Diary & Photo Portrait | 1894-1896

1976.14.1

Donor: Estate of Leo Waite

Eleven-year-old Mary Alice (“Al”) Bartlett, who lived with her parents and older sister at 36 Eliot Street in Natick, kept this diary in 1894. The photograph was taken two years later, when Al was thirteen years old.

A talented violinist and writer, Al went on to attend Bates College, graduating in 1905. Unfortunately, the house where Al grew up is no longer standing. Al Bartlett’s papers and photographs are part of the Waite family papers and photographs, a collection in the NHS archives.

Diary entry:

“Jan. 20, 1894 Saturday.
I went up to take my lesson today. Miss Bartlett and Miss Griffin and Florence played at the Unity Club last night.”