-1865 and 1878-1879. She writes about her experiences with the Civil War as well as personal relations. She lived in the
Culpepper, VA, and for a short period in the Shenandoah Valley, and wrote about local deaths in the War as well as her own
personal take on Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The collection begins at age 13, in 1864, and continues with her children's
correspondence until 1942.
The Bettie Hiter Willis Papers, 1864-1942 consist of 41 digital files that were created by Special Collections from thirty-eight
letters, three journal segments, and one poem. The bulk of the letters were written to family members in Virginia. Several
letters and diary entries written by Bettie Hiter Willis as a young girl describe local events from the Civil War.
Journals, 1864-1874, undated, is comprised of scanned excerpts of journals written by Bettie Hiter Willis, and further arranged
by date. The scanned documents are accessible as 3 pdfs.
Correspondence, 1867-1942, undated, is comprised of scanned letters, a postcard and a poem, and further arranged by date.
The scanned documents are accessible as 39 pdfs.