David Shinn Collection of Mary Christiana Sellers contains at least 14 diaries spanning nearly a century (1834-1923) and three generations of the Sellers family: Samuel W. Sellers, Jennie P. Sellers and Jennie Haines. Samuel Sellers, who served as justice of the peace in Chester County, furnishes the earliest and longest range of diaries (1834-1881). He maintained journals (most of which are unbound) between 3/1/1834-6/21/1851, 6/15/1851-8/17/1855 (as well as a separate volume for 8/18-11/14/1855), January 1857-October 1858, 11/12/1855-1/31/1875, and 1/3/1878-3/2/1881. Overall, his entries are short, though they record weather, births, deaths, local affairs, some transactions and accounts, and some national news. For example, he commemorates the death of President Polk (6/22/1849) and notes, with some disapproval, an anti-slavery meeting in West Chester staged shortly after the passage of the Compromise of 1850, excerpted in Selected Quotations (10/23/1850). His daughter, Jennie Sellers furnishes two of the most animated journals, particularly for scholars interested in Confederate sympathy in the U.S. North. In her diary from 1860, Jennie, then 16 years old, expresses some disgust with the recently elected president, Abraham Lincoln (March 1860). In her second diary, which traverses the end of the war (1/1/1864-3/20/1866), she records the surrender of General Lee (4/10/1865) assassination of Lincoln (4/15/1865), and funerial procession in Philadelphia (4/16/1865). Perhaps most remarkably, she includes an extended screed against Abraham Lincoln and in defense of John Wilkes Booth, which she may have copied from a local newspaper. That passage is excerpted at length in Selected Quotations. Finally, Jennie Seller's daughter, Jennie Haines furnishes six daybooks from 1887, 1898, 1901, 1904, 1908, and 1923. Maintained in Centennial, Standard, and Daily Reminder diaries, these bound volumes detail the weather, household chores (such as churning butter), visits to the market (often with grocery prices), and miscellaneous accounts. Some of the volumes include various ephemera in the back pockets. Although Jennie Haines rarely discusses national news, she does include at least one oblique reference to the Spanish-American War when she discusses the loss of the Battleship Maine (2/19/1898).
 

Morley's early diaries provide intimate accounts of personal affairs, including his romantic relationships and education at Harvard University. In addition to documenting his budding relationship with Alice Williams, whom he would marry in 1908 and divorce in 1914, Morley writes at length about the planning of his first field trip to the Yucatan (1906-07). During that trip, he provides rich accounts of Havana (2/4/1907), Uxmal (2/15/1907), and his first excavation (8/19/1907).
 
Starting in 1912, his diary takes on a closer resemblance to a field notebook, with detailed accounts of his excavations in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico. Interspersed in those records are fascinating accounts of the World War I and World War II, including oblique references to Morley's espionage work. For example, on January 9, 1914 he writes of a "curious telegram warning" from Washington: "'Make no affiliations in the C.matter. This is a danger signal. Await further advices.' I cannot imagine what this can mean. Is it a warning against H.? I sent the following reply: 'Have made no affiliations whatever. Will make none. Will preserve absolute secrecy and keep free from all entanglements. My case is in your hands. Am awaiting further instructions.' Think I will hear by Monday."
 
As the war unfolded, Morley recorded its effects in both Central and South America, including President Woodrow Wilson's "destructive" policy in Mexico (2/13/1914), the geopolitical scramble for Guatemala, and the "key-stone of the arch between the Rio Grande and the canal" (12/8/1917). Later, at the outset of World War II, Morley notes Japanese encroachment on the Dutch East Indies (2/19/1941), and even the attack on Pearl Harbor, "a series of shots that literally were heard around the world" (12/29/1941).
 
In fact, war proves disruptive for Morley's work. A colleague, Dr. Moise La Fleur, is killed during a Mexican chicleros attack (5/17-19/1916), an incident from which Morley does not soon recover. Moreover his excavation of Chichen Itza is badly delayed until 4/28/1924.
 
Nevertheless, researchers interested in both the history of South America and the field of archaeology will be rewarded with meticulous descriptions of excavations conducted between the 1920s-1940s.

The 39 volumes of Sylvanus ("Vay") Griswold Morley diaries span 42 years of the first-half of the twentieth century, and provide textured accounts of Morley's personal affairs, archaeological expeditions in Central and South America, and developments of World War I and II in South America. Morley began keeping a journal while he was in school (1905) and continued maintaining it until 1946, a year before his death the year before his death (1947). Notably, all entries are typed, enabling researchers to quickly scan volumes for specific interests.
 
Morley's early diaries provide intimate accounts of personal affairs, including his romantic relationships and education at Harvard University. In addition to documenting his budding relationship with Alice Williams, whom he would marry in 1908 and divorce in 1914, Morley writes at length about the planning of his first field trip to the Yucatan (1906-07). During that trip, he provides rich accounts of Havana (2/4/1907), Uxmal (2/15/1907), and his first excavation (8/19/1907).
 
Starting in 1912, his diary takes on a closer resemblance to a field notebook, with detailed accounts of his excavations in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico. Interspersed in those records are fascinating accounts of the World War I and World War II, including oblique references to Morley's espionage work. For example, on January 9, 1914 he writes of a "curious telegram warning" from Washington: "'Make no affiliations in the C.matter. This is a danger signal. Await further advices.' I cannot imagine what this can mean. Is it a warning against H.? I sent the following reply: 'Have made no affiliations whatever. Will make none. Will preserve absolute secrecy and keep free from all entanglements. My case is in your hands. Am awaiting further instructions.' Think I will hear by Monday."
 
As the war unfolded, Morley recorded its effects in both Central and South America, including President Woodrow Wilson's "destructive" policy in Mexico (2/13/1914), the geopolitical scramble for Guatemala, and the "key-stone of the arch between the Rio Grande and the canal" (12/8/1917). Later, at the outset of World War II, Morley notes Japanese encroachment on the Dutch East Indies (2/19/1941), and even the attack on Pearl Harbor, "a series of shots that literally were heard around the world" (12/29/1941).
 
In fact, war proves disruptive for Morley's work. A colleague, Dr. Moise La Fleur, is killed during a Mexican chicleros attack (5/17-19/1916), an incident from which Morley does not soon recover. Moreover his excavation of Chichen Itza is badly delayed until 4/28/1924.
 
Nevertheless, researchers interested in both the history of South America and the field of archaeology will be rewarded with meticulous descriptions of excavations conducted between the 1920s-1940s.