Friday, November 11, 2005

Dear Diary (And Mother)

I was searching for something and came across this free Online Diary which made me curious about other diaries, especially 1800's ones. I came across some very interesting hits.

Birth Diaries (warning for those child-less woman - some of the photos are very graphic, it really isn't that bad, no, really), Shanghai Diaries is a website about Shanghai, China. Writing helps you organize your thoughts, express your feelings, and explore new dimensions of your inner self at private journal. Of course, I am sure there are many Travel Diaries, but I just found this one in my quick search. Depressing but there online - Death Row Diaries.

Something to write you words in - Ultra Suede Bound Journal and World of Journals® from Written Moments.

And then some great historic diaries. Diaries, Memoirs, Letters and Reports Along The Trails West. Letters and diaries from ehistory. I thought this was interesting: Why do historians value diaries and letters.

Heartfelt diaries and insights of soldiers from wars. First World War Diary. Melville Cox Follett - Civil War Diary: Jan. 24th-Nov.7th, 1863. Prairie Settlement: Nebraska Photographs and Family Letters, 1862-1912. 1862 Diary of Isaac Hurlburt. I love this one (and have either read a book or seen a PBS special on her) Martha Ballard wrote her diary. Dear Mother - a letter that John Lester Prater wrote to his mother in 1918. Rachel Halsey's 1914 diary "My Trip Abroad".

This entry when on February 14, 1884, Theodore Roosevelt received a terrible blow-both his wife and mother died within hours of one another in the Roosevelt house in New York City.
Extensive diaries of George Washington. The diary was written by a 15-year-old Rhode Island girl.

1 comment:

Maureen said...

Ah, Kim - that's a wonderful, rich diverse list of diary info on the web... I was so touched by the Roosevelt one-line diary entry on the day his wife and mother died! I have felt that exact same thing and it is SO powerful seeing it in his handwriting, just that one stark line of ink hanging, poised, utterly filled with grief and emptied of joy, light, life. It really comes across in that photo. No wonder historians value personal diaries and journals! Think of how that looks in Roosevelt's own hand versus the impact it might have if it were just re-typed onto a printed page... so much more intense and powerful seeing (a photo of) the actual journal page. Thanks for including that link.