Diaries

The Diaries collection provides access to more than thirty fully transcribed and searchable diaries from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century. The collection includes diaries documenting student life at UVM in different eras, the 1918-1919 flu epidemic, the civil war, life in Italy in the early 1860’s, courtship and marriage, social life, religious life, employment opportunities for women, travel, life at a summer cottage, and more.

Showing 1 - 5 of 5 Records

Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, March 1 - May 6, 1864
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    • Creator: Marsh, Caroline Crane, 1816-1901.
    • Date Created: 1864
    • Description: European political relations remain tense in this diary, while rumors of an imminent rapprochement between Garibaldi and the Italian government precede Garibaldi’s departure for England. In Turin, the Marshes receive a visit from Lady Caroline Estcourt and her sisters and continue to attend lectures and sightsee in and around the city. Topics in this diary include charity in Italy, relations between the Italian social classes, etiquette in Italy, Italian royalty and nobility, death, grief, and memorialization in Italy; Italy’s literary circle, Italian art, spiritualism, democracy, slavery in the United States, and Catholicism.
    • Parent Collections: Caroline Crane Marsh Diaries, Vermont Diaries


    Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, May 6, 1864 - September 22, 1864
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      • Creator: Marsh, Caroline Crane, 1816-1901.
      • Date Created: 1864
      • Description: Negotiations between Italy and France regarding the “Roman Question” and the placement of Italy’s capital spark violent protests in the streets of Turin. The Marshes go on several trips in this diary, visiting nearby landmarks as well as hiking into the Alps. Between trips, the Marshes gather the latest news on the American Civil War, including the details of the Battle of the Wilderness, and receive visits from the Estcourts and American diplomat David H. Wheeler, among others. Topics in this diary include the September Convention, Italian art and patronage, tourism in Italy, Italian funerary practices, relations between the Italian social classes, King Victor Emmanuel and the royal family of Savoy, the treatment of women in Italy, the Italian silk industry, George Perkins Marsh’s diplomatic duties, Greek War of Independence, differences in behavior and manners between Americans and Europeans, and the death of Nathaniel Hawthorne. This diary covers several topics relating to religion, as well, including Catholic royal marriages, convents and religious orders, conversion, and French Protestants.
      • Parent Collections: Caroline Crane Marsh Diaries, Vermont Diaries


      Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, December 23, 1864 - February 21, 1865
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        • Creator: Marsh, Caroline Crane, 1816-1901.
        • Date Created: 1864-1865
        • Description: This six-page diary records the Marshes’ final days in Turin and their move to Florence in 1865. Topics in this diary include King Victor Emmanuel, Italian art and music, and tourism in Italy.
        • Parent Collections: Caroline Crane Marsh Diaries, Vermont Diaries


        Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, September 23 - December 21, 1864
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          • Creator: Marsh, Caroline Crane, 1816-1901.
          • Date Created: 1864
          • Description: The Italian ministry dissolves and reforms in this diary amid countrywide protests against the September Convention treaty and debates over proposed bills for the suppression of monasteries and tax hikes on salt and other goods. The Marshes acquire the lower floors of the Casa d’Angennes during this period and the offices of the American Legation move into those rooms shortly after. Caroline Crane Marsh continues collecting items for the U.S. Sanitary Fairs and has an audience with the Duchess of Genoa. Topics in this diary include Italian law enforcement, slavery in the United States, differences between Turin and Florence, Italian art, Italian grief and funerary practices, convents, Italian medicine, relations between the Italian social classes, crime in Italy, political relations between Italy, France, and Rome; Catholicism, marriage, traveling and tourism in Russia, the Greek War of Independence, and the royal family of Savoy.
          • Parent Collections: Caroline Crane Marsh Diaries, Vermont Diaries


          Caroline Crane Marsh Diary, January 1 - March 1, 1864
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            • Creator: Marsh, Caroline Crane, 1816-1901.
            • Date Created: 1864
            • Description: Mounting political and military tensions between the major powers of Europe serve as the backdrop for this diary: the Second Schleswig War breaks out, four Italians are arrested in Paris for allegedly plotting to kill Napoleon III, and “war fever” whips the rest of Europe into a frenzy. George Perkins Marsh’s brother, Charles, arrives unexpectedly in Turin and settles in with the Marshes for an extended stay. Caroline Crane Marsh closely follows the decline and death of the Marchesa Doria and Barone Giovanni Plana, two of her earliest acquaintances in Italy. The Marshes attend public lectures with their friends, and Caroline Crane Marsh collects autographs from the lecturers and other famous Italians for the U.S. Sanitary Fairs. Topics in this diary include the Count of Cavour, death and funerary practices in Italy, etiquette, the theory of evolution, women and marriage in the nineteenth century, Catholicism in Italy, the royal family of Savoy, and nineteenth-century British authors, including Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Charles Lamb.
            • Parent Collections: Caroline Crane Marsh Diaries, Vermont Diaries