Charlotte Clizbe Baker papers

Charlotte Clizbe Baker maintained a complete set of dairies from the age of twenty to the age of eighty-six. Each day, for most of these diaries, she recorded her activities. She was a schoolteacher, a wife, a community volunteer and club member. The activities she recorded are reflective of a white middle class woman living across a span of time during which world wars occurred, tremendous technological changes took place, space was explored and changes happened for women from obtaining the vote to becoming accepted in most fields of work. To understand how a woman like Charlotte placed herself during this time of massive societal change is of great importance to the historians of women and of local and regional history.

These diaries are an excellent example of a woman's daily life and her involvement in the community around her. They portray the way women were effected by national and international events such as a world war. They also give insight into the life-cycle of a woman, and rites of passages for females.

The dairies date from 1909 to 1974. Her handwriting is fairly legible and a consistency in her entries is readily apparent. Through these diaries we better understand for a white middle-class woman, courtship and marriage, a woman's societal sphere of activity and roles, and involvement in club work and community service. We see her work during World War II as chairperson of the local chapter of the American Women's Voluntary Association. These organization coordinated the activities of women in selling bonds, managing canteens, collecting books and other supplies for the soldiers and working with the Red Cross and Civilian Defense groups. After the War, most of her club work involved such organizations as the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Allen County Historical Museum. As she and her husband grow older, we see their life changes. Charles suffers a stroke in 1972 and she becomes a caretaker for him. Her diary entries note his death and her increasingly limited activities until her last entry on November 30, 1974.

Newsclippings and other material found in the diaries have been filed chronologically and are located at the end of the collection. This collection of diaries is highly recommended for those interested in women's history, local history, and social history.