1929-1942 Diary of an Ohio Social Worker, Case Western Reserve U Child Development Researcher, and Member of the LGBTQ+ Community

On offer is the introspective journal of Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Bergen (1913-1971) of Cleveland, Ohio. Betty began her diary in 1929, when she was a high school student. She wrote daily for a short time, and then penned very long, detailed, intermittent entries between 1930 and 1942. Betty would become a teacher (while attempting to be a novelist), living for a time in North Bay, Ontario, before completing a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree and becoming an instructor and researcher at Western Reserve University (later Case Western Reserve University) in Ohio. SEE BIO NOTES AT END OF THE LISTING.

When writing daily in January of 1929, we get to know Betty as an opinionated, popular high school student. Two excerpts give the sense of her writing during this time:

“Gym today. Had to turn somersaults and other crazy stuff. Crane was in good spirits (how strange!). Stayed after school to make up Latin words…Lockhart or Rockwood - whoever it is - says schools are too hot. We nearly froze today. We stuck a yardstick in the ventilator and Mr. Johnson came in and took it out” [Jan 3, 1929]. 

“Saw Macbeth” tonight and it was marvelous. We had dinner at The City Club, Grace and I, and then went to the Ohio [Theater]. Emery called up before I left here and was quite in the dumps since he can’t go out. I’m going over tomorrow at one o’clock and stay over night. “Lay on MacDuff”. The show certainly was great. Florence Reed was very good and it was an all-star cast all the way through…” [Jan 25, 1929]. 

Betty’s entries take on an entirely different tone when she resumes writing in 1930 after a year-long break. Through self-reflective reminiscences covering years at a time, we see Betty’s maturing thought processes and worldviews. While Betty’s attempts at becoming a novelist were unsuccessful, we know that she became a published author later in her life, in the world of academia. Through context, we learn that Betty is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and loves fellow social worker named Patricia Joan File (latter Braddon) (1922-1996), who was originally from Vancouver, British Columbia. 1950 census data confirms that Betty and Patricia were cohabitating in Cleveland as “partners”. Some excerpts from Betty’s entries over the years give the flavour of 1930-1942:

“Thus endeth the first chronicle. A year and a half have passed since I last made an entry in this book. Thoughts, ideals, heroes, heroines etc. have changed in the passage of time…When, years later, I read the wise and intelligent thoughts I am now recording, it shall probably bring laughter, but not the kind that lies too deep for tears” [June 23, 1930].

“The next year was a fairly enjoyable one, although I grew very tired toward the end of it. College Boards were the chief abomination. Thank God I flunked these exams. Mount Holyoke was an impossibility anyhow…That summer was one of restlessness and worry until Constance Nadeau told me about the School of Ed. I took my entrance exams. More waiting. At last the announcement - it is still carefully preserved - that I had won a scholarship” [June 23, 1930; context indicates the School of Ed was at Western Reserve University]. 

“Back to nature is popular now. It has always been a fetish with me. Peg and I have conceived the idea of living on a farm this winter. The labor pains should have occurred in the spring. If I could live alone in a log cabin with my books and my dogs, I should be happy forever. The sign over the door should be TWO-LEGGED MAMMALS NOT ALLOWED” [Aug, 1933]. 

“Eleanor Rosenfeld [later Perry, screenwriter and author] is coming along nicely with her writing. She has published two feature articles in the Sunday P.D. and yesterday she won the prize story in the News. More power to you, Mademoiselle” [ Aug, 1933]. 

“...I’m sitting in my small bedroom in North Bay, Ontario, pushing a pen for a living - anyhow I hope it will be a living - five rejection slips so far are the total results…school teaching for two and a half years - mostly substituting - can wear a guy out, and does. In June 1934 received B.S. and immediately departed on a prolonged holiday to the north woods with Jane Leggott…” [Jan 25, 1936].

“I’m an ardent - not so ardent up here - Communist, and discuss it enthusiastically with Harriett and Johnnie on the rare occasions when we meet…I find jotted down various descriptions that I should at some more ambitious time write out. They’ll be safer in here: Negro homes - slum district. Warmth, growing contrast poverty and tawdriness of others…French-Canadian farm home…trade unions…Abe Redman - chief gangster of Erie…” [Jan 25, 1936].

“Pat [Patrician Joan File] refuses to help me make another entry in this book. I have read it aloud to her, wondering a little at the maturing process…The world ceases to be an oyster. We are in the midst of a war still curiously unreal to me…The outbreak of the war in ‘39 was a powerful emotional jolt. Such intensity cannot be maintained and by the time Pearl Harbour, it was an old story…” [May 16, 1942]. 

“Pat and I have had a very happy year together. Like all others in these days we don’t know what events will interfere with our personal plans…We now plan to cycle from Cleveland to Montreal, then through the New England states. Once again I shall see Macbeth; this time Maurice Evans places the chief role” [May 16, 1942]. 

To finish off this collection, tipped into the diary is a letter Betty wrote to Pat while on a trip to England in 1960. In it, Betty shares about her travels overseas, and closes by asking Pat to pick her up at the airport if it’s convenient. 

This diary provides the rare opportunity to see the transformation of a woman from age 16 through 29 (age 47 if you count the letter), from schoolgirl meeting all of society’s expectations, to a woman proudly charting her own path, actively challenging societal norms. While Betty traveled extensively, her home base in Cleveland, and her references to its many landmarks (Hiram House, the Ohio Theater, Shaker Lake, the Elysium, Noble Street, etc.) provide the backdrop for her experiences. This diary would make an excellent addition to any library that values the stories of women, particularly stories from the LGBTQ+ community. 

BIO NOTES: Mary Elizabeth Bergen was the only child born to Harold S. Bergen and Mary Ross. Betty attended Teacher’s college (class of 1935). She later completed a MSW and worked at Western Reserve University (later Case Western Reserve) in the School of Medicine as a Clinical Instructor. She partnered with the famous Dr. Benjamin Spock to complete the Childrearing Study and published extensively in the field of child development. She never married and had no children.

Diary measures 3.5x5”. Betty wrote over the course of 13 years, filling 80 pages of her diary.The leather spine of the diary is coming off but the integrity of the spine and all pages are intact. The leather covers are chipping all around. Age toning and mild bends and folds are present. Writing extremely legible, all pages intact. Overall Good.