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MSS 16940, Isabel Myers Brinckerhoff papers, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.
This collection has been minimally processed and is open for research.
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.
The diaries contain manuscript entries with tipped or pasted materials, including letters, news clippings, photographs, dried flowers, college ephemera, household budgets, manuscript poetry, and notes. Early volumes focus on college life, friendships, courtship, and musical study; later volumes document married life, domestic responsibilities, relocation, parenting, and the dissolution of her marriage. Diaries from the 1930s include extensive material on romantic relationships, daily life, and Brinckerhoff's accounts of domestic abuse. Loose materials include business and calling cards; receipts; event tickets; household ephemera; personal correspondence from family members, her husband, daughter, and later romantic partners; news clippings on social events; poetry; literature on community activities; and descriptions of family matters. Of particular note, in the manuscripts and typescripts folder, is a detailed list of Brinckerhoff's accounts of domestic abuse with her later partner, Roy Hall.
This material contains references to domestic violence. The purpose of this note is to give users the opportunity to decide whether they need or want to view these materials, or at least, to mentally or emotionally prepare themselves to view the materials.
Isabel Mildred Myers Juhl, poet and pianist, was born in Kansass on May 6, 1897, and spent her early adulthood in Missouri, Kansas, California, and Nevada. Raised principally in Fort Scott, Kansas, she later attended Christian College in Columbia, Missouri between 1916 and 1918, recording her academic and social experiences in her diaries. She married Philip "Sunny" Brinckerhoff in July 1918 and subsequently relocated to Hollywood, California, where the couple lived with his family and later had a daughter, Joyce. Following her divorce from Philip in Reno in 1931, she lived in Oakland and Los Angeles. She remarried Roy Hall in 1936 and had a son,Ron, with him. She remarried again to Curt Juhl in 1940 taking his last name. She died on January 23, 1985. She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles, California.
References
"Isabel Mildred Myers Juhl." Find-a-Grave. Accessed February 16, 2026. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7737200/isabel_mildred_myers-juhl
"Collection of Diaries and Assorted Materials of Isabel Brinckerhoff (1916–1935)." Biblio. Accessed February 16, 2026. https://www.biblio.com/book/collection-diaries-assorted-materials-isabel-brinckerhoff/d/1582968654
This collection was purchased from Marginalia by the Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia on 19 December 2025.
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Envelope containing assortment of 15 business and calling cards, library and tuition receipts, recipes and grocery lists, Pullman tickets, and car insurance.
15 cards and letters to Isabel from her parents, her husband, her lovers, and her daughter. Notable is a typed note from her mother with a photo of her childhood home, mentioning that she is working on a family history titled "Today, the Tomorrow of Yesterday." Additionally included are a clean copy of Isabel Myers and Philip Brinckerhoffs wedding invitation and a typed notice from Christian College regarding overdue fees.
An assortment of 27 news clippings. Included are poems related to home, motherhood, loneliness, and hope; society news including friends' wedding announcements (including her friend Helen, for whom she would later document a testament of abuse for divorce proceedings), events community activism led by her mother (as well as coverage of her mother's near-fatal car accident), and beauty ads with advice.
This folder contains eleven manuscripts and typescripts, some with copied poetry (including Rudyard Kipling) as well as original work (some of which is discussed in corresponding diaries during the drafting process). A handwritten account on the recto of an envelope documents the abuse Helen suffered from her husband "taken straight from Helen's lips" on Nov 30, 1921 as "testimony to be used in case of divorce" as well as a 1938 three page account of her own abuse by longtime partner Roy Hall; and a manuscript letter apparently imagining a post divorce conversation with Philip.
This material contains materials that document domestic violence. It also contains racisist language.
The purpose of this note is to give users the opportunity to decide whether they want to view these materials, or at least, to mentally or emotionally prepare themselves to view the materials.
Contains a diary which includes a tipped in loose manuscript note, one dried flower, and an article affixed to the rear pastedown. This diary documents her time at school and her early experiences of living away from home, learning to form female friendships and resolve conflict, and how she would like to comport herself in the face of crushes and sexual attractions. Content also includes her work writing and on piano, which remains a consistent focus during her school diaries. Towards the back of the diary are photographs and autobiographies of classmates and roommates. These include photos, profiles, sayings, and information on favorite gathering spots.
Portrait at front endpaper, pasted in photos, pinned and inserted ephemera and original art related to sorority events, sports matches, and friends. College life, including movies and off campus events, are a focus. Friendships and courtships become more important as war looms.
Numerous letters, news clippings, college ephemera, and envelope of dried petals laid in loosely along with photos pasted in throughout. By this time, she is considering her future beyond the college, including but not limited to marriage. Several pages (with photos) are dedicated to a young man named Bob White who has left to the war. She also documents her wedding to Philip in July, noting that she wore "the dress I had worn in the concert at the end of the year and had such a wonderful ride that nite with Bob." Of her new husband, she reports that she had decided "I'll take a chance...where will a reckless girl like that end?"
Assorted letters and notes laid in loosely. Notable is the shift in ownership signature from "Isabel Myers" to "Isabel Brinckerhoff." The author feels restless and in limbo, having returned to campus married and struggling with how to fulfill two parts of herself.
Three letters from college friends (within two envelopes) at rear, house plans pasted in, and household budgets on the rear pastedown. This is the first diary to be titled "Married Life" rather than "Diary of Izzy at Boarding School." Much of the content focuses on major life changes including relocation to California, living with Philip's family in the early period of marriage, and trying to understand how her selfhood and her new social role align. She begins addressing her diary as "Betty," as though speaking to a friend. She also becomes a mother.
Loose clippings and manuscript notes laid in at front. A throughline of this period is the struggle to continue with and evolve in music and the struggle to follow the expectations of others.
Numerous news clippings, letters, and manuscript laid in loosely. The diary begins on November 11, 1931 and reflects on on Armistice day, her divorce from Philip and her new life. Part of this life includes the experiences of taking lovers, including Virgil (or "Virge") and the courtship of Roy Hall, a local philanthropist and businessman.
Poetry and letters laid in at front. Focuses on daily life, motherhood, her relationship with Virge, and entering a relationship with Roy Hall.
Numerous letters,poems, and manuscripts laid in. This and the next two diaries can be read in concert with the author's later 1938 outline of Roy Hall's abuse, which brings new light to her discussions of the ups and downs of their home.
Majority of content emphasizes the author's unhappiness being attached to her abusive partner, Roy, and her concerns for herself and her daughter. Her love for her daughter is also a focus.
A five year diary used for only one year, with pages densely filled. Assorted clippings and notes inserted or pasted throughout. The entries discusses her relationship with Roy including the domestic abuse she faces. She also documents her love and care for her her daughter and new creative inspiration.
This material contains materials that document domestic violence. The purpose of this note is to give users the opportunity to decide whether they want to view these materials, or at least, to mentally or emotionally prepare themselves to view the materials.