Scope and Contents From the Collection: The Schmuecker papers date from 1983 to 2007 and measure 2.5 linear inches. The papers include Autobiographical essays and family history, Correspondence and cards, Verse, and Newspaper clippings.The four books of essays contain Schmuecker's memories and stories of six generations of the Schmuecker and Keir families. These writings concern all aspects of work, marriage, and civic involvement of the several generations, as well as memories of the Depression. Schmuecker reflects on her own work as a teacher, writer, speaker, judge at fairs, and gardener, and on her artistry in painting and pottery. She writes engagingly of the joy and difficulty of rural life during the1930s and reflects on the risks and rewards in agriculture and livestock production which she and her husband maintained until the 1970s. Her writing reveals the many ways lives are abruptly changed due to automobile accidents, war, and illness.The correspondence and cards consists of letters...