2022 Year in Review: How the American Diary Project collection grew from zero to over 50 diaries

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“From a small seed, a mighty trunk may grow.” -Aeschylus

I come from a long line of collectors on my father’s side. My father collected Miller High Life memorabilia, my grandmother collected Barbies, and so on.

For most of my life, I thought I wasn’t a collector—in fact, I identified as somewhat of a minimalist. I figured the collector gene just skipped a generation with me.

It wasn’t until I started the American Diary Project that I finally joined my collector lineage. I suppose I just had to find something meaningful for me to collect.

I get so much joy from procuring, preserving, and reading old journals. It’s in my bones. And for that, I’m grateful.

2022 year in review

What started as nothing more than an idea in October of 2022 has quickly evolved into a budding collection. Let’s run through some facts about the American Diary Project collection as it stands at the end of 2022.

• Total number of diaries in collection: 56
• Diaries obtained in October 2022: 10
• Diaries obtained in November 2022: 40
• Diaries obtained in December 2022: 6
• Most diaries from the same author: 10
• Oldest diary: Written in 1859
• Newest diary: Written in 2019
• Diaries from the 1800s: 6
  • 1850s: 1
  • 1860s: 2
  • 1870s: 1
  • 1880s: 1
  • 1890s: 1
• Diaries from the 1900s: 45
  • 1900s: 1
  • 1910s: 3
  • 1920s: 11
  • 1930s: 8
  • 1940s: 8
  • 1950s: 1
  • 1960s: 2
  • 1970s: 1
  • 1980s: 10
• Diaries from the 2000s: 5
  • 2000s: 1
  • 2010s: 4
• States represented: Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, New York, West Virginia, Tennessee, and more.

In 2022, we shared stories and insights from two journals in the collection on our blog:

1. Addicted to mischief: The poetic writing of Adelaide Irvine Richter
2. How reading a stranger’s diary taught me more than a self-help seminar ever could

Onwards and upwards in 2023

The collection grew quickly in 2022—so fast that I haven’t even had time to fully read every journal. I look forward to digging into each one in 2023 and sharing their stories with you.

One final plug: if you have any journals or diaries you’d like to add to the collection, please reach out. We’d love to honor and preserve them. Also, please let us know if you’re interested in reading through digitizing journals to help us gauge whether the effort is worth it.

Thanks and happy new year!