Diary Discoveries

"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.  Sally's favorite Diary was written by Olga, and in this episode we explore the connective threads from Effie to Olga in the Metropolitan Holiness Church and then Effie'...

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 uncover the fact that one writer's work has been credited to the other. Sally aquired a 1906 diary and two journal like composition books filled with short stories, essays, and poems. The...

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 the place! And aren't we all when we dream? We also share some significant dreams each of us have had including a beautifully described dream of Sally's which you may need ...

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 an expat veterinarian, samples the beer and rye whiskey, and meets an influential law professor at Harvard. Then after returning to Scotland he takes a voyage to Iceland. His story ...

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 wonderful send off he was given, and his beautifully written thoughts regarding Nurse McGee. He transitions to life aboard a ship as the only medical authority on board and the immense resp...

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 with men but it is the women in his life that consume many pages of his diary. He has some strong opinions regarding women and as a young man, he is pondering, reasoning, and refining his th...

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 "The Fenwick Escapade". (Imagine two Scottish eleven year old boys as the cast of the movie "Stand By Me" and you will get a glimpse into this story)
His writing is intro...

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, including the birth of 167 babies! One family left most of the furniture, and over 600 books to the next occupants of the home and among the books, was this diary. 
The current occupant...

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 her husband Charles Middleton, who used his influence and friendships for the anti slavery cause but sadly lost his dear wife, the love of his life, in 1792. He grieves for her and write...

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. Mission Bay signed this "last will" and we'll tell you what we found out about these men. As most WW II Veterans have passed away, and Memorial Day was just weeks ago, we felt thi...

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 his junior, is challenged early on by his absence and her new domestic situation.  100 letters were written between them in the course of a year. In this collection, 5 of the letters were unope...

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 allegedly had relationships with, were introduced as evidence.  As Sally dug deeper, and as usually is the case, the story was so much more! We take you back to the 1840's, Nashville, Tenn...

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 process of discovery for this diary given to her while in Oregon. The diary was written by an unknown author (no name in the diary), and has a tragic connection to a young man who went o...

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 Thunder confederate prison in Richmond, Virginia.

Forced marches, sleepless nights, starvation, rail car trips in livestock cars, cold weather with little clothing, and all of which occurs before reaching the hell ...

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 and music, conversations with God, giving women who had no voice a place in history, connections to and honoring those who lived before us, and sharing stories of resiliance to offer hope to others...

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 cheer up his son. 
Now in modern time, millions of people do what this man did that evening. 

Christmas music:  Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Kenny G; internet a...

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 take on many different shapes and sacrifices are made by all who serve no matter where they may be serving. Family members also "serve" in a way and sometimes pay a heavy price. We sho...

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 girl, where both women expressed their thoughts on what they had written and who may read it.  Sally has read entries like these hundreds of times as diary keepers wrestle with these issues.
We a...