Written by
Dr. Whipper, Ionia Rollin, American, 1872 - 1953
Manufactured by
Samuel Ward Manufacturing Company, American, 1868 - c. 1930
Subject of
United States Department of Labor, American, founded 1913
Howard University Hospital, American, founded 1862
Date
1923
Medium
ink on paper with leather and adhesive
Dimensions
H x W x D (closed): 5 5/16 × 3 7/16 × 9/16 in. (13.5 × 8.8 × 1.5 cm)
Caption
This diary, begun in 1923, documents the daily life of Dr. Ionia Rollin Whipper, a 1903 graduate of Howard University School of Medicine, during a time when she was touring the South as an assistant medical officer for the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor. During the tour, Dr. Whipper lectured and instructed midwives in childbirth practices. After the tour, she returned to Washington, DC where she was an obstetrician in the Maternity Ward of Freedman's Hospital. She began to mentor and assist the teenage girls she encountered in the hospital and in 1931 she opened the Ionia R. Whipper Home for Unwed Mothers in Northeast Washington, D.C. It would remain the only maternity home for black women in the Washington area for many decades.
Description
Personal diary of Dr. Ionia Rollin Whipper from the year 1923. The diary is leather bound and has gold lettering on front that reads, [Day by Day / A PERPETUAL DIARY]. The tile page has the same title written in the same format as the cover. Underneath is the manufacturer's mark which is a circle with a shield in the center with the words, [TRADE MARK, SAMUEL / WARD / MFG. CO. / Boston]. On the opposite page is a handwritten inscription in black ink stating, [-Howard / Around the world dinner / in every place and at same / hours.] The first few pages have a list of addresses and starting January 4th, Rollin describes her activities each day including payments, lectures, meetings, and travel arrangements. There are dates scattered throughout the diary that are blank, greatly increasing in March. After each month is a page [Memoranda]. On March 13, a love poem on brown paper titled, [TELL HIM NOW]. Rollin stops writing in the diary on June 16th. The book begins again on the September Memoranda in claiming she had just found the book and have been in the hospital working since January 1st, 1921. After that the book is blank except for November 10 - 11th and December 11-12. and 21-22. on December 30-31st Rollin has listed [California / Books]. The [Memoranda] on the next two days has the inscription written above, [Office Sept. 8 / 1877] with a list of Insurances. The diary ends with a list of names and addresses. The back cover is blank.
Transcription Center Status
Transcription Available
Place made
Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States
Place used
Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
Classification
Documents and Manuscripts
Type
diaries
Topic
American South
Black Enterprise
Education
Government
Medicine
Midwifery
Social reform
Travel
Women
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Carole Ione Lewis Family Collection
Object number
2018.101.2
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd578cff3ca-bed1-4b1f-9ed3-e07bdbb0afb9

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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