The collection consists of two postcards and thirty-three letters written primarily by Florida May Casey and by her daughter Millie Haze. The sporadic letters date from 1950 to 1984 with the bulk of the collection dating from 1965 to 1981. There are many date gaps: 1952-1955, 1957-1964, 1967, 1974-1976, 1979, and 1982-1983.

All but two of the letters are written by Florida May Casey to either her former employer Polly C. Staples or to Polly’s daughter, Beauvais Staples McCaddon. There are many misspellings and little punctuation in the letters as Florida had a third grade education. Florida’s daughter Millie Haze wrote the final two letters to Beauvais McCaddon in 1984. Occasionally, Polly Staples wrote to Beauvais enclosing a letter from Florida. The earliest items are dated from 1950 to 1956 and include two postcards and two notes written by Florida in Rosedale to Beauvais while she was away from home. Florida signed most of her letters “Shi Shi.”

Florida shared news about her health issues, her family members, and her financial situation, which prompted her to sometimes ask for assistance. She wrote often of her faith and reminisced about her times with the Staples children and her life in Mississippi. On 13 November 1969, she wrote to Beauvais that her granddaughter, Coralether Lee, walked out of her school, presumably Vashon High School, with the other students. She also explained that her grandson, Joe Lee Haze, was in the military and had been home on leave from overseas (f.1). In a letter from September 1970, Florida told about visiting her sister and other relatives in Mississippi. Florida also wrote about her mother’s death and the Mississippi towns in which she had lived before she came to Rosedale (c.24. Nov 1970 /f.2). On 15 February 1971, Florida provided information about her Hentz relatives and some recent deaths on her father’s side of the family. She enclosed photos of two of her granddaughters, Linda and Cora (Coralether) Haze, in December 1973 (f.3). In the final letter written by Florida, 6 October 1981, she expressed her sympathy to Beauvais about the death of her mother, Polly Staples.

Millie Haze wrote two letters to Beauvais McCaddon. She sent a note with a Christmas card in 1983 in which she revealed that her children and grandchildren also called Florida May “Shi Shi.” In the collection’s final letter, Millie writes to stay in touch and tells of a recent hospital stay.