1941-1945 Manuscript Notebook of a Hip Atlanta, Georgia Teen Exploring the City and Dating Her Future Husband (and Other Suitors) Before Embarking on a Remarkable Adulthood

On offer is a little manuscript diary in a flip-top notebook that is as energetic and rapid-fire as the mind of any typical girl juggling the excitement of American teenage life. So busy is our author that this diary could easily be renamed “A Cool Girl’s Guide to Atlanta in the 1940s”!

Our fabulous author is Julia Ann Dobson (1926-2021). She was born to William Alonzo “Dobbie” Dobson and Edith McKenzie. Her father was the Scout Executive of the Atlanta Area Council for the Boy Scouts of America. Julia grew up in and near Atlanta, Georgia. She attended Druid Hills High School. After graduation she attended Shorter College and was a home ec major University of Georgia, where she pledged Kappa Delta. In 1948, Julia married Henry Winter Griffith (1926-1993). Winter was a high achieving athlete and academic, attending both Emory University and the University of South Carolina. He was in active duty in the US Navy and sailed on the USS Shangri-La. He became a physician. Julia and Winter divorced in around 1975. Following her divorce, Julia became a home builder and restorer, even working on housing projects with Jimmy Carter and Habitat for Humanity!

Julia writes on and off between Aug 23, 1941 through July 22, 1945, but the entries are often out of order, and vary in length. She has crossed out some of her entries (but they’re still fully legible under the scribbles!). Some of her entries are written in a tiny, neat hand to fit in more content, others are scrawled. Julia’s diary begins when she is a few months shy of 15, in August of 1941, and she concludes in the summer she’s 18. 

Excerpts give the flavour of Julia’s fast-paced diary, which clearly reflects her life. 

Her first entry, dated Aug 23-30, 1941, is written on page 4 of the diary:

“The week of Daddy’s conference. It was held in Miami Fla. I really had one of the most wonderful times of my life…”.

More excerpts:

“I worked at Sears. It was my first job. I made 33 cents an hour” [Dec 15-24, 1942].

“Anne Polley had a New Years party. I went with Joe. Everybody went down to the Emory theater for the mid-night show that started at 12. The picture was “The Hunch Back of Notre Dame”” [Dec 31, 1942].

“I had a date with Winter to go to band practice but he didn’t come until 8:30…” [May 16, 1943].

“I went to a dance with Key Powell over at Emory. It was given so the Navy and frat brothers could get acquainted. I had a wonderful time. I don’t believe I have ever been broken in on so many times before” [July 17, 1943].

“I had a date with Bill Morris. We doubledated with Patty and Dick Burton. We went to the train station to get Dick’s Mother then we took her home and danced a while at Dick’s house. Then we went to the Piedmont Park and then came home” [July 19, 1943].

“I went on the AIL hayride with Winter. We went out to Betty Croswell’s cousin’s farm (Mr. Kelly’s farm). We had wieners in the back yard. Then we went down to the lake and Winter sang for every body…” [Nov 6, 1943].

“I went to Sunday School and church. I had a date with Don for Vespers we doubledated with Patty and Pete. We left after the first part of Vespers then we went to Jones to get something to drink then we rode around awhile…” [Jan 2, 1944].

“I went to the Boy’s High graduation with Winter. He was the class orator. He won a gold B. After graduation we went to the Paradise Room at the Henry Grady [hotel]. We doubledated with Tommy Freeman and Shirley Larmour” [Jan 27, 1944].

“Winter and I went to Ansley Club for lunch and the afternoon. We went to Rainbow Roof for supper and dancing” [June 28, 1945].

The diary measures 5x3 inches. It is a small Pocket Notebook containing 35 pages with writing on the front and back of each. It is about 95% complete, for a total of about 68 pages of writing. It is in overall good condition with only the typical signs of age and wear. Some of the pages appear to have been intentionally torn at their perforations but content does not appear to be impacted.