Deborah Norris Logan diary, 1824-1825

Item

Title

Deborah Norris Logan diary, 1824-1825

Description

Deborah Norris Logan (1761-1839) was a Quaker historian and memoirist. She was born into one of the most prominent families of Philadelphia and was married to George Logan in 1781. While primarily self-taught, Deborah attended Philadelphia's Friends Girls School and was considered highly educated. She is best known for the seventeen volumes that make up her diary, which she maintained until her death. The diary provides a window into post-revolutionary America, and highlights the day-to-day happenings of domestic life, as well as social and political developments in North America and Europe. Deborah meticulously logged weather patterns and other natural phenomenon, and recorded interactions with family and friends. She also mused on historical and contemporary events, which includes her experience listening to the first reading of the Declaration of Independence as a young girl. She had close ties with America's elite and foreign diplomats, and her writing chronicles the lives of the most eminent figures of the time, including John Adams, George Washington, and Joseph Bonaparte. As time passed, her diary became an outlet for her emotional distress, especially after the deaths of her husband in 1821 and her son Algernon in 1835. Deborah's role as a "revolutionary mother" was of primary importance to her, and her writing delineates how women viewed their lives and constructed their own identities within a broader social framework.

Identifier

15803

Type

text

Creator

Logan, Deborah Norris, 1761-1839

Date Created

1824-06-02 - 1825-02-24

Format

Manuscript

Is Part Of

Logan Family Papers (0379)

Spatial Coverage

Philadelphia (Pa.) | 4061 N 18th St Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Subject

Historical Society of Pennsylvania | Diaries | Germantown (Philadelphia, Pa.) | Philadelphia (Pa.) | Logan, Albanus Charles, 1783-1854 | Logan, George, 1753-1821 | Authors, American | Historians | Pennsylvania--History | Pennsylvania--History--1775-1865 | Women historians | Quakers | Quaker women

Extent

223 pages

Language

eng

Rights

Rights assessment is your responsibility. This material is made available for noncommercial educational scholarly and/or charitable purposes. For other uses or for more information please contact The Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s Rights and Reproductions department at rnr@hsp.org.

Item sets

Deborah Norris Logan diaries