Diary (v.44, composition book), 1924 July 14 - Dec 31
File — Box: 7, Folder: 5
Scope and Content
From the Collection:
The collection is comprised of 96 volumes including mostly diaries and nine scrapbooks dating from 1901 to 1965. There are no diaries or scrapbooks for the years 1904, 1905, 1908, 1918, and 1932. The diaries for 1922 and 1923 and the 1955 scrapbook are incomplete. The collection is arranged chronologically.
The diaries are a combination of daily activity journal and scrapbook. They include Gorrell’s daily notes on her activities and also many pasted newspaper clippings, programs, correspondence, greeting cards, a few photographs, and other similar items. The nine scrapbooks contain mostly newspaper clippings and date 1902, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, and 1955. Loose items that Gorrell tucked between pages in both the diaries and the scrapbooks are arranged chronologically and are in folders immediately following the volumes from which they were removed. Most of the volumes are published diaries bound in red cloth. The earliest, 1901 to 1917, were personalized with Gorrell’s name and the year printed on the binding. The 1929 to 1965 volumes are also large, cloth bound published diaries. From 1919 to 1928, Gorrell used composition books as diaries, which required three to four books per year. She also used these as scrapbooks from 1949 to 1953. Several of the large volumes have broken bindings which required dividing them into two to four pieces in folders. Gorrell Starke Clinger’s diaries record activities and events in her life while living in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1901 to 1965 and while she and Harry lived in St. Joseph, Michigan, from 1918 to 1921. Gorrell wrote about her family and Harry’s family, travelling to conferences or to visit family, her charitable work at Kingdom House, and her work with various religious committees and organizations. For example, on 29 January 1935, she added a letter and photo to her diary that she had received from a young girl in China who attended a school supported by the Cabanne Auxiliary. Gorrell also recorded events at the store she and Harry owned; health updates for herself and family; and pleasure outings such as shopping, theatre, and later movies. For the topics about which Gorrell did not write, she likely added newspaper clippings to her diaries. She increased the number of newspaper clippings in her diaries as she aged. The clippings cover a large array local, national, and international topics published in the St. Louis newspapers and some national publications. Examples of the topics include the 1904 World’s Fair, the 1927 tornado, St. Louis weather extremes such as flooding, presidential nominations and elections, Veiled Prophet balls and parades, golf, and the home front during WWI and WWII. Gorrell also saved ephemeral items such as performance and church programs, minutes of meetings, various announcements, greeting cards, and correspondence in her diaries. In August 1917, she kept a letter from J. T. Gibbs who had just arrived in camp at San Antonio as part of the 93rd Aero Squad at Kelly Field (B5/f.3). During WWII, Gorrell retained a pamphlet about how to participate in a blackout (B18/f.1). In her 1950 scrapbook (v.79), she saved a letter dated 3 April 1950 from Bing Crosby asking for donations to American Printing House for the Blind. For processing notes on diary entries, please consult with a member of the Archives Department staff.Dates
- 1924 July 14 - Dec 31
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Extent
From the Collection: 16.55 Cubic Feet ( (33 boxes [96 volumes], 1 oversize folder))
Language of Materials
English
Creator
- From the Collection: Clinger, Gorrell Starke, 1882-1965 (Creator, Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Missouri Historical Society Library and Research Center Repository