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Born in Pennsylvania in 1848, Abbie Bright traveled to Kansas in 1870 as a young woman and her diary is primarily an account of this trip. It gives excellent accounts of daily life and settlement activities. The "diary" is actually composed of two different manuscripts and both are presented here. The first is an eighty-six page loose-leaf diary with consistent entries from September 2, 1870 - December 20, 1871. The second is a bound composition book with 129 written pages. This book begins with a childhood reminiscence written in Iowa in 1914 (p1-23), followed by a reminiscence of her Kansas trip written in Iowa in 1921 (p24-36) that covers Aug 23, 1870 - Jan 30, 1871. The book then includes some recipes dated 1868-1871 and a receipt dated 1884 (p37-41), and finally consistent diary entries from February 2, 1871 - December 21, 1871 (p41-129). A complete, revised transcription of both manuscripts is available by clicking on "Text Version" below. A previous, annotated transcription that combines the 1870-1871 entries from both manuscripts was published in the Kansas Historical Quarterly in 1971 and is available through a link below.
Creator: Bright, Abbie, 1848-1926
Date: 1868-1921
Item Number: 223662
Call Number: Abbie Bright Papers, Coll. #293, Series 3a
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 223662
Collections - Manuscript - Bright, Abbie
Date - 1861-1869 - 1868
Date - 1861-1869 - 1869
Date - 1870s - 1870
Date - 1870s - 1871
Date - 1880s - 1884
Date - 1910s - 1914
Date - 1920s - 1921
Home and Family - Children - Girls
Home and Family - Daily life - Food and Cooking
Home and Family - Daily life - Housework
Home and Family - Daily life - Settlement
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Diary
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Recipe
People - Children
People - Women
Places - Cities and towns - Clearwater
Places - Counties - Sedgwick
Places - Other States - Pennsylvania
Thematic Time Period - Immigration and Settlement, 1854 - 1890
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Diaries
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Recipes
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/223662
