"Aunt Jane of Kentucky" |
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| "Aunt Jane," Eliza Calvert Hall's most
memorable character, was a "plain old woman" of Kentucky. She
first appeared in the story "Sally Ann's Experience" dressed in
a purple calico dress with a white kerchief fastened at her throat. The
pockets of her gingham apron always held a piece of knitting or some other
handiwork. Her cap was a "substantial structure that covered her whole
head and was tied securely under her chin." Her voice was a "sweet
old treble with a little lisp, caused by the absence of teeth, and her laugh
was as clear and joyous as a young girl's." While hearing about the colorful characters she has known, we also learn that Aunt Jane enjoyed a companionable, egalitarian marriage to her husband Abram, now deceased. Two of her brothers were killed in the Civil War, and at least some of her children have also predeceased her. She occasionally sees her adult grandchildren but prefers to remain at home, contentedly sewing her quilts, tending her garden and "ricollectin'" people and places from her past. Unafraid to speak her mind, she is nevertheless an incurable optimist, accepting change gracefully and seeing all the good and bad in her long life balancing out for the best--in many ways, the opposite of her opinionated, care-worn and often unhappy creator. Click here for a sampling of Aunt Jane's views on life Click here to learn more about Aunt Jane and quilts |
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here to return to graphics page All images courtesy of Department of Library Special Collections, Western Kentucky University. Site designed by Lynn Niedermeier, University Archives and maintained by University Libraries Web Site Team. © 2002 Western Kentucky University. Last modified September 3, 2002. URL: http://www.wku.edu/Library/onlinexh/lco/TextOnly/auntjane.htm |