Content
The writings provide a detailed record of what women wore, what they ate, what they read, the conditions under which they worked, and how they amused themselves. We can see how frequently they attended church, how they viewed their connection to God, and how they prayed. We can explore their relationships with lovers and with family and friends.
The collection includes approximately 150,000 pages of letters and diaries from Colonial times to 1950, including 7,000 pages of previously unpublished manuscripts—all in electronic format for the first time. The material is drawn from more than 1,000 sources, including journal articles, pamphlets, newsletters, monographs, and conference proceedings, and much of it is in copyright. Represented are all age groups and life stages, a wide range of ethnicities, many geographical regions, the famous, and the not so famous. More than 1,500 biographies enhance the use of the database.
Examples of materials
Mrs. Cary was imprisoned soon after his departure, and her daughter, Mrs. Switcher, or Sweetzer, gained access to her, and, by changing clothes, succeeded in restoring her mother to liberty. Assisted by her friends, she was put on board a ship ready to sail for London, and arrived in the Thames soon after her husband. He was on board his ship shaving himself when she entered the cabin. He started, and exclaimed, "My wife! I really believe you are a witch, and have come over in an eggshell." "Don't be a fool, Nat, like the rest of your countrymen," she replied. This is as my father used to relate the story, and they returned together to America, by which time the people had recovered their senses and deplored the many cruel deaths which had taken place.
– Letter from Margaret G. Cary to George Blankern Cary, January 23, 1843
Subjects: agriculture, children and family, church services, domestic life, education, friendships, gender roles, health and illness, literature, marriages, Oregon Trail, politics, religion, romantic relationships, travel, war, and more.
Historical Events: American Revolution, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, Reconstruction, Robert E. Lee's surrender, U.S. Civil War, World War I, World War II, and more.
Explore Julia Heller’s Boy Friends Book from 1932. Featured in this dairy are descriptions of boy’s Heller is friends with, including their physical appearance, what sports they play, and how Heller met them. Heller also grouped these boys based on certain qualifications such as ones that dance, ones that live near her, and ones she likes better. This diary provides unique insight to male-female relationships in the 1930’s!
One October day in 1850 Mary Kittredge Whitney Degen boarded a ship in New York to set sail on an adventure throughout Europe and the Middle East. This is a collection of Maria’s dairies and letters from her travels in 1850-1852. In them she describes the various evening parties and events she attends as well shopping she’s done, food she’s eaten, artist studios she’s visited, and sightseeing at various landmarks like Sainte Chapelle and Le Jardin des Plantes in France.
Read the dairy of a young black school girl as she describes school work, friends, religious observances and her resolutions for the year.
Browse through a collection of letters and diaries about the daily life of women in North America from the 18th century to the 20th. Topics include family, marriage, travel, religion, disease, and death.
Discover life of pioneers and the journey through western America with diaries and letters from women traveling on the Oregon Trail.
