Daily life for a working class woman in Onalaska, 1864

Addie Tripp diary

Addie Tripp was a single woman, perhaps a domestic servant, who lived with the William Johnson family of Onalaska, Wisconsin, during the Civil War. Her diary describes her daily household tasks for the family and community life during the war. Although the war continued unabated, Tripp's diary is notable for the absence of references to it, revealing its relatively minor impact on a working class woman's daily life. Tripp wrote nearly every day, and her entries slowly chronicle her romance and ultimately her marriage to a local man. The diary volume itself - - a leather-bound book roughly the size of a deck of cards - - included 24 pages of statistical information in the front as well as pages to record one's expenses and other data at the back. We have enhanced the images slightly to make Tripp's penciled entries easier to read. To see a typed version, click "Page & Text" at the upper right while viewing any page.

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