On offer is an archive of nine logbooks and associated ephemera kept by a Boston police officer patrolling in the downtown core during the Great Depression. The police officer who kept these log books is Albert Edward Ellis (1897-1986) , a patrol officer with the Boston Police Department. Prior to entering the force, Ellis served in the US Army during World War I. He married Irene A. Kelley and they lived in Roslindale, MA with their two children, Jeanne and Albert. Ellis became a Mason in 1925. He kept these logs while working in downtown Boston for the Boston Police Department in his 30s. Hi... View More...
On offer is a diary that explores the struggles of an artist and Italian immigrant to the United States. Our diarist is coping with an emotionally abusive relationship, cultural differences with his first-generation American children, and abject poverty at the onset of the second World War and the end of the Great Depression. The author of this diary is Edward Rocco (E. R. ) Montagna. Edward was born in Roccacasale, Italy in 1881 and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1900, at 19. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1910 and was discharged in 1913. Two years later, in 1915... View More...
On offer is the Five Year "A Line A Day" diary of Mrs. Elizabeth Strobel Calaway (1889-1983) from Girard, Pennsylvania. Calaway was a teacher and she wrote religiously and extensively from 1936-1940, when she was aged 47 through 51. Elizabeth was married to George Arthur Calaway [sometimes Caloway], who worked as a contractor. They had one child, Alice Calaway (1916-2010). Elizabeth?s diary demonstrates the unbelievable (and sometimes unbearable) burden on a middle class working woman in 1930s America. Each morning she was up and off to work at her job as a teacher, walking in all weather. Whe... View More...
On offer is an excellent, intensely detailed World War I diary kept by a bright, well-written young man named Harold Edmund (sometimes Edwin) Drake (1897-1987) , who would become a well-respected dentist in his home state of Ohio following his time in the service. Military records show that Drake was trained for service at Camp Crane. He was in the Camp Crane Unit #17 August Automatic Replacement Unit (Medical). Camp Crane was a World War I United States Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) training camp, located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Its mission was to train ambulance drivers to evacuate casu... View More...
On offer is an outstanding firsthand account of a well-connected American reporter stationed in Panama to report on the construction of the Panama canal. This account is particularly fascinating as this reporter was the only one granted access to figures such as Colonel Goethals. This journal highlights internal power struggles that took place in the construction of the Panama Canal. The author of this notebook is reporter John E. Tiedeman. Tiedeman had an extraordinary career as a journalist and a World War 1 US intelligence officer that took him across the globe (see BIO NOTES). In December ... View More...
On offer is a 5-year diary describing in detail the life of a woman in upstate New York during the Great Depression. The author of this diary is Lena J. (Ebblie) Robinson (1889-1963). She is married to William Garrett Robinson (1888-1981) and together they live in Lowville, Lewis County, New York. William was born in New York City and worked in sales, at different points selling real estate and working at a rubber/tire store. Lena was born in Lowville and worked as a teacher. They married in 1914. In 1917, William requested an exemption from the World War 1 US Army draft, claiming his reason f... View More...
On offer is the two-year diary of Ruth Mui-Kang Pau of Foochow, China, who spent 13 years in the United States, completing her education in St. Paul, Minnesota and New York City. During that time she also met and married her beau, Dr. Jiu-Ching Hsia, before returning to China to start their adult lives. Ruth kept this diary during the first two years of married life, during which time the couple visited Singapore and settled in Shanghai. To learn more about Ruth and her husband, Dr. Jiu-Ching (J. C. ) Hsia, and their tragic love story, please see BIO NOTES below. The diary begins on January 1,... View More...
On offer are five diaries dating to the early years of the 20th century written by an avid horseman and hunter. On April 18, 1911 our author gives a brief outline of his personal history, however he does not state his name. We know he was born in 1878 in Baltimore. He attended college and was married in 1902. He traveled ?abroad?. On at least two occasions. He was very involved in the horse racing industry. His 1911 diary lists 30 pages of horses that he has owned. This diary also details his hunting seasons including the horses he rode and the results achieved. He travels extensively in the U... View More...
