The collection consists of diaries kept by Susan Layman Dickman between 1867 and 1910 in Berrien County, Michigan. The collection also includes two Berrien County school registers created between 1876 and 1888 and an account book used by the Flewallen family between 1849 and 1893, both from Berrien County.

The bulk of the collection consists of annual diaries kept by Susan “Susie” Layman Dickman (b. 1836 d. 1913) dating between 1867 and 1910. Her diary entries are very brief and detail her daily activities, including house and farm work, visiting friends and family, meals, financial transactions, letters, and phone calls.

The school registers detail student attendance, classes, and teachers in Berrien County School District #2 between 1876 and 1888. There is also a visitors log at the end of each register with notes about the condition of the school and quality of teaching. The account book contains notes from several members of the Flewallen (also spelled Flewelling, Flewalling) family between 1849 and 1893. The earliest notes were made by John Flewallen, justice of the peace, and include records of marriages and court decisions in Berrien County between 1849 and 1853. Other notes made by various family members include records of cash transactions and a detailed list of family birth and death dates.