Biography
Scope and Contents
Access
Processing Information
Acquisition
Preferred Citation
Publication Rights
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Davis Library, Dept. of
Special Collections
Title: Gertrude McGee Diary
Creator:
McGee, Gertrude
Identifier/Call Number: MC333
Physical Description:
1 item
Composition book measuring 8 x 7 inches and
comprised of 54 handwritten pages.
Date (inclusive):
1900-1901
Abstract: Handwritten journal
documenting a year in the life of 16-year-old Gertrude (Gertie)
McGee.
Physical Location: Researchers should
contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections,
as many are stored offsite.
Biography
Gertrude (Gertie) McGee was a teenager living in Sonoma and
San Rafael between 1900 and 1901.
Scope and Contents
Handwritten journal documenting a year in the life of
16-year-old Gertrude (Gertie) McGee. Following the death of her
father, Gertie moves from her birthplace of Tennessee with her
mother Fannie and younger brother Russell to Sonoma, California.
There, they share a household with her Aunt Mattie, Uncle Thomas
and younger cousin John. Very quickly, readers can detect the
importance of the family support system. Thomas, a salesman,
appears to be gone much of the time; and as compensation for
boarding with her family, Fannie becomes a co-partner with Mattie
in managing the children and the household despite her own
chronic illness. The only young woman in the house, Gertie is
pulled between sharing childish outdoor adventures with Russell,
John, and the other neighborhood children (such as eating nuts
and climbing trees at the "camp" they have set up by
the creek) and meeting the expectations of womanhood set upon her
by Fannie and Mattie (such as assisting with cooking and
cleaning). A reader, Gertie often laments her failure to live up
to the standard set by heroines in such books as Stepping
Heavenward and Elsie Dinsmore, commenting of her own behavior
"that wasn't very ladylike." School and friendships
are the areas where Gertie ultimately thrives. She regularly
comments on missing school during vacations and being glad to
come back; she notes enjoyment of English, History, and
Bookkeeping, calling her arrival to high school
"lovely." And she is surrounded by young women,
including her best friends Edna and Nellie, to whom declares love
and devotion. Gertie even notes early on -- with a bit of
obviously echoed judgment from adults around her -- about a role
model very different to what her own mother likely had:
"Miss Cecelia Granice, who goes to school at Berkeley and
thinks herself all of it."
As the year goes on, Gertie matures in noticeable ways. She
increasingly observes turns of phrase that she finds elegant
among adults and notes them for future use; she leaves behind
rabbit chasing with the little boys instead to attend orchestra
performances at Union Hall, to ride her bicycle (which she
laments is older than the other girls' and outdated) to visit
with other women and hear town news, and practice flirting with
some of the local men (one of whom she reports "thinks I am
a little girl and don't know that he was flirting; flirting
is just as natural to him as falling off a log"). Amidst
these changes, she discovers that her mother will be relocating
her immediate family to San Rafael. Gertie's grief further
shows her growth. Not only does she mourn Sonoma and leaving a
land that she feels tied to, but she fears severing ties with her
friends and experiencing a major accomplishment -- her graduation
-- at an unfamiliar school. "The place I had planned to live
in should be left in so short a time! I expected to graduate from
this school, I had even in idle moments planned how I should look
on that night...I am going to leave my friends for new ones. Will
they be as true? Will I love them as well?...I am going to leave
Sonoma with all the scenes that I love, the green mountains where
the sun and shadows make so many shades." Indeed, on first
arriving to life in the city, she reports on the cultural
differences she faces. "San Rafael, with all its style and
its people who smile at you as if there was a block of ice
between you," compared with "Sonoma where every one
speaks to every one else and is your true friend."
Unsurprisingly, finding that she likes and thrives in her new
school -- and can form a network of female friends while
maintaining the bonds with Nellie and Edna through post -- leads
her to acclimate quickly. Indeed, she would remain in San Rafael,
marrying stationery store owner Lawrence Moore.
[Description provided by Whitmore Books]
Access
Collection is open for research.
Processing Information
Liz Phillips created this finding aid with information
supplied by Whitmore Books.
Acquisition
Purchased from Whitmore Books, 2021.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Gertrude McGee Diary, MC333,
Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of
California, Davis.
Publication Rights
All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected
under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. Requests for
permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted
in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for
publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University
of California as the owner of the physical items. It is not
intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder,
which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Women -- California -- History
Teenagers -- West (U.S.) -- 19th
century
McGee, Gertrude -- Archives
Michael and Margaret B. Harrison
Western Research Center