Collections

A 271 page dairy written by Beatrice E. Smither, a young woman working at the law firm Williams and Mullen in Richmond, VA. Over the year of 1925, Smither writes about a variety of topics including work, civic and church clubs, politics, family, friends, as well as her romances with two separate men, Cy and George.

Diary of about 100 pages in which Addis records her thoughts and daily activities. Throughout the journal, Addis reports on many books she reads and her impression of them and her interactions with friends, and her career aspirations at a law firm where she works. Addis also writes at length about her feelings and her discovery of her sexual identity as a lesbian. She chronicles her relationship with her neighbor, a married woman named Peg and also other relationships with other women. Addis comments often about her attraction to other women and her desire to have meaningful and enduring relationships with them. Along with the diary is a book, "Dusty Answer" which has been cataloged separately.

A diary spanning three months of entries from Frances Allen, a Virginian girl who wrote about her experiences with family, school, church, and national events such as the anniversary of Armistice Day.

Three letters from Helena C. Koiner, a Virginia-born missionary working in China, to Elizabeth Van Dyck. The first letter details Koiner's departure from San Francisco to Yokohama for China. Describes the people on the boat with her in great detail, including missionary families, Chinese and Japanese families heading home, a few unattached men, and a group "trying to drink themselves to death" before they left port. She also gossips about a nice Dutch scientist with whom she has been playing Bridge and the musical entertainment on board the ship.

Lizzie Earle Cary Daniel (1848-1915) kept this journal from 1875-1883. She titled it "A Life and its Gleanings." The contents include handwritten poetry, philosophical musings, and newspaper clippings. Many clippings are simply layered between the pages by Daniel. The journal is accompanied by a 1916 "Interrogatory for Listing by Taxpayer and Commissioner of Revenue Tangible and Intangible Personal Property, and Money" form.

Diary, formerly mis-titled the Godfrey Alaine Diary. Daily entries by Marion Grundy, a wife of a reverend in the Chicago area of Illinois. All entires are in the first person so discerning her name came from research into the birth and death, and marriage between her and her spouse, Harry. In the four year diary, Marion writes about all seven of her children's birthdays, events of her family, friends, and parishoners, and locations where she is at the time of her entires. Sadly, she also records when her husband of 52 years died and the days after when she is without him.

A diary kept by Mary Plummer Mcllwaine during the year of 1932. Mcllwaine was born in 1889 in Petersburg, VA, and died there in 1973 at the age of 84. Her father worked as a medical doctor in Petersburg, and she continued to live there with her mother and sister "Becca" after his passing. This diary covers Mcllwaine's day-to-day activities over the course of a year; recounting her work with rental properties she managed or owned, church activities she attended, and various family events that occupied her time.

Written immediately after the Civil War (1861-1865) on November 9, 1865, the letter describes the life and community of its author, Louise. The letter outlines the birth of Louise's child, local events in a town identified as Riverside, an incident involving stolen cattle and the shooting of a young man. Written by "Louise" in 1865, the letter describes the life and events of "Riverside" in late 1865.

The collection consists mostly of love letters between Ella-May Abbott of New Orleans, Louisiana and Walter James Rathbun who is based in ship ports in the United States, Europe, Nicaragua and the Panama Canal Zone. Letters from Walter Rathbun's Mother, Mrs. J. Baird of Floral Park, New Jersey and other family members are included.

Viola "Ola" Goodwin was an active leading member in the Women's Christian Temperance movement in Richmond, Virginia and Durham, North Carolina. This collection consists of personal papers, financial records, newspapers, and photographs. Goodwin took notes on sermons given at her local congregation and Sunday school, and collected a variety of booklets and flyers extolling the benefits of temperance. Her correspondence is primarily largely between family members and church acquaintances. Multiple letters are from her nephew Warren, who served as a solider in the United States Army around 1918, and a friend named Lillian McDuffie, who was a missionary in Sierra Leone.