Gertrude Emch Smith diaries

In these diary volumes, Gertrude Emch Smith maintains short daily entries that describe her everyday activities, farm accounts and her social life. Written at the end of each day, most of the entries begin with a description of the weather and an overview of the day. In her notes, Gertrude Smith describes her daily chores which ranged from washing, ironing, cleaning the house, maintaining the chicken coop as well as cooking and baking. Her farm notes reveal that the Smiths grew a wide range of produce that included corn, oats, wheat, onions and tomatoes. Gertrude also made daily entries about the number of eggs produced by their chickens. The diaries also provide a record of Gertrude Smith’s social activities and her engagements with friends and family.

For the most part, Mrs. Smith’s diaries document the mundane and do not reveal her personal thoughts or reflections. Other than an entry about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and Roosevelt’s reelection, she does not write about local or national politics. While some entries provide scant reference to local news stories, there is little detail documented.

Mrs. Smith’s diaries reveal the everyday life of a farm wife during the early and mid-period of the 20th century and span 24 years. Her writings will provide scholars and researchers with an excellent snap shot of rural life during this period. Genealogists may also find this work useful as Gertrude meticulously documented information about local births and deaths.