Madeline Babcock Smith Collection

This collection includes materials related to Madeline Babcock Smith, her correspondence with her family in the 1940s talking about the Pearl Harbor attack and life in Decatur, and her writings including the book Lemon Jelly Cake in the 1950s and republishing it in the 1990s.

Madeline Babcock was born in Rochester, Illinois in 1887. In 1892 the family moved to Springfield. She graduated from Springfield High School in 1906. She moved to Decatur in 1918. She had three children Emmy Lou (Moore), Jane (Schroyer), and state senator Elbert E Smith. She wrote poems, short stories, and in 1952 published one novel, Lemon Jelly Cake. Woman’s Day magazine also serialized “Lemon Jelly Cake” in 1952. She died in December 1952.  Portions of Lemon Jelly Cake are featured in the book Slow food : flavors and memories of America's hometowns (1992) and the novel was reprinted by the University of Illinois Press in 1998.

Many of the letters included Madeline wrote in the early 1940s and mention the war. The letters also include Emmy Lou's husband, Jim Moore. Emmy Lou and Jim Moore were married in 1941, and moved soon after their marriage to Youngstown, Ohio, where Jim was a salesman for Staley's. Madeline’s son, Elbert (Al) Smith, lived in Decatur at the time and he and his wife Pauline are mentioned. There is a set of letters written the week after Pearl Harbor attack, when the family was on pins and needles because Pauline's brother, Bill Requarth, was at Pearl Harbor. The letters give insight to wartime Decatur and daily life.