Durham (Charles H.) Diaries, 1883-1896

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Summary

Title:
Charles H. Durham diaries
Dates:
1883-1896
Creators:
Durham, Charles Howard
Abstract:
Three diaries kept by homosexual academic, Charles H. Durham, chronicling his relationship with Stanford University Classicist, Samuel Walter Miller, span the years 1883-1896.
Extent:
0.75 Linear Feet
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[identification of item] Charles H. Durham Diaries (SC1166). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Background

Scope and content:

The materials consist of three manuscript quarto diaries kept by homosexual academic, Charles H. Durham (1858-1943), chronicling his relationship with renowned Stanford University Classicist, Samuel Walter Miller (1864-1949).

The three diaries cover a total of five years. The volumes labeled 10 and 11 span the dates November 1, 1883 to May 22, 1887, while the volume labeled 16 covers the eighteen months between November 1894 and May 1896.

Durham's first notebook in this trilogy graphs his travels in Germany with Miller in 1884 and their eventual separation. From Germany, Durham traveled alone to Greece, Italy, Switzerland, France, and England, completing a melancholy Grand Tour not exactly as originally planned.

His diary entries following the termination of his relationship with Miller are greatly depressed, but his spirits lightened months after the rupture as he met other men.

Biographical / historical:

A romantic Christian homosexual man, Charles Howard Durham (1858-1943) graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1882. He was a studious individual, conscientious teacher, and diligent letter writer.

During his years as a student at the University of Michigan in the early 1880s, Durham met and fell in love with Samuel Walter Miller (1864-1949). They shared a passionate relationship and exchanged many letters until their eventual split in 1885.

Upon his graduation from the University of Michigan, Charles Durham taught languages at Daughter's College in Platte City, Missouri in 1883. He then traveled abroad in Germany with Miller, but he returned to the United States alone on June 16, 1885. He later relocated and worked in Ravenna, Ohio.

Samuel Walter Miller (1864-1949), a renowned American linguist and scholar, is most famous for conducting the first American excavation in Greece in 1885 and for founding the Stanford University Classics department in 1894.

Miller graduated from the University of Michigan in 1884, where he met and shared a relationship with Charles Howard Durham (1858-1943). Together they traveled to Germany, but they split in Europe and did not return to the United States together. Miller later married Jennie Emerson (1860-1946), niece of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and together they raised two daughters.

Following his excavation work in Greece, Miller returned to the United States and began a fifty-year career as a college professor. He taught at the University of Michigan, the University of Missouri, Stanford, and Tulane.

Acquisition information:
Purchase, 2013.
Physical location:
Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 48 hours in advance. For more information on paging collections, see the department's website: https://library.stanford.edu/libraries/special-collections.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
University Archives staff
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-03-24 10:07:51 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Materials are open for research use. Audio-visual materials are not available in original format and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.

Terms of access:

While University Archives is the owner of the physical and/or digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.

Preferred citation:

[identification of item] Charles H. Durham Diaries (SC1166). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Location of this collection:
Stanford University Archives, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6064, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Website