Diaries and Journals

Hazelle Myra Allen Brooks graduated from Dickinson College in 1934. This collection contains diaries kept by her as a college student and as a young mother during World War II. It also includes diaries kept by her mother, Essie Myra Comstock Allen.

The collection consists of the papers of Charles Gilbert Beetem, a Carlisle, PA rug manufacturer, local historian and genealogist, amateur artist, and omnivorous collector. Diaries, manuscripts, letters, advertisements, greeting cards, and extensive runs of Philadelphia and Carlisle turn-of-the-century theater programs are all included in the collection, as well as accounts of Carlisle and Cumberland County history. College memorabilia includes his own drawings for Dickinson's yearbook. The collection also contains the Conodoquinet Yacht Club Archives. Miscellaneous materials include journals and accounts for homes he designed and built as well as those for proposed real estate development in Carlisle. The correspondence reflects Beetem's longtime interest in U. S. island possessions, which is the subject of his large collection of publications and books housed in our library.

The collection consists mainly of correspondence between Arba Blodget (1879-1949), a Philadelphia drama critic and playwright, and his wife Laura and her family. Blodget and his wife had been separated early in their marriage due to his traveling with a theater company; often their only means of contact was via letters. There are also a few miscellaneous materials, such as the journal kept by Blodget beginning in October 1910, and accounts of his theatrical productions. Also included in this collection is a large amount of material relating to the Spooner family, who appear to have been connected to Laura Blodget's family; Charles Spooner was involved with John D. Rockefeller in the founding of the Standard Oil Company. The bulk of the Spooner portion of the collection focuses on the personal and financial correspondence of the family.

Thomas Emerson Bond, Sr., was a well-known Methodist Episcopal minister and author who served as a trustee of Dickinson College from 1833 until 1835. The collection includes correspondence to and from Bond dating mostly from 1840-1848, as well as journals and records of the Methodist ministry of John Wesley Bond from 1814-1818. Also included are documents of several Methodist Conferences.

This collection is comprised of three journals containing notes on lectures delivered by Pieter Burman during his tenure at the University of Leiden, sometime between 1715 and 1740. It is not known precisely who took these notes. The notebooks themselves are believed to have been donated to Dickinson College by Rev. John Erskine not long after the college was founded, as the binding and content is consistent with numerous other works he donated.

Burman’s lectures follow the basic structure of Torsellino’s History, (i.e. the division of chapters and sections), but they expand on those divisions, adding further information and context. More specifically, the focus of the lectures appears to be on the language, history, and poetry of the United Provinces.

The lectures are recorded through three journals. The first journal, Volume 1, contains a prologue as well as Book I of Torsellino’s History, concerning biblical history divided according to important figures and patriarchs. The second journal, Volume 2, follows Torsellino’s Books V-VIII. The third journal, Volume 3, follows Torsellino’s Books IX-X.

The collections consists of the diaries of Joseph Clemens and his wife, Mary Knapp Strong Clemens. Joseph Clemens was born in Cornwall, England. He left England and entered Dickinson College at the age of 28, graduating in the class of 1894. He entered the Methodist ministry and served as a United States Army Chaplain, 1901-1918. After studying at the University of Southern California from 1912 to 1922, he returned to the Far East as an evangelist and botanist, working in the Philippines and in New Guinea; it was there that he died during a botanical expedition. Joseph Clemens' diaries cover his early career as a student and chaplain: 1892-93, 1895-98, and 1902-21; Mary Clemens' diaries are from 1903 and 1905.

Charles Collins (1813-1875) was a native of Maine and a graduate of Wesleyan University (1837); he served as president of Emory and Henry College (1838-1852), of Dickinson College (1852-1860) and as proprietor and President of State Female College in Memphis, Tenn. (1860-1875). The collection consists of correspondence, financial materials, literary materials, and printed materials. There are only minor amounts of correspondence, financial and printed materials. The bulk of the collection is the literary materials which include diaries, memoranda books, and compilations of sermons. The diaries cover Collins' spiritual life, his early presidency of Dickinson College, his decisions to leave Dickinson, and the effects of the Civil War in Memphis. The diary dated 1842-1874 has very scattered entries while the 1855-1872 diary contains copies of Collins' correspondence. Much of the financial material relates to Dickinson College, including two account books for subscriptions to the college and to a special telescope fund.

