Women’s Receipt Books

In today’s entry from The Great Plains Diaries of Harriet E. Whitcher, Hattie mentions working on her receipt-books: 1934, January 26, Friday Partly cloudy but warm, 58 above in p.m. Ben Clausen came to his traps this a.m. but not here to-day, was here yesterday but no stay. I just worked at receipt-books, for Will …

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Diaries as Mindfulness

One of my intentions for 2014 is to do a better job of showing up for my own life. Below is an entry from the diaries of my great aunt Hattie, who teaches me daily about the power of paying attention to each day, valuing it, embracing it, and recording it without judgment: 1934, January …

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Memorial Day Weekend 1933

What are your plans for the summer? Mine include spending more time on the Hattie Diaries, now that the school year is nearly finished (a decision prompted in part by a recent comment by my father that began, “If you ever finish the book on Hattie…”). I can no longer think of Memorial Day without …

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Anniversary of FDR’s Funeral

Where were you and what were you doing when FDR died? Few people can still answer this question, but for the generations that came of age and were adults during the Depression and World War II, the memory of the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt—his funeral took place 68 years ago today—was as indelible as …

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