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Showing 11 - 20 of 31 Records

Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1939
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    • Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
    • Date Created: 1939
    • Description: In this diary Mary Jean spends the spring semester at UVM attending YWCA meetings, a Committee on the Worlds Fair, traveling to a Dean’s convention in Cleveland Ohio, visiting John in NYC, going to Phi Beta Kappa events, sorority luncheons, faculty meetings, and attending various student life events. Due to the busy nature of her life, some weeks in this diary are akin to a daily planner for Mary Jean. During the summer months, Mary Jean regularly goes to church, has dinner with friends, works on the Fletcher Farm, and occasionally goes out to see movies. Returning to work at UVM in the fall leaves her with a busy schedule involved in student social affairs and faculty business, once again attending regular meetings and conferences including the Ladies of Faculty, Phi Beta Kappa, and the YWCA. Ending out her year is a lively description of time spent with family around the Christmas holiday. Topics in this diary include student and faculty life at UVM, with a focus on Pan-Hellenic life, church and social life in Vermont, and brief mentions of locomotive transportation.
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    Mary Farnham Diary, 1862-1863
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      • Creator: Farnham, Mary Elizabeth Johnson, 1828-1913.
      • Date Created: 1862-1863
      • Description: Mary Elizabeth (Johnson) Farnham, the daughter of Ezekiel and Nancy (Rodgers) Johnson, was born in Bath, NH, on January 19, 1828. She came to Bradford with her parents at a young age and was educated at Bradford Academy and the Newbury Seminary. On December 25, 1849, she married Roswell Farnham (1827-1903) in St. Albans, Vt. They returned to Bradford to teach in the Bradford Academy, Farnham as the teacher of painting and French, and her husband as principal of the academy. The couple joined the Bradford Congregational Church in 1854 and participated in a number of its activities: both Farnhams taught in the church’s Sunday school, and Mary Farnham held a chair on its music committee and was active in its missionary efforts. Farnham spent several months during the winter of 1862-63 in Union camps near Fairfax Court House and Wolf Run Shoals, VA, with her husband, who had been appointed Lieutenant Colonel and placed in command of the 12th Vermont Volunteer Regiment. Farnham returned to Vermont in April 1863 and her husband was discharged later that year, after which he entered into a career in politics. When Roswell Farnham was elected governor of Vermont in 1880, Mary Farnham became the state’s first lady and played an active role in gubernatorial social events. Farnham was involved in a number of civic organizations in her town, including Bradford’s Relief Corps. She helped found the Ladies’ Public Library and was its librarian for many years. Her interest in literature led her to enroll in the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Course, from which she graduated in 1884. She went on to earn one hundred and forty seals on her diploma and was recognized for this achievement at the 1906 Chautauqua Assembly in Chautauqua, NY. Three of Farnham’s four children lived to adulthood: Charles Cyrus Farnham (1864–1937), Florence Mary Osgood (1866–1958), and William M. Farnham (1869–1927). Her first child, Roswell Phelps Farnham Jr., died in infancy in 1861. Mary Farnham died on June 13, 1913, having suffered a stroke two weeks prior. Topics in Farnham’s diary include living conditions in Union camps and towns near the front lines, the roles and expectations of women during the American Civil War, Washington D.C. in the 1860s, mid-century modes of travel, and health and medicine during the Civil War.
      • Parent Collections: Diaries
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      Long Pond: A History and a Diary - Westmore, VT, 1886-1903
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        • Date Created: 1886-1903
        • Description: The Long Pond Westmore diary, which spans the years 1889 to 1903, contains a partial history of a summer camp on Long Pond in Westmore, Vt., as well as inventories of the camp’s supplies and accounts of property maintenance and recreational activities undertaken by its caretakers. Topics in this diary include local flora and fauna and outdoor recreational activities, such as hiking and fishing.
        • Parent Collections: Diaries
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        Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1929
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          • Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
          • Date Created: 1929
          • Description: This diary is not as full as Mary Jean’s typical year but records evidence of her daily life and some fascinating moments in American history. In this diary she is busy with work but has time for several Women’s group meetings including the Daughters of the American Revolution dinner and a Women’s Union meeting in New Orleans. She witnessed the inauguration of Herbert Hoover, and her brother, John, mentions in passing some fears of the stock market in mid-October. Her summer in Vermont is quite brief but is full of gardening, dinners, and traveling around the state to speak at women’s groups. Topics of interest include American Politics, especially presidential elections and the 1929 market crash; Women’s groups in the early 20th century; and travel by train and automobile.
