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Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1926
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- Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
- Date Created: 1926
- Description: Mary Jean accepts a job as a Bill Clerk for the United States Senate, and she and her mother make the move from Vermont to Washington D.C. in this Diary. Mentions of Senatorial legislation, visits from ambassadors, and national events such as the impeachment of federal judge George English are peppered throughout descriptions of her new job. Much of her diary includes descriptions of dinner parties with coworkers, politicians, family, and friends; visits to the movies, operas, theater, and live music; and shopping for new clothes, especially hats. Mary Jean and her mother also return to Vermont for several months; transit by train and automobile play a large role in her life in 1926. Topics include: 1920s US Senate legislation, Media: Movies, theater, opera, and music in the 20s, early 20th century transportation: trains and automobiles, Women’s fashion in the 1920s, Women’s Club Organizations, Political social life in early 20th century, Vermont and Northeastern Coastal geography, Presbyterian church life.
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Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1927
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- Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
- Date Created: 1927
- Description: This diary records Mary Jean’s continued work as a Bill Clerk of the Senate, helping to process the hundreds of bills passed in 1927. Mary Jean spends much of her free time going to social events, and often describes the church sermons she hears each Sunday. Mary Jean also takes a ten-day transcontinental trip through the Midwest with Senator Dale and his family after the close of Congress. Returning to Vermont for the summer and early fall, Mary Jean travels around speaking to Women’s groups, rotary clubs, attending various committee meetings, and going to town fairs. In the late fall, Mary jean returns to her work as a Bill Clerk in DC and goes to various movies, musicals, and dinners. The end of her diary is largely focused on the Great Vermont Flood of 1927 and the relief programs she is involved in aimed at supporting the state in its aftermath. The common topics of daily life include church events and sermons; entertainment activities like attending plays, movies, VT town fairs, dinner parties, and learning to golf; and spending time with family and friends. Topics of wider interest include American politics specifically, the Great Vermont Flood of 1927 and Charles Lindbergh’s Goodwill Tour; women's groups’ meetings, and automobile and train travel.
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Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1928
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- Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
- Date Created: 1928
- Description: The common topics of daily life include church events and sermons; entertainment activities like attending plays, movies, VT town fairs, dinner parties, and learning to golf; and spending time with family and friends. Topics of wider interest include American politics specifically, the Great Vermont Flood of 1927 and Charles Lindbergh’s Goodwill Tour; women's groups’ meetings, and automobile and train travel. Topics in this diary include early 20th century health and treatment systems; social life in Washington DC including movies, theater, and operas; American politics; and women’s groups meetings.
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Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1929
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- Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
- Date Created: 1929
- Description: This diary is not as full as Mary Jean’s typical year but records evidence of her daily life and some fascinating moments in American history. In this diary she is busy with work but has time for several Women’s group meetings including the Daughters of the American Revolution dinner and a Women’s Union meeting in New Orleans. She witnessed the inauguration of Herbert Hoover, and her brother, John, mentions in passing some fears of the stock market in mid-October. Her summer in Vermont is quite brief but is full of gardening, dinners, and traveling around the state to speak at women’s groups. Topics of interest include American Politics, especially presidential elections and the 1929 market crash; Women’s groups in the early 20th century; and travel by train and automobile.
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Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1930
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- Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
- Date Created: 1930
- Description: In this diary Mary Jean deals with some major health issues including damaged knees and a cut in her hand that landed her in the hospital for months that left much of the summer and early fall in the diary empty. Surviving a very cold winter in Washington DC, much of her daily life involves dinner parties, reading books, and visiting the movies alongside occasional visits from friends and family such as her Aunt Harriet. Mixed into descriptions of her daily life are mentions of national issues such as her brother John’s financial worries at the beginning of the Great Depression. Topics in this diary include the Great Depression, medical treatments including both home and professional remedies, and social and work life in Washington DC.
