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 - 10 of 48 Records

Chester Way Diary, 1919
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    • Creator: Way, Chester Murray, 1897-1973.
    • Date Created: 1919
    • Description: Chester Murray Way was born on November 12, 1897 to Harry Abel and Helen (Phelps) Way. He attended Burlington High School and later enrolled at the University of Vermont, graduating in 1922 with a degree in economics. During his time at UVM, Way was a member of the Alpha Lambda chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, the Burlington chapter of the YMCA, and the editorial board for The Vermont Cynic. He also took part in UVM’s Student Army Training Corps, completing part of his service during the 1918 influenza pandemic. After college, Way ran a farm and became involved in several Vermont businesses, including the Green Mountain Mutual Fire Insurance Co. in Montpelier, the Fli-Rite School of Aviation in Swanton, and his father’s business, the Porter Screen Company, in Burlington. In 1944, Way purchased an inn in Middlebury, Vt. and renamed it the Waybury Inn; the inn was later used as a location for exterior shots for the television show Newhart. Way and his wife, Marjorie Holbrook Scott (m. 1928) were living in Middlebury at the time of Way’s death on October 4, 1973. Topics in Way’s diaries include the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, fraternities at the University of Vermont, Kake Walk, World War One and UVM’s SATC program, Vermont farm life, and male friendships and relationships in the early twentieth century.
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    Chester Way Diary, 1918
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      • Creator: Way, Chester Murray, 1897-1973.
      • Date Created: 1918
      • Description: Chester Murray Way was born on November 12, 1897 to Harry Abel and Helen (Phelps) Way. He attended Burlington High School and later enrolled at the University of Vermont, graduating in 1922 with a degree in economics. During his time at UVM, Way was a member of the Alpha Lambda chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, the Burlington chapter of the YMCA, and the editorial board for The Vermont Cynic. He also took part in UVM’s Student Army Training Corps, completing part of his service during the 1918 influenza pandemic. After college, Way ran a farm and became involved in several Vermont businesses, including the Green Mountain Mutual Fire Insurance Co. in Montpelier, the Fli-Rite School of Aviation in Swanton, and his father’s business, the Porter Screen Company, in Burlington. In 1944, Way purchased an inn in Middlebury, Vt. and renamed it the Waybury Inn; the inn was later used as a location for exterior shots for the television show Newhart. Way and his wife, Marjorie Holbrook Scott (m. 1928) were living in Middlebury at the time of Way’s death on October 4, 1973. Topics in Way’s diaries include the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, fraternities at the University of Vermont, Kake Walk, World War One and UVM’s SATC program, Vermont farm life, and male friendships and relationships in the early twentieth century.
      • Parent Collections: Diaries
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      Genieve Lamson Diary, 1910-1912
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        • Creator: Lamson, Genieve, 1887-1966.
        • Date Created: 1910-1912
        • Description: Genieve Amelia Lamson was born in Randolph, Vt. to Whitcomb Elisha and Hannah Amelia (Philbrick) Lamson on April 29, 1887. Lamson graduated from Randolph High School in 1905. After graduation, she taught for four terms in Vermont district schools and for five years (until 1915) in high schools in Roselle Park, NJ and Springfield, Mass. Lamson completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Chicago, receiving her B.S. degree in 1920 and an M.S. in geography in 1922. She accepted a professorship at Vassar College in 1922 and taught in the geography department until her retirement in 1952. Lamson traveled extensively during her 20s. In 1909, she visited family and friends in the Pacific Northwest and went on several sightseeing excursions in California, Oregon, and Washington. She and her sister Gail traveled through Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy in 1912, and the pair took a trip to Bermuda in 1915. Lamson was an active suffragist and was appointed by the Vermont Suffragist Association to chair the suffragist convention in Orange County in 1919. Lamson remained an active member of her community throughout her life, donating her time and money to a number of social and professional organizations. She was also a historian and choir member of Bethany Congregational Church, a sponsor of Vermont Symphony Orchestra concerts in Randolph, a member of the Randolph Woman’s Club, and a member of the Randolph Garden Club. Lamson died on September 22, 1966. Topics in Lamson’s diaries include teaching (as well as the process for becoming a certified teacher in Vermont circa 1910), major cities of the West Coast, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle; turn-of-the-century fashion and home clothes-making, the sinking of the Titanic, turn-of-the-century slang, and the local history of Randolph, Vt.
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        Genieve Lamson Diary, 1909
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          • Creator: Lamson, Genieve, 1887-1966.
