Wooten-Siegel Letter Collection
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of 67 handwritten letters and mailing envelopes from 21-year-old Hubbard Smith Wooten, a U.S. Navy aircraft technician to 17-year-old Dorothy Jean Siegel, a high schooler. The correspondence began when Wooten's aunt signed him up for the "Joan Crawford Club". According to the first letter, Miss Siegel began the correspondence first. Letters date from September 21, 1949 to July 22, 1952. All are handwritten in cursive. One small snapshot photograph of Miss Siegel was enclosed within one letter.
The content of Wooten's letters vary. He speaks of some of his experiences while serving in the United States Navy and the places he has been. Some are written while he is aboard the U.S.S. Salisbury Sound AV-13 including bits about life aboard ship and duties assigned. Most is personal reflection on whether to remain in service or go to college, a bit about past relationships, generalized information regarding his immediate family and so forth.
At one point in the correspondence there is a shift to a more romantic tone and there is talk of love and marriage between Wooten and Siegel, although they never met.
The last letters indicate he is engaged to another woman and they are to be married. Wooten would like to continue writing, but as friends.
Dates
- Creation: 1949-1952
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Materials are available for use in the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center only.
Request permission before copying materials.
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Copyright restrictions may apply; please consult Special Collections staff for further information.
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Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement.
Biographical / Historical
Hubbard S. Wooten, Jr. was the son of Hubbard and Ruth Wooten. Born in Mississippi in 1929, he was raised in Mississippi and graduated in 1948 from Osceola High school in Arkansas. He joined the United States Navy and served in Hawaii, Japan, and is stationed in Memphis, Tennessee. He was an Aviation Technician. Wooten describes himself as 5'5" tall, likes to fish, plays the ukulele, and has a brother and sister. Hubbard Smith Wooten married Peggy Davis August 7, 1952. His last known residence was Cedarbluff, Mississippi.
Dorothy Jean Siegel was the daughter of Isabelle McCaffrey and William H. Siegel. Born in 1933 in Missouri, she grew up in Davenport. Her parents divorced and in 1940 her mother was married to Lawrence Greenwald. Dorothy graduated from Davenport High School (Davenport, Iowa) in the class of 1951. She was later employed at Petersen-Harned-Von Maur as a bookkeeper. In 1962 she married David L. Ryner and they made their home in Clinton, Iowa.
Extent
0.42 Linear Feet (in 1 5" archival manuscript box.)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The collection is arranged chronologically by the date written on the letter.
Physical Location
Range 33 Section 04
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center Repository
321 Main Street
Davenport IA 52801-1490 United States
specialcollections@davenportlibrary.com