Putala bases her study on a set of correspondence, the Osborne Family Papers, 1812-1968, housed in the Special Collections Research Center of Syracuse University. She focuses on the period 1838-1862, drawing from about 300 letters primarily from the Wright/Mott/Osborne women. Among the topics she pursues are contextualizing Eliza Wright Osborne in

Foreword, Joan N. Burstyn. Chapter I: Beginning to Contextualize Eliza Wright Osborne in Her Literacy. Chapter II: Wherein the Problem is Set. Chapter III: Reading the Writing of The Particular: A Methodology. Chapter IV: On Their Own: Women Reading (Mostly) Women. Chapter V: Not on Their Own: Mothers and Men Prescribe Their Reading.