1858-1912
Guide to the Collection
Abstract
This collection consists of diaries kept by Eliza Lee Lothrop Homans on various trips, as well as other volumes.
Biographical Sketch
Eliza Lee Lothrop Homans was the daughter of Mary Lyman (Buckminster) Lothrop (d. 1859) and the Reverend Samuel K. Lothrop {1804-1886). She married Charles Dudley Homans, M.D. (1826-1886), the son of John Homans, M.D. (1793-1868).
Collection Description
The collection contains 12 volumes of diaries kept by Eliza Lee Lothrop Homans on various trips, primarily to Europe, but also to Algeria, Egypt, India, New York, and New Hampshire. The collection also contains a commonplace-book; four volumes of notes on books and other material Homans read; and a "Book of Sorrows," a scrapbook she compiled on the deaths of family members.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Cornelia Perkins Zinsser, Mar. 1989.
Other Formats
Digital facsimiles of the Eliza Lee Lothrop Homans diaries are available on Leisure, Travel & Mass Culture: The History of Tourism, a digital publication of Adam Matthew Digital, Inc. This digital resource is available at subscribing libraries; speak to your local librarian to determine if your library has access. The MHS makes this resource available onsite; see a reference librarian for more information.
Detailed Description of the Collection
Diary/narrative, beginning 29 Sep. 1871
This diary describes a trip to the Adirondack Mountains, New York, that Eliza Lee Lothrop Homans took with her husband.
Diary, 1874-1875
3 volumes.This diary was kept on a journey to England, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, France, Algeria, and Italy.
18 Nov. 1874-15 Jan. 1875
19 Jan.-18 Feb. 1875
21 Feb.-28 Mar. 1875
Diary, 14-19 Nov. 1881
This diary describes a trip to Utica, New York.
Diary, 24-31 July 1888
This diary describing a trip to the White Mountains, N.H., was kept in the same volume as the 1881 diary above.
Diary, 10 May-27 Aug. 1884
This diary describes a trip to Europe, including England, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France.
Diary, 1894-1896
4 volumes.This diary describes a trip to Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, Egypt, Italy, Greece, Spain, France, England, Scotland, and India. Included are photographs pasted in.
"Volume I," 22 July-21 Dec. 1894
"Volume II," 24 Dec. 1894-24 Apr. 1895
"Volume III," 25 Apr.-10 July 1895
"Volume IV," 10 July-5 Oct. 1895
"Volume V," 6 Oct. 1895-11 Apr. 1896
Diary, 1-25 Dec. 1897
This diary describes a trip to Italy and also contains notes on books read, Nov. 1903.
Commonplace book, 1858-1912
This volume contains poetry and quotations.
Notes on books, etc., 1859-1893
Notes on books, etc., 1885-1889
Notes on books, etc., 1895-1898
Notes on books, etc., 1898-1908
"Book of sorrows," 1859-1886
This scrapbook was kept by Eliza Lee Lothrop Homans to record the deaths of family members, including her mother, father, father-in-law, husband, and two infant children. Included are newspaper clippings, copies of sermons preached, journal-type entries by Homans, poetry, and some letters pasted in.
Preferred Citation
Eliza Lee Lothrop Homans diaries, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.
Persons:
Subjects:
Materials Removed from the Collection
The following printed item was removed from collection and catalogued separately, March 1989: A Collection of Papers Relative to the Transactions of the Town of Milton, in the State of Massachusetts, to Promote a General Inoculation of the Cow Pox, or Kine Pock, as a Never Failing Preventive Against Small Pox Infection. Boston: Printed for the town of Milton, by J. Belcher, 1809.