Exemplifying a senior woman's life in rural Utah from the 1930s to the 1970s, the Shumway Thompson collection focuses on the daily activities of Mary Lucetta Shumway Thompson, including what she termed in her diaries as “Mormon handicraft,” or netting and sewing, and her daily interactions with her family members, particularly her daughters. Mrs. Thompson was constantly surrounded by family, and she noted in her 1958 journal that until her husband's death that year, she had spent only a few nights alone. The collection also contains routine events Thompson encountered as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, including her weekly attendance of Sunday School, and her interactions with local ecclesiastical leaders.