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Preferred Citation:

Diary (Eastern United States), Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information:

Purchase.

Processing Information:

Accessioned and minimally described  in April 2010 by Ute Schechter, Warren E. Burger Archivist.

Scope and Contents

Diary, 1915, titled "Seeing America First." In this diary, an unidentified couple of Worcester, Massachusetts, describes travels which includes stops in New York City; Pennsylvania; Delaware; Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; Luray, Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; Montgomery, Alabama; Mobile, Alabama; and New Orleans, Louisiana. Descriptions are very detailed and list not only sights visited, but comment at length on the social life and customs of places visited.  Diary includes comments on billboards, New York Symphony, Lexington Market (Baltimore), John Hopkins, Synagogues (with derogatory comment), Georgetown ("particulary dingy and unattractive"), Arlington Cemetery, Mount Vernon, Natural Bridge and many other sights. There are quite a few comments on the Civil War, the Confederacy, and economic conditions of the South, etc. mostly of a critical nature. Several statements reveal a racist attitude of the travelers.

Authors mention on at least two occasion that they encountered Burton Holmes, who is known for his travel lectures.

The diary ends in New Orleans as the travelers embark on a train ride across the country to Arizona.

Also contains a few items typically found in scrapbooks, like informational fliers for tourists, and clippings from magazines, as well as a miniature Confederate flag.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Diaries
• East (U.S.)--Description and travel
• Flags
• Fliers (printed matter)
• Postcards
• Richmond (Va.)--Description and travel
• Scrapbooks
• Southern States--Description and travel
• United States--Description and travel