The papers of Lydia Octavia Jackson (1902-1984) are held at the University of North Dakota (Grand Forks). Jackson was an author and poet. She was named Poet Laureate of North Dakota in 1983 after serving as co-Poet Laureate in the late 1970s. She was born Lydia O. Svarte and she married Arthur Jackson. Together they farmed near Grafton, ND.
The Jackson Papers include one folder of correspondence listed among her miscellaneous correspondence (1942-1984). This correspondence includes 64 letters or greeting cards from one couple living at Culion Sanitarium, the Philippines, whom the Jacksons sponsored. The letters date from 1965 to 1983 with bulk dates of 1965 to 1976. The majority of the letters are written by the husband, who died in October 1976. The long detailed letters describe Hansen’s disease, the couple’s living conditions, and the emotional toll of the disease on their lives, particularly the loneliness.
A finding aid for the Lydia O. Jackson papers is located here: https://apps.library.und.edu/archon/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=473
Entry made 6 August 2004
Entry updated 26 September 2005