Heading: (Rutgers Female Institute)
Author: Drummond, Maria (Ita")
Title: et al."
Place Published: Archive of approximately 60 letters, most from a student at the Rutgers Female Institute in New York City, written in 1863-1864
Publisher:New York City
Date Published:
Description: 1863-1864Approx. 60 letters, on various sizes of (mostly) lined notepaper, some multiple pages.Significant Civil War-era letters most from a young student at the Rutgers Female Institute in New York City, plus a few from other family members. The student, evidently named Maria “Ita“ Drummond, writes home to her family in Bath, Maine, with lively discussion of attending art exhibitions (Aspinwall‘s Painting Gallery), several sermons by the abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, visits to P.T. Barnum‘s Museum, the New York Sanitary Fair, the Opera, Central Park, Tiffany‘s showroom, and a visit aboard an ironclad Monitor class warship, “The Dictator.“ She also reports on the privations endured by her uncle Henry while captive in a Confederate prison in Richmond (bricks for pillows, maggots in the food, starvation, etc.). The Rutgers Female Institute (later Rutgers Female College) was founded on Madison Street on the lower east side of New York in 1838. In 1860, the college moved uptown to 487-491 Fifth Avenue. The curriculum as discussed in the letters included music lessons, English, philosophy, chemistry and geology. The college closed in 1894. It is not to be confused with the New Jersey university founded as Queen‘s College in 1766. A lively group of letters from a young woman who made the most of New York‘s cultural and social offerings while pursuing her education and a vivid snapshot of the city during the Civil War years. Accompanied by a carte de visite photo of two young girls which was found with the letters, exact association unclear. A few passages from the letters:
“Henry invited me to go over to hear [Henry Ward] Beecher...the sermon I did not think much of, but the music was splendid.“
“...went into Tiffany‘s where we saw gold and silver in abundance. There was a pure gold Monitor about three times as long as this paper and a perfect model of the true Monitor.“
“I have been office keeper in Uncle Henry‘s stead today, so now I am sitting at his desk. I have also the charge of the post office of Rutgers Institute and no one can have a letter unless it passes through my hands.“
“Uncle Edward, Laura, Fannie, Clara and I went on board the Monitor “Dictator“; it was very interesting and we also saw them making the machinery for her; the turret was monstrous.“
[A patriotic fireworks display] “The rockets and Roman candles were splendid-then there was a very large figure of Washington, an eagle over his head, liberty on his right, and a soldier on his left.“
“...to Aspinwall‘s Painting Gallery...It is a private collection and the gentleman one of the wealthiest men in the city; we go directly into his house.“
“...went to the Derby Gallery where we saw very beautiful paintings among them Rosa Bonheur‘s Horse Fair... from there we went to the Düsseldorf where there is a collection of very fine private paintings; you can have some idea of their value when I tell you he had been offered $60,000 which was not enough.“

Overall very good.