This week I have been working on the processing plan of the John Laurence Seymour Papers. I’m trying to find the best way to organize the amount of materials so it will be user friendly to researchers in the future. There are 66 diaries and many personal letters from family members which I am sure might be of a special interest to someone. There is one interesting thing about the letters to Mr. Seymour’s Mother… He never addresses her “Mother” or “Mom,” instead he calls her Rosie, a nickname for Rose. He picked up this name as a child and as he described “the family thought the matter amusing; and so the habit grew and he clung to it uncritically over the years.” Later, as a student of Russian, he translated the name into its Russian equivalent, Rozechka, and it stayed like that. I think this personal detail shows the close mother-son relationship unique to the Seymour’s family. The letters below are from Paris and Milan, one addressed to Rosie, the other to Rozechka – the dearest Mom.
