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UNNAMED YOUNG WOMAN : 1920s FOUR YEAR DIARY OF A LOVING DAUGHTER, ACTIVE CHURCH AND CHOIR PARTICIPANT, WOMEN’S ACTIVIST AND MODERN WOMAN, LIVING IN POST WWI SMALL TOWN PENNSYLVANIA

8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. On offer is the diary of young woman, active in religious and women’s causes living in Meadville, in western Pennsylvania. She is incredibly close with her mother, with whom she spends much of her time away from work. She is an active church goer, going every Sunday. She often remarks on who gave the sermon and its topic, though she does not reflect on the sermon herself. She also goes to Sunday School quite often, implying that she is a younger woman, probably in her late teenage years or early 20s. She lives with a man named Frank, who is most probably her husband, though she does not refer to him as such. The diary goes from the April 1921 to the end of 1924, though the diary entries are occasionally sporadic and inconsistent. In 1921, the author and her mother go on vacation in August. They take a train to Cleveland then a boat to Detroit (“the boat ‘Western State.’”). They spend a couple days in Detroit, shopping and touring the city in a tour bus, then they take a train to Chicago. In Chicago they go shopping, go to a Christian Science Church, see a movie and visit old friends. She works at the Mechanical Engineer’s Office of the Erie Railroad, doing what she refers to often as ‘valuation work’. In November, she goes with her coworker Blanche to Atlanta, Georgia for work duties. In Atlanta, she goes to Stone Mountain, Oglethorpe University, and other parts of the city. She does not go into too much detail about the city, other than remarking that Stone Mountain had “lots of red sticky mud.” The last entry of 1921 is November 18th, the last day in Atlanta and the train ride back home. After a couple of blank pages, the entries for 1922 begin. For the month of February and March, the author is very good at writing in the diary for most days. The entries are much like the ones in 1921. She goes to church every sunday, often going to Sunday School as well. She goes shopping, has dinner with friends and family, goes to the occasional party, attends choir practice once a week or so, works Monday through Friday, and leaves Butler with her mother once or twice to go shopping and have dinner in another city, often Jamestown, Pennsylvania. She also belongs to the Women’s Alliance in Butler, who often hold dinners and business meetings. And as stated before, she is an active member of her Presbyterian Church. After March 30th, there are only two entries for the month of April. The diary picks up on May 1st and is consistent until early July, when it stops again until October 1. 1923 begins on January 7th and is consistent for the first few months of the year. It becomes infrequent again as the year goes on and there are few entries for the months of March, April, May, and June. The entries that are there for those months are similar to the ones before them. In July she mentions her friend Elva Loper getting married, and under the entry is a small cut out of a newspaper in which Elva Loper’s marriage is reported. In late July, the author and her mother go to Jamestown, PA to spend a week of vacation at a friend’s cottage on Lake Chautauqua in the town of Lakewood, New York. In late August, the author and her mother take a vacation to Toronto, stopping along the way at Niagara Falls. In Toronto, ‘we took the trolley out to the Exhibition grounds and spent the day going through the different buildings and seeing many wonderful things.” That day, they see a fantastic performance of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, see ‘Auto Polo races with Ford cars’ and a gorgeous chorus ‘composed of the choirs of the different churches in Toronto of about 250 voices.’ Finally they end the night with fireworks. Near the end of the year, the author is kept consistently busy with work and with choral obligations in the holiday season. She and the ‘Meadville Choral Society’ travel to other small towns in western Pennsylvania to sing with other choirs. The entries of 1924 are pretty consistent throughout the year. In February, the author and her friend Rosamund Schultz go to New York City for winter vacation. In New York, they do various tourist activities. They visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, go to Battery Park and gaze at the Statue of Liberty, go to an Aquarium, walk up and down Broadway, see the musical comedy ‘Wildflower,’ and shop. It is also apparent both of them have been to the city before, as they meet old friends and have dinner with different company each night. When she arrives back in Meadville, she is in high spirits and spends a day ‘talking about Little Old New York.’ The rest of the year is much the same as the previous entries. During the months of September and October, the author is writing almost every day. There are only a few entries for November, and the last two entries of the book are the only ones written in the month of December. June 5, 1921: “Today was Children’s Day at the church. A few songs were sung by the S. S. & congregation, the children repeated the 19th Psalm which they learned & Mrs. Smith gave a twenty minute talk. The christening of the babies took place at the beginning of the service. Feb. 1, 1923: “...I went to Choral Society where we are studying Elijah under direction of Prof. Lee Hese Barnes. After Choral we stopped in at anita’s and she and Zettie served hot chocolate and sandwiches. Ida Mae Bacher was there also. Eleanor told our fortunes which were very interesting. We planned for a (?) supper for Friday evening to be a Phillip’s home. Very grey weather and rain tonight.”October 15, 1923: “Rosamond Schultz began work in our office today. She took the clerical work I used to do. Glada decided today that she would quit at the Erie and go to Cleveland with Homie Parker. The alliance meeting was this evening, the date being postponed as to have miss Mary J. Gill of Milton, Mass with us. She came in the interest of the Friendly Link. Mrs. Green gave the supper and Mother and Mrs. Mosley helped. May 31, 1924: “Mother and I went to Youngstown on train #5 this morning. I bought two dresses, a black canton crepe at Mc. Kelvey’s, price 9.95 and a silk crepe at Strouss-Hirshberg’s for 14.95.” Nov. 17, 1924: "The Japanese student at the Theological School prepared a Chow Mein supper for the public under the auspices of the Hale League. Fine supper and big crowd. Had to turn some away. There was an entertainment after supper...Some of the student gave a short minstrel performance which was a scream. Dancing followed all this for 60¢". Manuscript. Book Condition: Good

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