Correspondence between Margaret Kidder Hayes and Alexander Tillison Hayes, 1932-1947

The correspondence between Margaret Kidder Hayes and Alexander Tillison Hayes contains letters exchanged by Margaret and Alexander primarily during their courtship and during Margaret's hospitalization for mental health treatment. Margaret's letters from 1932 to 1933 include accounts of travel, descriptions of country club activities including golf and tennis, betting on horse races, and news of friends and family. Her letters from 1945 include descriptions of the staff, facilities, and other patients at New York Hospital in White Plains, New York, where Margaret was treated for an unidentified mental illness. Letters indicate Margaret received electric shock treatments, either while at the hospital or before her stay, but otherwise contain little information about her treatments. Margaret's letters also contain accounts of efforts to monitor and manage her diabetes, including urine analysis, diet, administration of insulin, and instances of insulin shock she suffered during her stay. Several letters link Margaret's menstrual cycle and impending menopause with incidents of insulin shock. Alexander's letters largely record his love for Margaret and his attempts to get her to marry him. His letters also include news of friends and family and accounts of playing golf and bridge. A few letters mention his work as a stockbroker and the impact the Depression had on the market and brokers. Some of Margaret's letters include mentions of feeling depressed and Alexander's responses contain assurances that those feelings are normal and temporary.