BYU library puts missionary diaries online
With the online collection, many people who would be interested in the diaries but will never have the chance to visit BYU can see the diaries for themselves. Susan Fales, curator of digital and historical collections for Special Collections, said this is one of the main reasons the library created the online collection.
"There are so many people who will never be able to physically come here, and yet, we have so many items that they might be interested in for their family history or historical value," she said.
The online collection contains short biographies of the diarists and images of the original pages alongside typed, transcribed pages from 114 diarists who served missions from the 1830s to the 1960s.
"We scanned the diaries in color so people can have the sense and feel of the original — so they can see what the paper looks like, what the covers look like," Fales said. "Sometimes there is even more to a diary than what is written in it."
The project of sifting through the diaries was largely carried out by students over an 18-month period that began in spring 2003 and ended in fall 2004. Reviewers tried to handle the original diaries as little as possible, using photocopies or transcripts where possible. They were also instructed to respect the diarists' sacred and private writings.
The diaries were chosen based on the writer's ability to be descriptive, introspective and revealing about experiences, people and places. The reviewers also hoped to find names of mission companions, mission presidents and people the missionaries taught and baptized, said Fales,who found the name of her own mother in the diary of prominent photographer George Edward Anderson.
This screening process assured that the most interesting diaries from the full collection are available in the Web collection. For instance, the Web collection contains diaries from John Henry Gibbs, who was murdered in the 1884 Tennessee Massacre during his service in the Southern States Mission. Also online are diaries written by Willis E. Robison, whose missionary service concluded with transporting Gibbs' body home to his family.
Recent comments
It is very interesting to view other journals from the time period...
Bruce Williams | Dec. 15, 2007 at 9:47 a.m.
i am thankful to our heavenly father and to all who made it possible...
joseph appiah yeboah(joel) | Dec. 13, 2007 at 11:06 a.m.
Thank you for thinking of us who are unable to attend the Museum....
David Smith | Australia | Dec. 12, 2007 at 9:14 p.m.
