This diary (approximately 150 pages) chronicles the daily activities of Warren Lewis Fletcher, a resident of Leominster, Massachusetts, during the year 1897. The "Standard Diary" contains several printed pages of reference material, including a page providing Fletcher's height, weight, and clothing sizes, and each diary page contains entries for 3 days. Fletcher regularly kept entries throughout the year, reporting on his work and social activities, which often included visiting the Y.M.C.A., attending high school football games, and playing cards with friends. Fletcher, a member of several musical groups, played the banjo, flute, and other instruments, and his diary often records the amount of time he spent practicing. On most weekdays, he spent from 8.5-10 hours at work, and on Sundays he frequently attended church services, both at Baptist and Methodist churches. The back pages contain records of Fletcher's finances, a list of addresses and social calls, and a pencil sketch of a person lying next to a bottle, entitled "Among the Rushes."
Warren Lewis Fletcher was born in West Boylston, Massachusetts, on September 8, 1875, and lived with his parents, George H. Fletcher and Abbie D. Dana, in Leominster, Massachusetts, by the 1890s. He had at least two siblings: Bertha and Herbert. In Leominster, Fletcher worked as a veneer smoother for piano cases, and he worked in an organ factory after moving to Reading, Massachusetts, in the early 20th century. He married Fannie Josephine Ide, daughter of George Ide and Josephine Kent; they had two sons: Warren Lewis, Jr., and Marcus Kent.
