HANDWRITTEN DIARY FOR 1919, KEPT BY THIS EDUCATED FARM WOMAN OF UPSTATE NEW YORK, WITH OBSERVATIONS ON WORLD WAR I AND NATIONAL AFFAIRS by Quick, Mary Elizabeth - 1919

Henrietta, New York, 1919. Original manuscript. Hardcover. Very Good. Contains 365 daily entries for 1919, and for January 1-8, 1920. Also, records of her wages and some cash outlays. Written in pencil in a legible hand, along with the usual printed, almanac-type material. Bound in wallet-style black cloth with tab closure, 6" x 3" Mary Quick's diary documents the life of a working woman in Monroe County, upstate NewYork, just after the close of World War I, and reflects forces of modernization at work in the U.S., side by side with the old-fashioned technology still in use. She also demonstrates the way the war broadened the frame of reference of even rural farmers, with the local bi-monthly Reading Club, for example, featuring member-penned papers on subjects of global interest, such as 'The Industrial Side of the War," "Women's Work in the World", and "Farming for Returned Soldiers." Mary's own paper is on "Reconstruction in the Near East" post-war. In her daily entries, she also notes the rise of the Prohibition movement and other events of national importance, including Teddy Roosevelt's death, President Wilson's stroke and incapacitation, etc. // When her diary opens, Mary Quick is working for "Greg" and a household which includes 21-year-old Floyd and the semi-invalid Susie (whose most frequent appearance in the diary is "Susie is miserable"). She is paid $20 a month (plus room and board). Besides sweeping, ironing, washing, mopping, sewing and mending, etc., Mary's main occupation seems to be baking. She, along with another woman who comes to work and stay over frequently, makes an inordinate number of pies, cakes, and cookies during the course of a week. Greg and Floyd run a farm, and Floyd also raises and sells rabbits. In the winter, they sell cabbages and potatoes in "the city" (Rochester), buy a calf, butcher a pig, and cut wood, while the women can apples and do the housework and baking and sewing. // Early in 1919, "the flu" (the dreaded Spanish influenza epidemic) seems to be rampant in the neighborhood, and Mary dutifully records how all her neighbors are faring. She also notes that in January, "38 states ratified the National Constitutional Amendment on Prohibition and the United States has gone dry" with NY state "going dry" on Jan 29. There is already evidence of contrasts between modern and older ways in the early months. On the one hand are tales of automobile drives (and flat tires, episodes of getting stuck in the mud, etc.), and on the other, "a Belgian [pedlar] came along selling dry goods and Greg bought blue serge for a suit...." // When spring arrives, the folks go "over to Giffords to hear the new talking machine," "Will and Amsden have both got automobiles," a "Miss Williams drives her own car," and "Amsden traded his Chalmers in for a one-seated car. It does not work very well." The women's work continues as usual, and the men plow (with horses) and plant potatoes, thresh the wheat and do the haying in June, and buy a new lathing machine. // The highlight of the summer is the Chautauqua the week of July 7th. Mary and the folks attend every day, and highlights include: the African-American "Williams Jubilee Singers"; talks by Capt. Paul Perigord of the French Army on "The Frontier of Freedom"; naturalization expert Paul Lee Ellerbee speaking on American citizenship; the "Indian girl" Princess Watahnoasu's speech; lectures by Ralph B. Dennis on "Russia not the Bolsheviki" and later on scientific advancements like "the gyroscope, the ultraviolet ray, the artificial ear, and a torpedo such as was used in the war." Performances at night include the "H.M.S. Pinafore" and a comedy. Summer is also the time for church picnics, class reunions, and family suppers and parties. // September opens with some local fires-the first one takes Frank Clark's and Esther Wells's barns as well as Clark's automobile: "Church bell rang twice and lots of automobiles went to the fire..." The second fire is a few days later when another barn burns down-"a great loss". The folks attend various county fairs; Susie's condition fluctuates; and the men work in the fields at "cutting and silage." By October, the "very tired" Mary writes: "I think of giving up and going home." The next day she tells Greg of her decision and he gives her a final $25 in wages. (Her general tiredness and sore feet have been running features of the diary to this point.) On October 13, she arrives "home," where the cast of characters includes Lin, Et, Clarence, and Marjie. // From this point on, Mary mostly spends her time sewing and mending for herself, visiting, writing her paper for the Reading Club, and doing very little baking. She is full of gossip about the locals, e.g.: "Will's little dog Laddie went mad and had to be killed...Dr. Taylor sent his head to Cornell...hydrophobia"; and the former post-mistress "is insane and had to be taken to a state hospital." In addition, "the telephone is under control of the Bell Co. now and does not work well." There are several mentions throughout the diary of listening to someone's "graphophone" (a fancy phonograph). In late fall, Lin and Clarence sell potatoes, apples, cranberries, chickens (dressed), etc. in the city. Et and Marjie "butchered chickens and a calf" in addition to housework, and various family members still drive to church in a horse and buggy. On the national scene "the paper says our country is facing a coal famine. The coal strike is not settled and the Peace Treaty is not signed." There is also a sugar shortage: "We do not use any sugar in coffee and do not have much cake nor cookies." The Reading Club resumes in December, with papers including "Regulating the Railroads." // Church plays a big role in Mary's world, and she records who preached which sermons virtually every Sunday. Church also seems to be the dissemination point for local news, primarily related to people's health or lack thereof, who bought whose property, and who is in the hospital-all of which Mary reports. One striking note in the diary is the frequency of death among the residents of this rural area. It's a slow week when there isn't a funeral to attend. The other scene of social activity is the Grange, and members of Mary's various households attend the Pittsford Grange, Pomona Grange, and Mendon Grange, while the women go to the Home Bureau meetings. ~~ [Mary Elizabeth Quick was from an important Hicksite Quaker family, the daughter of George & Tamar (Ewer) Quick. She was born on December 17, 1845 and died at 90 in 1935. Siblings included: Amelia Ann (George Birdsell), Adelia Jane (Isaac Craft), Harriet Alice (Jacob Berger), Maria, Charles Edwin (Nancy Ward) & George Lindley "Lin" (Laurette White) Quick. The 1880 census shows she was living with her mother, brother, sister and a nephew. The 1920 Census indicates she was living with her brother & his wife (George Lindley Quick & Laurette White ), and her niece & her husband. Mary Elizabeth never married, and lived her entire life in Monroe County, New York.].