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Diary Discoveries
If you were to read an old diary, what could you discover? Secrets? Mystery? Romance? Travel and adventure? Inspiration? Since 1987, Historian Sally Ivey has collected and researched original diaries, journals, and letters from around the world. In this podcast Sally will share unique and captivating stories selected from her extensive collection. Stories forgotten over time but now shared here. Welcome to Diary Discoveries.
Episodes
66 episodes
#65 Diary Sampler 3 - Mississippi Guide, Premonition, Mexico Drug Trip.
In this episode you will hear stories from three diary's. The first is about a woman who explored the Mighty Mississippi River year after year and shared her knowledge by publishing her own guide books. Next, a diary where the author experience...
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48:00
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#64 Diary Sampler 2 - Basic Needs, Chair Pusher, Crime Of A Dastard.
In this episode, we share three stories from three diaries. In the first, you will hear about a young school teacher who wrote out her idea of "The Basic Needs Of Every Life". She beat Abraham Maslow and his "Hierarchy of Needs" by twenty years...
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1:01:39
#63 The 1859 Gold Rush and A Lonely Heart
The 1859 gold rush to Colorado is on! "Pike's Peak or bust!" was the saying of many a fortune hunter who headed out west, but what about those left behind? In this episode, passages from a newly married woman's diary are read, and we discuss so...
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39:18
#62 Mountain Girls, Moonshine Shootout, and The Metropolitan Holiness Church. 1911
"Holy Jumpers", an Immigrant girl named Olga, and a shootout between a "revenue posse" and a moonshining family in the hills of Kentucky, all of which have a connection to Effie Waller Smith, the teacher and poet from our last episode. Sa...
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36:45
#61 Restoring A Writer's Legacy- A Tale Of Two Effie Smith's - 1906
Two women born the same year-1879, both given the same first name, both poets, and living only 150 miles apart. One was a black woman, the other, a white woman. Both eventually were known as Effie Smith. What are the odds? In this episode, we u...
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1:07:15
#60 "Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction"...An Almost Unbelievable Diary Experience. 1938 - 2018
This is the amazing story of the most serendipitous experience Sally has had in her years of collecting and researching vintage diaries! It is an almost unbelievable occurance that began in 1938, originating with a diary written by a twelve yea...
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51:01
#59 "...Strange Creatures...And Not Yet Monkeys." - 1940's Dream Journal
In this episode, we share from a 1940's dream journal. The author kept a record of about a month's worth of her dreams. From strange creatures playing ball to an Italian hurdy gurdy man with an inflated cow like bagpipe organ, she is all over t...
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37:27
#58 Dr. Dunlop's Scotland Pt. 4 "...Surrounded By Unseen But Tremendous Powers." -1888
In this final part of Alexander's diary, he has arrived in Boston after his first voyage as a ship's surgeon. He is in America for the first time and has much to write about as he compares Boston to his hometown Glasgow. He tours the city with ...
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1:33:41
#57 Dr. Dunlop's Scotland Pt. 3 "Exit God's Poor Surgeon" - 1888
In this episode, Alexander is going to sea! Fifteen years following the "Fenwick Escapade" his boyhood wish is becoming a reality. His medical training and time at school has finished. You will hear about his last days in training, the wonderfu...
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34:51
#56 Dr. Dunlop's Scotland Pt. 2 "Height Of Foolishness" -1881
In this episode, Alexander is writing down the current events in his life as a student at the University of Glasgow. He has a rich social life with many entries describing events at a country estate named Geilsland. He writes of his friendships...
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1:00:00
#55 Dr. Dunlop's Scotland Pt. 1 "The Fenwick Escapade" 1873
Alexander Watson Dunlop began writing his diary in 1881. He was studying to become a physician at the University of Glasgow but before writing the current events of his life, he recalls a story of adventure from his boyhood that he entitled "Th...
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36:05
#54 The House Of Seven Gables
This episode originates with a diary written in by three individuals and because they did, Sally was able to discover a wonderful story--The House of Seven Gables.This house in West Plains, Missouri, has a long history of occupants and use,...
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34:14
#53 1792 Diary. A Most Remarkable Abolitionist- Her Death, His Grief, and The Testonites.
This episode is from the oldest diary in Sally's collection. You will hear the story of a gifted, influential woman, Margaret Middleton, who behind the scenes, was instrumental in the abolishment of slavery in England. The diary was written by ...
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47:39
#52 World War II Pin-Up and "A Last Will"
Two classic pin-up calendar pages with a hand written message on them are what Sally started with for this story. In this episode, we discuss a bit of pin-up art history and then get into the writing on the pages. Five sailors on the U.S.S. Mis...
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30:59
#51 "Girl In Every Town" Part 2 -The Letters
In this episode we read and discuss the letters between Charles and Dorothy as they start their life together in 1920 -1921. He has recently been divorced in the very public "Girl In Every Town" divorce case and Dorothy, 21 years hi...
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1:09:30
# 50 "Girl In Every Town" -- Murder and Seduction In Nashville.
An antique tin containing 100 letters along with a 1919 newspaper article was the starting point for this episode. The article titled "Girl In Every Town" described a divorce case in which 17 letters from various women the husband alleged...
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32:44
#49 The Scottish Mason's Daughter
In 1903, Mary Louise Edgar traveled from her home in Wisconsin to visit Scotland. She wrote very detailed and descriptive entries in over 200 pages of her diary. In this episode we share some of Sally's research methods to take you through the ...
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40:39
#48 Castle Thunder Prison Survivor- A Civil War Story
Union soldier Gillis J. McBane is captured and taken prisoner during the brutally fought battle at Stones River in Tennessee.We will take you to the battlefield and follow his ordeal as he is moved to the notorious Castle Thund...
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1:06:42
#47 "We Write To Be Known."
In this episode we present some of our listeners and their responses to our invitation to share how and why they journal. We learned some fascinating things and were sincerely moved by what these individuals shared with us.Artworks an...
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30:21
#46 "The Father Of Yule Lighting."
This is a wonderful Christmas story of a father's love. Go back to 1914 with us to Christmas Eve. A six year old boy is bedridden with illness, so his father, D.D. Sturgeon, a pioneer in the electrical trade, does something never seen before to...
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17:10
#45 "Dear Mom and Dad...Don't Worry About Me."
In this episode, as a way to remember those who have served our country, we tell a story taken from a letter written by a pilot to his family back home. He had survived a tour of combat in the Pacific and was writing from Texas. Service can tak...
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25:03
#44 Why Am I Writing and Who's Going To Read It?
In this episode we discuss diary and journal keeping and some common concerns an author may have. We read entries from two diaries; the first, from 1937, written by a woman losing her vision, and the second; by a very homesick college gir...
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38:41
#43 "In The Deep Waters Of Afflictions"
A letter from 1848 describing a heartbreaking tragedy, presented Sally with questions she just had to get answers to. The deaths of three children in a week's time, even then, would indeed be "deep waters of affliction." Who were the three chil...
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41:08
#42 Gouge Eye, A Knife Fight, Rodeo, and The Best Summer Ever!
In 1953, a fifteen year old boy wrote of his great outdoor summer adventure that took place in the West and it has to be one of the best summers a kid could ever have! Mt Rushmore, Cheyenne Frontier Days, the Vagabond Ranch, girls, whitewater r...
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1:00:27