The Diary of Julia Colt Butler

Abstract

IN attempting to piece together the feminine heritage of America, modern scholars quickly discover that the public record is not particularly useful. In the last century, when the majority of women lived in an almost entirely private sphere, no effort was made to preserve their stories for posterity. Consequently, private writings such as letters and, in particular, diaries and journals have become the primary sources for insight into the experiences of women. Were it not for the diaries kept by many nineteenth-century women, such as the one written by Julia Colt Butler, the records of their lives would be entirely obscured. Julia's diary, kept from June 28, 1889 to December 8, 1890, provides a brief but valuable glance into the life of a young upper-class woman.1 The diary reveals its writer as a spirited young woman with little opportunity for excitement within the constraints of her protected environment. Yet, Julia apparently did not protest her lot, but rather accepted the values of bourgeois American society in the passively uncritical manner which characterizes the tone of her journal. She belonged to an entire class of idle women whose social function appears to have been that of the consumer—of goods, of time, and of culture. Julia Colt Butler was born June 29, 1872, in Paterson, New Jersey. At that time Paterson was a booming industrial center, commonly known as Silk City for its production of fine textiles.2 On her paternal side Julia was descended from one of the most prominent and wealthy families in Paterson, the Colts. Julia's greatgreat grandfather, Peter Colt, and his sons Roswell and John, were early founders of industry in Paterson and were cousins of Samuel