Archives West Finding Aid

This collection includes letters and other documents of Irene Lisk, from her high school days through her early twenties, 1901 to 1911. The majority of the letters were sent to her family home in Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington. The bulk of the correspondence is from 1910-1911 from Glenn S. Bandy, who was at the time a farmer in Wyoming and a railroad worker for the Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget Sound Railway Company. Bandy's letters describe farming, his interst in photography, his job as a leverman, and his feelings for Irene. Other frequent correspondence is from Fred Corbit, writing from Wyoming and Tacoma, Washington, and Nelda Jaegar during her time at the University of Washington, and later as a practicing lawyer in Tacoma, Washington. Letters are from twenty-four correspondents.

This collection is comprised of incoming letters, outgoing letters, notes, and ephemera. Incoming letters form the bulk of the collection with approximately 200 items and are arranged chronologically; a second folder holds undated letters. Dates for some letters have been inferred from postmarks. Two outgoing letters written by Lisk, six years apart, provide insight into her personality and her romance with Glenn Bandy. The notes are miscellaneous fragmentary materials saved from Lisk's school days, and the ephemera include a subscription receipt, an announcement from a doctor, and a message from a church.