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IDA BELVEAL : 1920 - 1923 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT 4 YR DIARY HANDWRITTEN BY AN OKLAHOMA COLLEGE GIRL WITH NOT SO SURPRISING ENTRIES OF THE TIMES: RACISM, MISOGYNY AND ABUSE AMID THE BACKDROP OF POST WORLD WAR I AMERICA AND THE ROARING 20s

16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall. On offer is an original manuscript 4 year diary handwritten by Ida Belveal an Oklahoma woman who lived in the town of Enid in Garfield County. Rarely missing a day through 1920 - 1923 readers are presented with a perplexing woman in many ways. Ida in four to six sentences selflessly tells us of her daily life as it was after World War I, in the 'Roaring 20s'; she was a college student and had many friends and boyfriends; she writes of going to school, her studies; dating Chuck, breaking up with Chuck; dating and becoming engaged to Carisle, then breaking up with Carisle; dating "Prof." (Earl W. Oberg), breaking it off with "Prof" then dating "O.B." and then back to dating the "Prof" and becoming engaged to him; she also writes of the spats and arguments that she has; playing her violin, relining her furs, her folks going to the oil fields; going to see a Charlie Chaplin show; taking long vacations/trips with "Prof"; driving to Boston and much more. But the there are the chilling reading at times when she casually writes August 1, 1922 'Prof beat me up' and then just as casually her movements through Boston including a trip to the Aquarium and getting the dog fixed in the same entry. Earlier in March of 1922 she writes: 'Prof was mad about my ring. Sorry.' makes for an enigmatic comment amidst banal notations of her day. Did she lose it? Did she give it back to him? Sociologist and students of Women's or Gender Studies will have a field day profiling this woman's psyche in post World War I Oklahoma. Then there are the references to Klan meetings to make one nervous and quite interesting is that in her entries, she makes a point of noting if someone is a "Negro" and she writes of going to see K.K.K., "hunting" a "Negro Meeting"; going to Akron Ohio & meeting the K.K.K. One darkly wonders what a closer read will bring. As a diarist Ida does a good job identifying those around her: Leo McKnights, Oscar Seigel, Mary DeBusk, Arthur Taft, Mary Thompson, Bessie Smith, Harry Byrd, Clarence DeBush, Bessie Miller, Ray Atwood, Kathleen Movourneen, Burk Burnett, Ethel Muir, Mildred Cains, Claralee Hainey, Harry Byrd, Ella Wales, Nina White, Geo Hoyt, Chuck, Golda, Elsie Dunbar, Mary Beards, Joe Milam, Lawrence Stewart, Ida Wakefield, Charley Norris, Eva Nelson and many others. Some of the places she mentions are: Medford, Billings, Belton, Chickasha, Rialto, Shawnee, Duncan, El Reno, Oxford, Deer Creek, Drury, Pond Creek, Bartlesville, Covington and others. BIO NOTES: Ida was born in April 1897 to Francis Marion "Frank" Beveal and Myrtle Goldena Mansfield-Beveal. She had six siblings, Matilda, Goldena, Price, Marion, Martin, and Sally. The diary measures 3 1/2" x 5 3/4" and it is VG.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Very Good

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