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Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1933
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- Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
- Date Created: 1933
- Description: This diary records the end of Mary Jean’s time as Bill Clerk of the Senate including mentions of debates over prohibition, filibusters, and night sessions. The impactful deaths of President Calvin Coolidge and Senator Porter H. Dale (in office) are also recorded in this diary. In the later summer, after the close of Congress, she describes a significant amount of travel around Vermont to make speeches to various women’s groups. A December 13th entry notes Mary Jean’s appointment as Women’s Director under the Civil Works Authority (C.W.A.), a New Deal job creation program. The common topics of daily life including local Craftsbury news; church events; fun and entertainment activities like attending plays, movies, and speeches; housework and chores; the weather; preparing food; and spending time with family and friends are present. Topics of wider interest include American politics, women's groups’ meetings, illnesses and treatments, automobile travel, and financial records.
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Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1938
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- Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
- Date Created: 1938
- Description: This diary discusses Mary Jean’s time as Dean of Women at UVM and getting involved in student and faculty life on campus. She goes to meetings and events at Southwick Hall, attends alumni events, and meets President Bailey. It also focuses on the health of her mother and Mary Jean’s friendship with Elspeth, her mother’s caretaker. Illness takes a center stage in this diary, as Mary Jean, her mother, Elspeth, and her brother John all deal with various sicknesses throughout the year. In the winter, Mary Jean details her experience with serums and intravenous iron supplements to combat illness. Lively descriptions of visits with family and friends and visits to church are emphasized during the various holidays throughout the year. Topics in this diary include transportation and automobile innovations, faculty and student life at UVM, health and medicine in the mid-20th century, weather patterns, and Vermont social life.
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Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1939
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- Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
- Date Created: 1939
- Description: In this diary Mary Jean spends the spring semester at UVM attending YWCA meetings, a Committee on the Worlds Fair, traveling to a Dean’s convention in Cleveland Ohio, visiting John in NYC, going to Phi Beta Kappa events, sorority luncheons, faculty meetings, and attending various student life events. Due to the busy nature of her life, some weeks in this diary are akin to a daily planner for Mary Jean. During the summer months, Mary Jean regularly goes to church, has dinner with friends, works on the Fletcher Farm, and occasionally goes out to see movies. Returning to work at UVM in the fall leaves her with a busy schedule involved in student social affairs and faculty business, once again attending regular meetings and conferences including the Ladies of Faculty, Phi Beta Kappa, and the YWCA. Ending out her year is a lively description of time spent with family around the Christmas holiday. Topics in this diary include student and faculty life at UVM, with a focus on Pan-Hellenic life, church and social life in Vermont, and brief mentions of locomotive transportation.
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Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1940
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- Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
- Date Created: 1940
- Description: This unique diary includes brief accounts from major life events between 1939 and 1943. Entries in 1939 and 1940 mention work and family life, traveling to Washington for a conference, Christmas, and some social activities such as shopping or going to the movies. The entries in 1942 detail the death of Mary Jean’s mother, and the emotions she and her brother experience over it. In 1943 she details the death of her Aunt Kate and the funeral held in her honor. Topics include death and grief, US Labor Department, family life in Vermont, and commercial life in Vermont.
- Parent Collections: Diaries
Part of: Diaries
Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1941
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- Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
- Date Created: 1941
- Description: This diary features Mary Jean’s time as Dean of Women at UVM and details her busy work life. Visits to New York and Maine, and travel across Vermont for conferences, club meetings, and funerals are common in this diary. Mary Jean describes the busyness of UVM summer school, the convocation for UVM’s 150th year, a social work conference in Brattleboro, and attending the Women’s Student Union Association Convention. She also details the death of her Aunt Harriet, her mother’s bout with the flu, and a general sense of weariness from her constant work and travel. A note in late December marks her relief at UVM closing for winter break. Topics in this diary include automobile transportation, Women’s groups, church life including funerals and weddings, UVM’s Sesquicentennial, Social Work, and Mary Jean’s family life.
- Parent Collections: Diaries
Part of: Diaries