Accession Number: 2013.35.1-.2
Scope & Content: Two letters embossed by Lydia W. Keller (May 1888-Oct 4, 1965) in New York Point. Note that the two letters were written on the reverse sides of brown-paper pages from a New York Point magazine-type publication, trimmed down to fit the user's slate. The letters were written to Della Allen Stark and describe Christmas celebrations, news of mutual friends, and a chance meeting with Della Stark's ex-husband, Frank Stark. Text of the letters, as well as copies of photos of Della and Frank Stark supplied by the donor, is attached to this record as a Word document.
Creator: Keller, Lydia W.
Interview Date: / /
Credit Line: Gift of Jeanie Wiesler, 2013.35.
Administrative History: Lydia graduated from the Indiana School for the Blind in 1911, the youngest daughter of Mary "Mollie" and Lewis Keller. Lydia, her older brother Wiley, and her older sister Viola May grew up in Boonville outside of Evansville, Indiana. Viola is mentioned in one letter as having sent a Christmas present to Lydia and her mother. After Lewis Keller died, Mollie and Lydia moved to Evansville, buying the house at 618 East Sycamore from which these two letters were posted. Lydia was very active with the Indiana Board of Industrial Aid, which paid blind seamstresses to hem pillowcases and other goods, marketed through partnerships with women's clubs. In 1920, Lydia and Mollie were both described as "sewers." By 1930, Victor Kaltofin, a fellow graduate of ISB (1910), was boarding with the Kellers in Evansville. Kaltofin (1889-1955) was from Evansville, the third son of a German immigrant coal miner, Alvin Kaltofin, Sr. Victor was a piano tuner working in a music shop in 1930, while Lydia Keller had gone to work in a broom shop, probably at the Evansville Association for the Blind. Victor is mentioned in the letter, and the relationship must have been very close, as they spent Christmas 1930 together at his brother's home in Evansville (either George or Edwin Kaltofin, both lived there). Victor and Lydia continued living together after Mollie died in 1937, and were both listed as head of household in 1940, although what their exact relationship was is unknown. By 1940, both were working more or less full time in the "Broom Plant," which was run by the Evansville Association for the Blind at 623 Ingle Street. Sewing, Piano Tuning, Broom Making, all were vocational skills being taught at ISB during their time as students, and were considered meaningful work for blind adults. Della B. Allen was the youngest daughter of George Robert Allen, a Sandborn, Indiana farmer. Della graduated from ISB in 1913 at the age of 28 or 29. She married Frank L. Stark on June 3, 1914. Frank Stark also graduated from ISB in 1910. Evidently, just as the letter suggests, the marriage went poorly. By the 1920 census, Della and her two young daughters, Mildred and Margaret, were living back at home with her father and her older sister Etta. (Etta is mentioned at the very end of the one letter.) Frank Stark was making brooms at home in Perry Township in Clay County, Indiana in 1910, living with his foster mother Hannah Huff. His 1917 draft card had he and Della living in Martinsville, Indiana, described as farmers. By 1920, the pair was divorced. According to the donor, Frank Stark married twice again afterwards, and died in the late 1930s. Several of the other characters in the letter, "Fern" and "Aletha" were also students from ISB: Fern Jenks and Aletha Young. Aletha Young later became a home teaching agent for the Indiana Board of Industrial Aid.
Subjects: Accidents Blind persons Child rearing Christmas Marriage