Civil War Diaries

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  Adele "Adah" M. Bryant Diary (September 1894 to April 1895)

  Adele M. Bryant

  Adele "Adah" Mabel Bryant was a Hollins student from 1894 to 1895 and attended singing classes. Her diary spans from September of 1894 to April of 1895. Adah was born in Lincoln, Kansas and shared a room in the Main building with her younger sister Nellie "Nell" A. Bryant. Adah and a couple other girls paid someone ten cents to go to the store and get sugar for them. It was a dollar and a half to go into Roanoke to see a program at the Opera House. There was a bell that was rung at 10pm to get all the men to leave the residence halls. There are multiple pieces of poetry at the end of the diary, two of which are titled "Hollins Beef" and "The New President". Adah married Benjamin. J. Buckingham in 1903, and lived in Chicago, Illinois, until her death in 1956 at the age of 81.

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  Virginia D. Woodruff (February 1860 to October 1894)

  Virginia Daniel Woodruff

  Virginia Daniel Woodruff was at Hollins College from 1864 to 1866, the diary spans from February 1860 to October 1894. Virginia married Samuel L. Murrill, code-named "Malcolm" in the diary because they were cousins. Towards the end of the diary, it loses the normal entry format and adopts a more random format with poems and notes about recipes and things like the roman origins for the months of the year, the history of the English language, and the Hebrew Alphabet. The diary pdfs have been split into two pdfs, appropriately labeled.

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  Nannie P. Armistead Diary (1866-1871)

  Nannie P. Armistead

  Nannie P. Armistead, married Crump, originally wrote the diary between August 1866 and January 1871, but her daughter Lora Crump Daniel rewrote it in 1937. Formerly, the property of Mary M. Pleasants, this copy was gifted to the Hollins Archives by Mary Masters Turner on May 3rd, 1961. Nannie describes Hollins Institute as only having three buildings, one of which is not yet completed. She says the commencement happened on July 25th and almost every one of her professors are named Cocke or Pleasants.

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  Ellen S. Adair Diary (1862 to 1865)

  Ellen S. Adair

  Ellen "Nellie" S. Adair's diary was written between 1862 and 1865. Ellen married twice, had four children and she was the third born of nine siblings. She was born on March 30th, 1845, and lived to be 87 years old. Ellen's diary includes hair clippings and flower pressings.

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  Susan Bagby Diary (January to March 1861)

  Susan Bagby

  Susan Bagby was a Hollins student from 1860 to 1861, her diary spans from January 9th to March 20th of 1861. Her diary is written around and mentions the civil war. Susan had unnamed brothers and sisters and had stomach problems for so long she said she thinks she may never get over the disease.