All of my Grandma’s Journals 1963-2006
When I was young - I would guess 11 or 12, I got my first diary. It was light blue with a rainbow and an inspirational quote. It had a gold lock and key. Super important as I had curious brothers who felt everything that was mine was also theirs. I did a few lines, what I liked and who my friends were, what I had been reading and then some time passed. I picked it up again and of course things had changed so I wrote something similar but updated and then, I put it away and didn’t think about it again until years later I came across it and updated it again. I think I did this about four times before I left that journal behind completely and found something else to write in.
Over the years I have done a blend of keeping a planner with notes about what I was doing and keeping an actual journal. Some of my journals had prompts or inspirational quotes and others were just fancy notebooks. I have purged some of those planners and journals over the years - and recently found out my aunt had been keeping journals and also has done some purging. For her, I feel the loss of that information. For me, I just figured no one would be that interested. Though, as I type this one of the more fascinating historical materials ARE people’s journals. The more ordinary the better, so what is it about other people’s lives?
When my grandmother asked what I wanted from her belongings, I immediately said her journals. Now, I have a tote of her notebooks dating from about 1963 to 2006. She also created a journal of her trip from Exira, Iowa to Scappoose, Oregon in 1940 complete with photographs and I believe gave a copy to each of her children. Most of her entries are fairly ordinary. Who she saw during the day, what chores she completed, what she baked, and maybe some brief reflections here and there.
When I was an intern at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane, Washington, I reviewed the journal of Helen Campbell, kept for the few years before she was married (1913-1917). I was looking for bits about health and wellness but there were mentions of types of entertainment, hair treatments, friends and family activities. Most of these entries were short phrases or sentences but I found them an interesting look at life for Helen in Spokane during that time.
You can look at journals and diaries of people online. So many museums, archives and libraries’ special collections have digitized things like this for people to review and some were actually published as books. Below are a few examples;
Oregon Trail - Emigrant’s Diaries and Journals (these are Transcriptions)
First Person Narratives of the American South
Library of Congress - search for Diaries in their Digital Collections
My favorite account of someone’s life involved one of the early explorers to Yellowstone National Park (before it was a park) - a man named Truman Everts in 1870 spends 37 days lost in the area, separated from the group of explorers he recounts his harrowing experience in an article, “Thirty-seven Days of Peril,” published in Scribner’s Monthly - alas I cannot find a full text free version of it for you but for a travel journal, it is some interesting reading.
My, I have gone off course - see, this is what happens when you start writing a post and return a few days later. I meant to mention that September is often PLANNER season with the new line up of planners and calendars coming out for the new year. I am enjoying the combination of planning and journaling currently in my Hobonichi Techo Cousin - which includes monthly, weekly, and daily pages. I currently use THREE planners - yes, that is correct. Not only are they all PAPER, but I use them for different purposes. I use the Techo for my everyday and memory keeping, I use the Hobonichi Weeks for my health and wellness - tracking symptoms and food and exercise and finally I have a Sterling Ink Common Planner for my writing and goals tracking and coordination.
It is hard for me to not get super excited about planners - and seeing what new things are around the corner. For 2026, I think I will only use two and track writing in just a regular notebook of some kind. I have been a PHYSICAL planner person for most of my life, I recently found my first one (1986) and I think that was to help me keep track of my work, school, orchestra, and other activities. In the great purge of 2023, I narrowed my planners down by decade and got rid of a lot of my older ones - which now I feel a little sad about, but I am sure I will get over it. I kept my 1980s ones, then a couple of each per decade until 2018 - and I still have 2018 to 2024 - and I rethink that decision nearly every day.
I still use my phone for planning - but more often it is my physical planner that gets the time and energy put into it. I love going back to see what all I did in a year. I track my goals. I include tickets, stickers, receipts and photographs as well.
Happy Planner Season!
I love my Hobonichi Weeks and was thinking I’d also get the Cousin for 2026. I get goofily happy about planners and journals. Thanks for this post!