Three journals in this collection have been digitized and are available for reading online (see links for related entries below).

Moncure Daniel Conway was born into a southern aristocratic family, but ultimately became one of the nation's leading abolitionists and humanitarians. Conway was a graduate of Dickinson College in 1849 and was trained for the ministry at Harvard Divinity School. The collection consists mainly of correspondence relating to all phases of Conway's career; his student days at Dickinson and at Harvard, his anti-slavery witness, and his pastorate at South Place Chapel in London. His letters reflect his wide acquaintance with leading intellectual and political figures of his day; some of his correspondents include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Dr. Annie Besant.

The journal in this collection has been digitized and is available for reading online (see the link for related entries below).

Thomas Creigh (1808-1880), Dickinson Class of 1828, attended Princeton Theological Seminary and was ordained by the Carlisle Presbytery in 1831. He served as a pastor in Mercersburg, Pa. The collection includes two notebooks from Creigh's student days at Dickinson College. The first notebook dates from 1827 to 1828 and contains lecture notes from William Neill's "Revealed Religion" class and Alexander McClelland's "Metaphysics" class. The second notebook contains a variety of original compositions, including poems, essays, and copies of correspondence dating from 1824 to 1827. The collection also includes two letters from Creigh to James Hamilton written in 1862 and 1872.

Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson (1737-1801) was a Philadelphia writer who was known for hosting literary salons attended by individuals such as John Dickinson, Jacob Duché, Francis Hopkinson, Dr. Benjamin Rush, and Annis Boudinot Stockton. The collection consists of a commonplace book compiled by Fergusson that contains handwritten poems and transcriptions of correspondence dating from 1770 to 1787. The poetry includes odes, elegies, and neoclassical-style poems written by Fergusson and others, such as her husband, Henry Hugh Fergusson; her niece, Anna Young Smith; and Francis Hopkinson. The book also includes transcriptions of correspondence between Fergusson and Anna Young Smith and Elias Boudinet, as well as correspondence between Smith and her husband, Dr. William Smith.

The commonplace book has been completely digitized and is available for reading online (see link for related entries below).

The collection consists primarily of travel journals of Thomas and Jabez Fisher, sons of Joshua Fisher, a businessman in Philadelphia shipping prior to the Revolutionary War. The journals offer detailed accounts of travel to Europe in the 1760s and 1770s. In addition, a small amount of business account information is included, along with three personal journals of Sarah Logan Fisher Wister, granddaughter of Thomas Fisher.

The collection consists of the diaries of Zenanah Gilbert and Dora Gilbert Tompkins; very little else is known about either woman. Gilbert was born in Rome, New York on January 31, 1784; her family ran a guest house in town. Tompkins was born in Knoxville, Illinois, and was a schoolteacher. Gilbert's diary is dated 1805-1809 and describes the typical life of a young woman in the early part of the nineteenth century: household chores, social events, the simple joys of friendship, the depression of being alone. The diary has been written in a code created by Gilbert but has been deciphered and transcribed.

The diary of Tompkins contrasts that of Gilbert, describing her studies as well as her lessons prepared for her students; however, she too enjoyed the simple joys derived from friendship and bike riding. Tompkins mentions the explosion aboard the U.S.S. Maine on February 25, 1898 and is fearful that war is imminent. Miscellaneous items in the collection include a sample of Henry S. Chaffer's handwriting and fragments of the Gilbert family pedigree.

The collection consists of materials relating to Ethelyn Hardesty's student days at Dickinson College, including a scrapbook, 1899-1902, class and lecture notes, grade reports, and a diary. After graduating in 1902, Hardesty taught high school in Lock Haven, PA. She married Dr. C. Grant Cleaver, Dickinson class of 1894. Both she and her husband were active in alumni activities.