          • Parent Collections: Diaries
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          Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1944
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            • Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
            • Date Created: 1944
            • Description: This diary begins with Mary Jean getting a cast on her ankle and missing out on work and student meetings in the beginning of the year. Throughout the spring she deals with women’s issues on campus, including a past student being tried by the Washington Army Board for Insubordination and a rejection by students of the Home Economics courses. Discussion of regular lectures on conduct to her female students occur in this diary. Mary Jean also details assisting her students in getting interviews for medical school and nursing positions. Throughout the year she also mentions going to YWCA events, Phi Beta Kappa and Delta Gamma Kappa meetings, and occasional events with UVM’s President Millis. In September she included an article written about a lecture she gave to students on poor morals, underage drinking, and student promiscuity. The end of Mary Jean’s year includes descriptions of the holidays, mentions of distance created by her brother John, and worry about the grave war news. Topics in this diary include medical care and education, Vermont food, church life in Vermont, women’s issues and morals in the mid-20th century, women’s groups, and World War II.
            • Parent Collections: Diaries
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            Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1950
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              • Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
              • Date Created: 1950
              • Description: This diary features Mary Jean’s church and social life most prominently, with only some mention of her work on the Mortar Board society and Kake Walk affairs. Regular church attendance and the wedding of Ruth Schoppes are described throughout the diary. Mary Jean also writes a longer entry about her 62nd birthday, enjoying the festivity of it but reflecting on her age. Topics in this diary include UVM honors society programs, Kake Walk, Vermont Church life, discussion of aging, and Vermont weather patterns.
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              Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1928
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                • Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
                • Date Created: 1928
                • Description: The common topics of daily life include church events and sermons; entertainment activities like attending plays, movies, VT town fairs, dinner parties, and learning to golf; and spending time with family and friends. Topics of wider interest include American politics specifically, the Great Vermont Flood of 1927 and Charles Lindbergh’s Goodwill Tour; women's groups’ meetings, and automobile and train travel. Topics in this diary include early 20th century health and treatment systems; social life in Washington DC including movies, theater, and operas; American politics; and women’s groups meetings.
                • Parent Collections: Diaries
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                Cephas Kent, Jr. Diary, Undated
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                  • Creator: Kent, Cephas, Jr., 1754-1813.
                  • Date Created: undated
                  • Description: Cephas Kent Jr. was born on April 2, 1754 in Suffield, CT (Colony) to Cephas and Hannah (Spencer) Kent. In 1773, Kent moved with his family to what later became Dorset, Vt., where his father, a deacon as well as a tavern owner, took an active role in the American and Vermont independence movements. Kent enlisted in the Continental Army during the summer of 1775 and served as an aide-de-camp on General Montgomery’s staff. His primary responsibilities included cooking and caring for the officers’ baggage, but he also participated in several skirmishes, taking up arms at decisive moments during the Siege of Fort St. Jean. On January 30, 1779, Kent married Lydia Sheldon and the couple had several children. Kent died in Dorset on January 9, 1813. The first part of Kent’s diary details his religious experiences between the ages of 12 and 21, while the remainder describes his participation in the Continental Army’s campaign into Canada in 1775, especially the Siege of Fort St. Jean (“St. Johns”).
                  • Parent Collections: Diaries
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                  Erastus Root Diary, 1815-1818
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                    • Creator: Root, Erastus, 1789-1829.
                    • Date Created: 1815-1818
                    • Description: Erastus Root was born on January 9, 1789 to Timothy and Patience (Gleason) Barber Root in Guilford, Vt. After two years of study under the tutelage of Rev. Jason Chamberlain, Root enrolled at Williams College in 1809, before transferring to the University of Vermont in 1811 to continue studying with Chamberlain, who had been elected UVM’s Professor of Learned Languages in the interim. Root graduated from UVM with a bachelor’s degree in 1814 and spent the next three years studying medicine: he began his studies with Dr. Willard Arms of Brattleboro for a year and a half, then returned to UVM in the fall of 1815 to attend their medical lectures and continue his studies with Dr. John Pomeroy, and finally completed his studies at Dartmouth College, receiving his medical license in 1817. Root eventually moved to Boston, where he married Lucinda Jacobs on February 1, 1821. The couple had one daughter before Lucinda’s death in 1822 and Root’s death in New York on February 24, 1829. Topics in Root’s diary include UVM’s medical program in early nineteenth century, John Pomeroy, early nineteenth-century medical practices, teaching in Vermont in early nineteenth century, and modes of travel in the early nineteenth century.
                    • Parent Collections: Diaries
                    Part of: Diaries


                    Mary Jean Simpson Diary, 1945
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                      • Creator: Simpson, Mary Jean, 1888-1977.
                      • Date Created: 1945
                      • Description: This short diary most directly was used for schedule keeping by Mary Jean, with various women’s club meetings, Pan-Hellenic dinners, and concerts being penciled in. The summer months contain some detail on visiting friends, going to church, dinner parties, and typical yard and house chores. In May Mary Jean mentions celebrating Victory in Europe Day, and in August she describes the thrilling and sobering experience of listening to President Truman announce Japan’s surrender. This diary ends shortly after Mary Jean experiences injury from a car accident. Topics in this diary include the end of World War II, Women’s groups, social and religious life in Vermont, and Automobile accidents.
                      • Parent Collections: Diaries
                      Part of: Diaries