1914 and 1916 ORIGINAL GROUP OF TWO [2] MANUSCRIPT DIARIES HANDWRITTEN BY A HARDWORKING STUDENT AND SON WHO DETAILS THE LIFE AND TIMES OF WORLD WAR I ERA RICHMOND VIRGINIA INCLUDING THE HORRID RACISM OF THE DAY

On offer is a fascinating pair [2] of manuscript diaries handwritten by a young unidentified Richmond Virginia man and in many ways a super look at the times but sadly a picture of terrible prejudice and breath taking bigotry observed or expressed by the author. While the author is not stated there are many, many clues that should assist local researchers and historians to finally identify the author. The first book of approximately 120 pages is entirely filled save for a few pages, dated January 1st 1914 through to December 30th and then a page detailing Mother Shipton's Prophecy claiming the end of the world in 1981! The second book dated January 1st 1916 through May 8th has 56 pages of narrative. Here are some snippets: 1914 "Rained fearfully till 10 the wind blowing so bad that I got pretty wet going to town. Dad and I made 3 concrete posts for our front porch in PM…Rode wheel to town last night and joined the automobile class at the Virginia Mech Institute at 11th and Broad, Tuition $3 for 1 ½ hours twice a week till May I rode wheels to Aigners last night…WE played cards till a late hour and got home at 12…Punctured my inner tube yesterday morning and had it patched in town this morning for .25 Claude came over tonight and helped me put it back in the outer casing…Claude and I went up to the commencement exercises at Virginia Mech Institute last night, I hauled six loads of manure from Trowbridges today at .50 per…Rode wheels to town after dinner to Diggs back at 3 PM and we got up two nice loads of oats, spent evening at Perry's playing cards…We boys went to river in PM and Roxa and I to league at night…Independence Day so as to get the full benefit of our freedom, Roxa and I spent day at Ocean View about 90 miles to Old Point Comfort by rail and then across Hampton Roads to Willoughby Spit and thence by street car to the beach. Quite a windy day and the waves rolled up on the beach but the fun was in the waves…Claude and Percy Beavers here in PM also, the latter having come home Friday on a vacation from college. Went to league at night with her…Big crowd of us boys went to the river in PM, Lawrence got cramps in one leg and scared him pretty badly…Dad started to work in town today at the RR YMCA building as head janitor or Superintendent of the Building at 40 per month, he rod wheel today and expects to when weather permits…Last Wednesday afternoon John Archer's barn burned down losing a lot of hay, 6000 feet of new lumber and two horses, causes unknown, following Friday night at 11:30 Perry's barn burned down with their nice $200 horse and two fine cows and a calf. Their new buggy and harness and Lawrence's new wheels with extra tires all lost…Roxa and Lawrence both suffered with burned feet…Mr Bell was thrown from his buggy and died only 43 and a fireman…Sat PM a large barn containing horse and cow burned down near Varina…Helped Perry to lad their burnt carcasses onto a sled to drag them to the field, their legs were burnt completely off…Dad quit working at the YMCA Sept 1st and did a contract job for Varina High School and then worked for two weeks at Gordonsville on a silo and cowbarn…We had a nice party at Laurel Hill Hall, we had a dialogue before the auction, in which I was a discharge valet with my face blacked up everything looking nigger. It came off fine and everyone seemed to like it…The European War put prices up for a while but have come back to pretty much normal again. I should have gone to the Mechanics Institute tonight but my rear tire is punctured…The cripple lacy had all fingers on his right hand taken off in the engine last week…The school kids at Varina High School were examined and found that one half of them had diphtheria germs, so will be darned if we aint got a big yellow sign on our front door forbidden us to leave the place, so we are now in prison…" 1916 "We all went to SS and Church but I have sure got the grippe, been getting worse for two days. I felt so bad, I didn't get to league but was sorry for it afterwards for I did an act that I was quite ashamed of and felt disgusted at my foolish attempt…R forgave me last night but of course feels very sore and disgusted with me, I feel bad enough myself without having anybody mad at me tho I deserve it…Worked some on cellar and went over to National Cemetery to get measurements of a house that Joe and I have decided on. I rode bike and got pretty muddy so tonight I drove to Fairmount…Got fine load of manure and saved it for the greenhouse. Dad and I put up woven wire fence along front…I had the scare of my life today. Got a letter from Roxa which was very cutting and I could not understand what had happened. Had some very grave thoughts in my mind, but not a guilty conscience, decided that she had too hot a temper for me if that was a sample of the future. I rode bike up there in a drizzle and found her in the best of spirits and said she did it for fun and did not mean a word of it…Farmers lecture at Varina last night…Rode bike from here to Fairmount in 33 minutes breaking previous record of 35 minutes. Roxa and I spent evening at Odeon seeing the battle cry of peace, very good…Roxa shot at a nigger stealing chickens one early last week…Shurm and I moved Ridouts furniture from 417 S Laurel to their new house down here. I got a load of sand for Vaughn by night."; Manuscript; 16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, URSULA SOUTHEIL, MOTHER SHIPTON'S PROPHECY, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, RURAL LIFE, RACE RELATIONS, BIGOTRY, RACISM, ANTI BLACK,BLACK AMERICANA, NEGRO, GENDER STUDIES, EARLY 20TH CENTURY LIFE, AMERICANA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, DIARY, JOURNAL, LOG, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, DIARIES, JOURNALS, LOGS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D'ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL,