Thornton Oakley diaries

The illustrator Thornton Oakley was a student of Howard Pyle, founder of the Brandywine School. The Thonton Oakley diary collection consists of thirty-five miniature diaries and one small notebook. The diaries span 1908, and 1930 through 1953. The single notebook is from a 1919 trip to France and appears to contain ideas for paintings or illustrations, perhaps for a travel book. As much datebooks as diaries, the little books contain brief notes of dinner engagements, many with notable Philadelphians, theater performances, meetings, exhibits, and some world events such as the passage of American women’s suffrage in 1919 and the declaration of war in Europe in 1939. In addition to recording events, the diaries contain brief personal reactions to events such as the election of American presidents Harding and Roosevelt.