Collections

The collection contains eleven diaries written by Isabel Myers Brinckerhoff between 1916 and 1935, accompanied by four folders of loose ephemera, letters, clippings, and manuscripts. The materials document approximately twenty years of Brinckerhoff's life from her time as a student at Christian College through early marriage, her relocation to California, motherhood, divorce, and later relationships. The first four diaries document Isabel's college years from 1916 to 1919; the final seven diaries document her life in the Los Angeles area. However, Isabel spent 1931 in Reno, Nevada, and 1932 and 1933 in Oakland, California, before returning to L.A. later in 1933, where she remained through 1935.

This collection contains the diary of Jennie M. Bromley Butler (1860-1948) who lived in Rockville, Connecticut. The diary documents her life after returning from her honeymoon with her husband, Edward Butler, and their first decade of marriage. The entries are dated from 1887 to 1898. She records her traveling experiences, including their honeymoon trip to Montreal, other trips to New York and Philadelphia, and summer and weekend trips. She also records her day-to-day life, which includes her relationship and visits with her mother, notes about health and headaches, observations of fashion and objects, and her experiences as a mother. She also reports on the community around her, noting stillbirths and deaths, and writes of her grief after her mother died. Also interspersed in the diary are quotations and prayers. The diary measures roughly 8 x 6.5 inches with marbled boards. Sixty-five pages contain entries, and the remaining leaves are blank. There is also some tipped-in material including a handwritten biography of Ernest Butler, a page of reflections, and a letter from 1862 regarding a William Butler.