Sue R. Preston Diary

The diary of Sue R. Preston, kept between January 7 and October 13, 1907, primarily documents the day-to-day activities of a young, middle-class woman, her family, and friends, living in Detroit, Michigan. Preston describes shopping, reading, household activities, and going to church and to the theater. She names many of the popular stage personalities, melodramas, music, and novels of the day. Descriptions include personal sightings of actresses such as Gertrude Coghlan and Julia Sanderson as they enter and exit the Temple Theater. She also repeatedly mentions the Thaw Murder Trial, the "Trial of the Century," and at one point echoes public sentiment when she writes that she hopes Harry K. Thaw will be judged innocent. Enclosed are numerous newspaper clippings of the trial, including several photographs and drawings of Evelyn Nesbit. Also featured are gossip columns reporting marriages between actresses and society millionaires and picturing a variety of famous stage personalities such as Ethel Barrymore, Bessie Wynn, and Valerie Bergere.

Beginning in October 1907, Preston's diary entries document her first few days as a nurse-in-training at Sarah Leigh Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, the forerunner to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.