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Louise Decker Diary

 Collection
Identifier: RH-A-3799

Scope and Contents

Louise Decker was born in 1912 in Otsego, Michigan. While writing this diary, she lived on Washburn Street and Dayton in Kalamazoo Michigan. She died on July 16, 1998 in Kalamazoo.

She kept this diary over five years between 1939 and December 1942. She recorded an entry of three or four lines almost every day. Every day she wrote about what she and her husband, Frank, did and about the weather. Most of the entries are about cleaning the house, shopping with her sister, visiting her parents, going out with her husbands, and parties with friends. Occasionally she also wrote about the beginning of World War II but only records major events. In the notes at the back of the diary she kept a record some of Frank’s wages and the changes to her and Frank’s jobs, and also recorded the dates that Frank got his draft, classification, and changes to his classification, and the beginning of gas rationing.

Dates

  • Creation: 1939-1942

Creator

Extent

1 Volumes ; 5" x 4"

Language of Materials

English

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The diary was donated by Louise Decker’s nephew, Matt Decker.

Physical Description

The collection is .05 cubic feet. The diary is 5 inches by 4 inches in size. The diary is not in good condition. The cover and first few pages of the diary are missing and there, is water damages on the outside few pages, and some of the entries written in pencil are smudged away. The binding is very fragile. Most of the pages, however, are intact and completely legible. The diary entries were written between January 1939 and December 1942.

Provenance

The diary written between January 1939 and December 1942.

Title
Louise Decker Diary Finding Aid
Status
Completed
Author
Anna Yacullo
Date
2016-11-28
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections Repository

Contact:
Charles C. and Lynn L. Zhang Legacy Collections Center
1650 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5307 US
(269) 387-8490