Mrs. H. C. Adams diary, 1901-1916
1 volume
This pocket diary contains entries written by Mrs. H. C. Adams between 1901 and 1916. Most of the volume is Adams' narrative of her visit to the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo with her friend Alice, describing buildings and exhibits of the Exposition as well as their excursions into the cities of Buffalo and Syracuse.
Mrs. Adams recorded what she saw in many of the buildings, including the "living villages" of the Exposition. They included "genuine" homes of people from the Philippines, Africa, and Japan, as well as Inuit (called Esquimaux Village) and Indigenous North American tribes. In the Japanese Village (called Fair Japan) Mrs. Adams observed a band consisting mostly of women and made note of a theater purported to be the finest in the world. She saw more singers, dancers, and theater productions in the Philippine Village, mentioning some religious practices happening there.
- A chair made of horns
- A list of fish present in the Fishery Building
- The largest tanned elephant hide in the world (500 pounds)
- A gold bed
- A statue representing a Quaker
- Moveable wooden feet
- A bear made of raisins
- An elephant made of English walnut
- Wood from each U.S. state and from some foreign countries
- A theater named The Land of the Midnight Sun
- A house made of butter
During her trip, Adams also visited the Temple of Music, where President William McKinley (1843-1901) was shot. Following Mrs. Adams' diary entries are several lists of names. One is attributed to the Teachers' Institute in November 1906, containing women's names, cities, and states. A similarly formatted list, dated October of 1909, is titled "Institute," but has Xs beside the names. The final list, titled "[Bonnie?] Beach Sandy Creek NY" and dated December 1913, appears to have signatures of individual people.
At the end of the volume is a single-page entry dated January 1927: a list of baked goods with amounts and apparent prices listed.