Tag: memoir

A first-person account of log cabin living as a young wife and mother.

Most of us can name at least one or two historically significant memoirs, such as Elie Wiesel’s Night or the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Such first-person accounts of history add richness and personality to the dry study of dates, places, and politicians which usually dominate history lessons. While getting a bird’s eye view of historical events is important, well-crafted memoirs written by those who survived the trials of past events provide us with the “story” part of history. This year, I had the pleasure of encountering an unusual and underappreciated historical memoir of this kind, A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois by Christiana Holmes Tillson.