Collections

Diary of an affluent woman living in Richmond, Virginia in the mid-19th century. Her writings include passages about her children, John and Charles, the books she was reading, and her interest in learning to play the piano and speaking French. Roughly half of the pages are filled with writings. Calculations and records for household expenses are written in the back of the diary. A newspaper clipping of "A Song of Affection" is placed between the pages. This diary provides the rare but sheltered perspective of a wealthy, educated white woman in the antebellum south in the years leading up to and after the American Civil War.

Diary of Caroline Hotaling of Onondaga County, New York, describing in brief daily entries her daily work, weather, household chores and other activities for the year 1870.

Papers, 1920s-1941, of Coral Patridge of New York, New York. Includes a travel diary of a trip she took by train from New York to New Mexico in the 1920s. Also includes 29 photographic prints, 9 of which feature New York City; some of the photographs also have descriptive information on the back. There is also an address book, a postcard sent from Germany, and a card with the history of the name "Patridge."

Diaries; 1922-1967, of Eleanor Wormley Perrin of "Goshen," Gloucester County, Va. These forty-five diaries span nearly a half century, from 1922 to 1967, and document life in 20th century Virginia. Perrin's diaries discuss local events, female social life, national events such as wars and politics, hurricanes, the death of family and friends, and other topics. Toward the end of Perrins's life her diary entries increase in length and intimateness, often expressing loneliness and reflecting upon the complexities of life.

Papers, 1736-1945, of and collected by Fairfax Harrison. Papers collected include colonial era documents, deeds, surveys, the diary of Sally Fairfax (1771-1772), legal papers, a copy of the Dettingen Parish (Prince William County, Va.) vestry book which contains minutes, indentures, and other (1745-1802), and photostat copy of the letterbook (1801) of Col. John Tayloe of Mount Airy, Va. Fairfax Harrison's papers include his correspondence with individuals and institutions concerning his interest in Virginia History. Prominent correspondents include John Stewart Bryan, David I. Bushnell, Worthington C. Ford, Douglas Southall Freeman, William G. Stanard, Clayton Torrence, Earl Gregg Swem, Lyon G. Tyler and Langbourne M. Williams. Subjects include Sir Edmund Andros,Francis Nicholson, Francis Fauquier, debtors' prisons, parish boundaries, Culpeper family, thoroughbred horses, county records, and the publishing of Harrison's works as well as the publishing of Robert Armistead Stewart's Index to Printed Virginia Genealogies and E. G. Swem's Virginia Historical Index. The collection also includes notes by Wilson Miles Cary concerning the Cary family and the books at "Carysbrook," Fluvanna County, Va.

Diary of Henrietta S. Fitzhugh of a trip. Includes letters concerning the diary, the Washington, Fitzhugh and Meade Families genealogy, news clippings concerning Washington land, Washington royal blood and family obituaries, pencil drawing of a Washington silhouette, letter with Fitzhugh/Meade genealogy information, Colonial Dames invitation to unveiling of tablet in memory of George Washington at Ravenswood, West Virginia (1932), and correspondence with Mrs. Archie Q. Brockenbrough of New York.

Diaries, 1951-1980, of Hester Barrows of Fulton, New York. Diary entries include information about her daily life, her travels, weather, activities she participated in with friends, and other events.

Includes manuscripts of poetry written by Julia Selden Grandy who lived in Norfolk, Va. and Baltimore, Md. as well as short stories by Grandy; translations by Grandy of French poetry written by Stephen Mallarme (1842-1898); diaries kept while in school in New York and on trips to Paris and London; published books by Grandy; and scrapbooks. Includes a biography, poem and her obituary.

Diary, 1890-1897, of Katherine Hamilton of Shreveport, Louisiana. The first part of the diary details a trip that Hamilton took to Europe aboard the steamship Scythia, from June 1890 to September 1890. The next part of her diary details a trip that Hamilton took to New Orleans in December 1892. The rest of the diary includes very brief entries about particular days, including when she visited Chicago for the World's Fair in 1893.

Lizzie Earle Cary Daniel (1848-1915) kept this journal from 1875-1883. She titled it "A Life and its Gleanings." The contents include handwritten poetry, philosophical musings, and newspaper clippings. Many clippings are simply layered between the pages by Daniel. The journal is accompanied by a 1916 "Interrogatory for Listing by Taxpayer and Commissioner of Revenue Tangible and Intangible Personal Property, and Money" form.