This may sound strange, but I love reading the diaries of dead people. My first book, The Way of Improvement Leads Home, told the story of one of early America’s most prolific diarists. While reading The Guardian last night, Amelia’s...
diaries
How Future Historians Might Use Your Quarantine Diary
A couple weeks ago I encouraged everyone to keep a coronavirus diary. Read that post here. Over at The New York Times, Amelia Nierenberg reports on the diaries and journals that “tell the story of an anxious, claustrophobic world on pause.” ...
Diary Journal of the Day
Every now and then one finds a nugget like this: “Francis the Hermit died aged 66 years. Lived 25 years in a Cave between this [Burlington, NJ) and Mount Holy [NJ].” -Diary of James Craft (1743-1808), January 19, 1778....
Diary Entry of the Day
More James Craft from Burlington, NJ: “[Saw] Man on a Hogshead with a Label fixed to his breast with these words: ‘I Thomas Butler, stand here, for unlawfully killing and stealing a Steer graizing in the Pines.” James Craft Journal, November...
When You Find Your Grandfather’s Journals and They Are Amazing
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-BhzcS2UNw&w=560&h=315] Context...
Elizabeth Craft’s Diary, 1770-1771
Over at The Beehive, the blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Erin Weinman introduces us to the diary of Elizabeth Craft White. From December 27, 1770 to January 23, 1771 White wrote about her spiritual life in the wake of...