ABSTRACT
In the introduction to Hilda Rose's letters, the editors describe the unusual circumstances that led Hilda to write letters and thus record the story of her heroic life as a farm woman. During the long winter months she needed books to maintain her sanity, so she wrote to the Chicago Tribune office, asking if they had books that they could send her. This contact led to a correspondence with several women. The letters she received from these women were her link to the outside world. But her letters to them did much more than simply maintain the connection. At one point she says, “I have no women to talk to, so I will write to ease my brain.” Putting words on a page helped her cope with hardship; eventually, when the mail carrier came, the words were posted to one of her friends.
