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Eliza Ann Otis diaries

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Description
Eliza Ann Otis' first diary dates from January 1, 1860 to June 1, 1863, covering the early years of her marriage to Harrison Gray Otis in Louisville, Kentucky, with later stays in Lowell, Ohio, and Charleston, West Virginia, during the Civil War. Entries discuss her family, marriage, religious beliefs, church attendance, and visits to various houses of worship around Louisville, including a Catholic church, Jewish synagogue, and an African American church on March 4, 1860. Otis also mentions current politics and issues, including the 1860 presidential race, the Republican Party and slavery. Some activities and outings in Louisville are described, such as social visits, concerts, and painting lessons. Several entries discuss the birth, death, and mourning of her first child, Harry Jr. (March 1861-February 1862). Following the outbreak of the Civil War and Harrison Otis's enlistment in the Ohio infantry, Otis writes of reports about the war from newspapers, her husband, and others; many entries also include copies of outgoing letters sent to soldiers and other recipients. The second diary details two 1863 excursions to West Virginia to visit Harrison Otis during the war: the first to his regiment's camp in June and the second a journey through the Kanawha Valley with a traveling companion enroute to visit her husband in September. These entries describe landscape and scenery, civilians encountered while traveling, and Union soldiers. The first journal is a bound volume and the second an unbound manuscript; both are handwritten in ink. Also present is a transcript of the diaries created by donor Gwen Babcock, which does not include the Kanawha Valley trip.
Type
Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date
1860-1863.
Call number
mssHM 84037
Creator
Otis, Eliza A (1833-1904)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance
Gift of Gwen Babcock, October 2018. The diaries were placed on deposit at the Huntington Library in 1999 and were added to the Los Angeles Times records, mssLAT, box 555 (5-7). They were gifted to the Library in October 2018 and in 2021 were removed from mssLAT to be cataloged separately.
Restrictions
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining permission rests with the researcher.
Dimensions
31-33 cm +
Find out more
View in the Library catalog(Opens in new tab)

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