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Agency History/Biographical note:
Grace Temple was born in 1878. She married Archie Mellen in January of 1897, with whom she had five daughters and two sons. Archie worked for his father until 1911 and then worked on Mr. Skinner's poultry farm. In 1939 they bought a house in New Lebanon, New York, moved there in 1940, and set up a garden from which they sold strawberries.

Scope and Content:
The Grace Temple Mellen Journals primarily concern her experiences as a wife and mother from the time of her marriage in 1897 until her death in 1958. As a new wife, Mellen writes infrequently, fretting about becoming a "better girl" and describing the births of her children-five girls and two boys. As her children grow older, Mellen writes more frequently and discusses the health of her family members and the family's financial situation during the economic depression in the 1930s. She also refers to the time that her husband, Archie C. Mellen, spent in the Clifton Springs Sanitorium in Clifton Springs, New York after he suffered a nervous breakdown. She associated his breakdown with overwork on Joseph A. Skinner's farm in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Mellen mentions her enjoyment of social life in South Hadley, where many of her friends and family also live. She later laments her boredom when she and her husband move to New Lebanon, New York, where her husband raised hens and grew strawberries. The journals also reflect Mellen's reactions to World War II. She discusses her disapproval of United States assistance to Great Britain through the Lend-Lease Program. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, she expresses her continued condemnation of United States participation in a foreign war, stating that the economy at home is not strong enough. She also frequently worries about her sons and grandsons being drafted and about the  future of the world. Mellen also consistently comments on aging and her health, anticipating her own death. She emphasizes not wanting to live to be as old as her mother, who died at age ninety-three after many years in the Northampton State Hospital where she suffered from senility. She frequently discusses her mother's illness throughout the journals. The journals also contain a copy of Archie C. Mellen's obituary and a number of Mellen's poems.

Cite as: Grace Mellen Journals, Mount Holyoke, College, Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, Massachusetts

Access Restrictions: Unrestricted

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