          • Date Created: 1909
          • Description: Genieve Amelia Lamson was born in Randolph, Vt. to Whitcomb Elisha and Hannah Amelia (Philbrick) Lamson on April 29, 1887. Lamson graduated from Randolph High School in 1905. After graduation, she taught for four terms in Vermont district schools and for five years (until 1915) in high schools in Roselle Park, NJ and Springfield, Mass. Lamson completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Chicago, receiving her B.S. degree in 1920 and an M.S. in geography in 1922. She accepted a professorship at Vassar College in 1922 and taught in the geography department until her retirement in 1952. Lamson traveled extensively during her 20s. In 1909, she visited family and friends in the Pacific Northwest and went on several sightseeing excursions in California, Oregon, and Washington. She and her sister Gail traveled through Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy in 1912, and the pair took a trip to Bermuda in 1915. Lamson was an active suffragist and was appointed by the Vermont Suffragist Association to chair the suffragist convention in Orange County in 1919. Lamson remained an active member of her community throughout her life, donating her time and money to a number of social and professional organizations. She was also a historian and choir member of Bethany Congregational Church, a sponsor of Vermont Symphony Orchestra concerts in Randolph, a member of the Randolph Woman’s Club, and a member of the Randolph Garden Club. Lamson died on September 22, 1966. Topics in Lamson’s diaries include teaching (as well as the process for becoming a certified teacher in Vermont circa 1910), major cities of the West Coast, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle; turn-of-the-century fashion and home clothes-making, the sinking of the Titanic, turn-of-the-century slang, and the local history of Randolph, Vt.
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          Genieve Lamson Diary, 1908
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            • Creator: Lamson, Genieve, 1887-1966.
            • Date Created: 1908
            • Description: Genieve Amelia Lamson was born in Randolph, Vt. to Whitcomb Elisha and Hannah Amelia (Philbrick) Lamson on April 29, 1887. Lamson graduated from Randolph High School in 1905. After graduation, she taught for four terms in Vermont district schools and for five years (until 1915) in high schools in Roselle Park, NJ and Springfield, Mass. Lamson completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Chicago, receiving her B.S. degree in 1920 and an M.S. in geography in 1922. She accepted a professorship at Vassar College in 1922 and taught in the geography department until her retirement in 1952. Lamson traveled extensively during her 20s. In 1909, she visited family and friends in the Pacific Northwest and went on several sightseeing excursions in California, Oregon, and Washington. She and her sister Gail traveled through Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy in 1912, and the pair took a trip to Bermuda in 1915. Lamson was an active suffragist and was appointed by the Vermont Suffragist Association to chair the suffragist convention in Orange County in 1919. Lamson remained an active member of her community throughout her life, donating her time and money to a number of social and professional organizations. She was also a historian and choir member of Bethany Congregational Church, a sponsor of Vermont Symphony Orchestra concerts in Randolph, a member of the Randolph Woman’s Club, and a member of the Randolph Garden Club. Lamson died on September 22, 1966. Topics in Lamson’s diaries include teaching (as well as the process for becoming a certified teacher in Vermont circa 1910), major cities of the West Coast, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle; turn-of-the-century fashion and home clothes-making, the sinking of the Titanic, turn-of-the-century slang, and the local history of Randolph, Vt.
            • Parent Collections: Diaries
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            Long Pond: A History and a Diary - Westmore, VT, 1886-1903
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              • Date Created: 1886-1903
              • Description: The Long Pond Westmore diary, which spans the years 1889 to 1903, contains a partial history of a summer camp on Long Pond in Westmore, Vt., as well as inventories of the camp’s supplies and accounts of property maintenance and recreational activities undertaken by its caretakers. Topics in this diary include local flora and fauna and outdoor recreational activities, such as hiking and fishing.
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              Mary Susan Davis Kelley Diary, 1883-1893
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                • Creator: Kelley, Mary Susan Davis, 1866-1917.
                • Date Created: 1883-1893
                • Description: Mary Susan Davis was born on January 10, 1866 to Benjamin Webster and Susan Adelaide (Young) Davis in Fairlee, Vt. Davis grew up in a large household consisting of her parents, her three siblings (John, James, and Rosalene), and her uncle, David Young, who suffered from epilepsy and erratic behavior due to a traumatic brain injury. After she graduated from secondary school in 1884, Davis helped her mother at home and with taking care of the boarders who occasionally resided in their home; she also taught in local schools and occasionally performed housework and childcare for hire in other households in the community. Prior to her first marriage, Davis moved to Orange, Massachusetts, where she was eventually employed by shoe manufacturer Jay B. Reynolds as a skiver. Davis was married three times over the course of her life: her first marriage was to Fred Mason on October 25, 1888, her second to Fred Sheldon Pickett in 1897 (following her divorce from Mason in January of that year), and her third to Harry Kelley on April 16, 1906. Davis suffered from chronic health issues, especially heart and reproductive ailments, throughout her life and had at least one miscarriage as a result. Davis died in Fairlee on March 30, 1917. Topics in this diary include women’s health and other subjects relating to health and medicine; the experiences of working women circa 1890, turn-of-the-century courtship and marriages, and the local social and cultural history of Fairlee, Vermont.
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                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
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                  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
                    Part of: 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
                      Part of: Diaries