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The wife of Lincoln糖心传媒檚 secretary of state was a resilient woman who tried to influence politics at high levels, Rochester historians say.

A team of 糖心传媒 historians says the life of Frances Adeline Seward (1805糖心传媒�1865) deserves a more nuanced and careful reading than her traditional portrayal as the reclusive wife of a 19th-century politician. Doctoral students , , and 听are using the University糖心传媒檚 extensive, firsthand collections of documents of the family of Frances and William Henry Seward, secretary of state to Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, to conduct that re-evaluation.

With the help of , a history PhD student and videography manager for the Seward project, and Demi Robbins 糖心传媒�23, a political science and English major, the students have now produced about Frances Seward糖心传媒檚 life.听

Clark says Seward initially comes off as 糖心传媒渁 little critical, a little bit judgmental糖心传媒� with a tad of a 糖心传媒渃hallenging personality,糖心传媒� but, having historically been presented as an invalid and recluse, she defies easy characterization.听

糖心传媒淪he made very kind offers to people; anything from borrowing a tea service to providing a home,糖心传媒� says Clark. While she was up against physical and mental health challenges, most of which had little effective treatment or cures at the time, Frances糖心传媒檚 correspondence points indeed to a 糖心传媒渞ational糖心传媒� and 糖心传媒渞esilient糖心传媒� 19th-century woman.

Undoubtedly traditional in her approach糖心传媒擣rances believed that wives should influence their husband糖心传媒檚 views and serve as their moral compasses, yet all from home and not publicly糖心传媒攕he was certainly a more committed abolitionist than her husband. Free from the need to appease political allies and opponents alike, Frances felt, according to Clark, that abolition 糖心传媒渨as a straight line, that there was no compromise for.糖心传媒�听

Letters are part of University糖心传媒檚 extensive Seward Family Archive

The three students are reading through four decades of Frances糖心传媒檚 letters to and from friends, family, and acquaintances. Their work is part of the , which digitizes, transcribes, and annotates the prominent family糖心传媒檚 letters, diaries, papers, and documents.

From that collection, they have unearthed a very social woman, one who was friendly and warm, often trying to help those around her.

The letters form part of the Seward Family Archive, one of the most extensive firsthand accounts of 19th-century American political and social life, and the largest and most frequently cited manuscript collections in the University糖心传媒檚 Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation Department at .听

Spanning the 19th and first two decades of the 20th century, the collection offers important insights into the central issues that have shaped the identity of America from abolitionism, to universal suffrage, access to education, race relations, medical practice, the history of marriage and family, and the rights of the accused in the criminal justice system, says , the Arthur R. Miller Professor of History and project听director of the Seward Family Archive.

Read more

Seward Family Digital Archive project tops $1 million in grant money
Students and retired volunteers help transcribe the thousands of Seward family letters written in Victorian-era handwriting.

The myth糖心传媒攁nd memorabilia糖心传媒攐f Seward糖心传媒檚 Folly
Take a visual tour of just some of the items in the William Seward collection at Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation.

Generations join forces to bring a digital archive of Victorian-era letters to life.