ABSTRACT
Helen Chapman subscribed to general view that novel reading was province of small minds, commenting at one point: “We see every new novel published within fortnight after it arrives in New Orleans, but unfortunately very little else.” Many of the officers’ wives exhibited an interest in topics in the reading category of “fresher knowledge.” This curiosity resulted in explorations of both the natural and created worlds. To a greater or lesser degree, religion played a role in the lives of most of the army women. For some, like Eveline Alexander, religious belief manifested itself in missionary fervor, while for others reading the Bible daily and attending weekly service sufficed. Helen Chapman found the local priest to be “a most disgusting flatterer.” She thought him so offensive that she had trouble being polite when he called on her. For army people whose lives were transient, music brought strangers together by connecting them to a common culture.
