Louise A. Carson was a resident of Burlington, Iowa during the middle of the 19th through the middle of the 20th centuries. Lucia St. John Cook (born Lucia Williams in 1830) was a friend of Louise Carson. Lucia married Rufus St. John in 1848. Widowed in 1850, she married Lyman Cook in Burlington, Iowa in 1861. This collection contains journals, letters, correspondence, clippings, financial records, and photographs. Materials are from the families of both Louise A. Carson and Lucia St. John Cook. The bulk of the collection contains journals by Lucia St. John Cook and photographs of the Carson and Williams families. Some interesting entries of Cook's diaries were made in 1850-1851 when Cook describes her journey alone from Farmington, Iowa, to Arkansas to teach. Cook discusses meeting African Americans on her trip, her teaching experiences, and educational differences between the North and the South.

Louise A. Carson was a resident of Burlington, Iowa. Carson was born in the mid-19th century and was married to William Carson. William Carson had a company in Burlington called the "William Carson Company." Louise lived through the middle of the 20th century. Lucia St. John Cook (born Lucia Williams on December 18, 1830) was a friend of Louise Carson. Lucia married Rufus St. John on September 6, 1848 when she was 18. She moved from Illinois (where she had spent most of her childhood) to Morgan, Ohio. After Rufus' death in December 1850, she moved to Farmington, Iowa and soon after (1850-1851) traveled from Farmington, Iowa to Arkansas to teach. She returned to Iowa soon after, and lived in both Ohio and Iowa until she married Lyman Cook in Burlington, Iowa in 1861. Her daughter, Julie(?), was born in 1862.

This collection (1851-1964, undated) contains journals, letters, correspondence, clippings, financial records, and photographs. Materials are from the families of both Louise A. Carson and Louise's friend, Lucia St. John Cook. The collection includes journals kept by Lucia St. John Cook. Some interesting entries of Cook's diaries were made in 1850-1851 when Cook describes her journey alone from Farmington, Iowa, to Arkansas to teach. Cook discusses meeting African Americans on her trip, her teaching experiences, and educational differences between the North and the South. Included in the 1894 calendar is a brief biography of Cook. The final journal (1851) says "copied by Lucia St. John Cook for Mrs. William Carson."Cook mentions Louise Carson several times within her diaries. One folder (folder 5) contains documents of Louise Carson including financial records, correspondence, and news clippings.

The collection also contains over 100 unidentified photographs, including two tintypes, two cyanotypes, cartes-de-visites (including several taken in Germany and while on holiday), and cabinet cards. Some of the cards are of the Carson family and family members (including Louise Carson), and other Burlington families (including the Williams). None of the photographs are labeled with Lucia St. John Cook's name.