The bulk of the diaries is a day by day account of Harnish's life in Carlisle - what he did, whom he saw, etc. Four diaries contain accounts of his years at Dickinson College: accounts of the social life, (Theta Chi fraternity), and academic information - not greatly detailed. Also included are detailed accounts of his joining the army, his search for summer employment, and his financial endeavors - particularly the Chicken Account- and descriptions of profit/expenses of raising his chickens. The diaries end with descriptions of his life as a teacher in Chicago.

This collection primarily provides evidence of the personal and professional life of Charles Francis Himes, student, photographer, scientist, teacher, administrator, amateur historian and father. Also found in this collection is evidence of the lives of family members including, most notably, C. F. Himes' wife Mary and her father Joseph A. Murray. Information on Dickinson College is featured prominently throughout this collection through the close association of C. F. Himes with the institution during most of his life. Beyond family and institutional history, this collection offers information on a number of social, political, economic, and historic topics. Some of these broader topics include post-secondary education in the latter half of the nineteenth century, south central Pennsylvania society, the history of photography, and nineteenth century travel.

This collection consists of correspondence, journals, photographs, and other personal papers of Kerry Shawn Keys, poet, editor, translator, and cultural liaison. He has authored more than 40 books of poetry and prose and translated more than a dozen other works from Portuguese, Czech, and Lithuanian. (Publications can be found by searching the library online catalog.) He has taught at Penn State University, Harrisburg Area Community College, Dickinson College, and Vilnius University. He has received the Robert H. Winner Memorial Prize from the Poetry Society of America, the Translation Laureate Award from the Lithuanian Writers Union, and a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship.

Horatio Collins King was the son of Postmaster General Horatio King and the nephew of Dickinson College President Charles Collins. A graduate of Dickinson College, class of 1858, King was admitted to the bar in 1861 and saw active service in the Civil War from 1862 until 1865. A songwriter, King composed the Dickinson Alma Mater, among other works. The collection contains King's correspondence, diaries, and copies of his songs. Topics in correspondence and diaries include student life, Civil War, and democratic politics.

The journals in this collection are available for reading online (see links for related entries below).

The Jane Lee collection consists of the various papers, court dockets, government documents, and newspaper clippings collected by Lee in the years following the accident at Three Mile Island. Jane Lee, a farmer from Etters, Pennsylvania, became active in various public-awareness groups such as Three Mile Island Alert following the accident at the Three Mile Island Nucler Station on March 28, 1979. Over the years she dedicated a considerable amount of time and energy to the fight against the restart of Three Mile Island.

Zatae Longsdorff Straw (1866-1955) was the first woman graduate of Dickinson College as a member of the class of 1887; she went on to a successful career as a doctor and politician. The collection of her papers includes correspondence, printed and manuscript materials, scrapbooks and scrapbook materials, photographs, and artifacts. The bulk of the documents in this collection focuses on Zatae's life in Manchester, New Hampshire, both private and professional. There are some items, however, about her life at Dickinson, namely her dress and medal for the Pierson Prize in Oratory, 1886, and her writing desk.

This collection primarily provides evidence of the personal and public life of Frank E. Masland Jr., environmentalist, preservationist, explorer, entrepreneur, author, and community leader.  Also found in this collection is correspondence from prominent twentieth-century figures such as leaders of the National Park Service, journalists, politicians throughout the world, and American presidents. Information on Dickinson College is featured prominently throughout this collection through the close association of Masland with the institution during most of his life. This collection offers information on a number of social, political, economic, and historic topics through the eyes of a man who witnessed nearly the entire twentieth century.  Some of these broader topics include the industrialization of the United States, south central Pennsylvania community, the rise of environmentalism, reactions to communism, the rise of the New Left, and twentieth-century exploration. The processing of this collection was made possible by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

William C. McPherson graduated from Dickinson College in 1829 before beginning a life-long career as a physician. The collection is comprised of two diaries that contain entries dating from his college days, some notes from medical school lectures, and his post-college daily life in Marietta, Pennsylvania.

Myrl Myers graduated from Dickinson College in 1906. Beginning as a student interpreter for the American Legation in Peking (Beijing) in 1907, he spent the next 40 years serving in various U.S. diplomatic posts in China. The journals and other items in this collection reflect some of his earlier appointments (1907-11) and later ones (1941-46).