Here’s another interesting antique notebook from my collection.

I love the concept of a diary mixed with a foreign language dictionary. This would have been intended for a soldier who was being sent to fight in France during World War 1, so in a lightweight, compact package, the soldier (or other service member) could both record their experiences and have a handy aid in local communications.

It measures about 3-3/4″ wide by 5-3/8″ high by about 5/8″ thick, and is very nicely made, especially considering it would potentially be living in a coat pocket in a muddy battlefield trench. The edges are gilded and the endpapers have a delicate floral pattern.

The contents are copyrighted 1917. There are a few pages of frontmatter, then the undated diary section taking up about half of the book, then the French dictionary, and at the end, some pages for addresses and “memorandums.”

Looking at the identification page at the beginning, I at first assumed that this would indeed have been the property of a soldier or a sailor, as the field for rank says “buck private,” but when I looked more closely, I saw the name Marie Schultz. I wondered if I was misreading the name, but the height and weight seemed low for a male. I then did some googling on the “Organization: B.H.- M.D.” and “Branch of Service: A.N.C.” notes, and realized that this diary’s owner was indeed a woman: she was in the Army Nurse Corps, and B.H. stood for Base Hospital.

In September 1918 when Marie Schultz enlisted, the ANC did not assign women to military ranks– they were considered civilian contractors. Perhaps Marie Schultz called herself a “buck private” as a sort of joke about the lack of respect that was generally accorded to nurses in the military. (In 1920, the Army Reorganization Act granted “relative rank” to nurses, acknowledging that their responsibilities were equivalent to that of certain officers, even if they still didn’t have all the rights and privileges of those male officers.)

In any case, Marie Schultz wouldn’t have been an ANC nurse for very long– the war ended less than two months after she enlisted, so she may never even have made it to France. The Base Hospitals were located there, but maybe the M.D. indicates she was stationed in Maryland. She could have continued to serve as a military nurse, but she didn’t record much in the diary. The only entry is on Thursday, January 16, 1919, where she writes “Moved from Grayson to Barn. Cold as ice. Homesick as the dickens. Candy from Anne.”

The diary notes that she is from Frontenac, Kansas and enlisted in Pittsburg, Kansas. I couldn’t find a Grayson in Kansas, but there is one in Missouri, about 150 miles north of Frontenac. As for Barn, I’m not sure if that is short for something, but I couldn’t find anything likely other than perhaps Barnstable, MA. But the homesickness suggests it wasn’t nearby.

It’s too bad Marie didn’t write more– as the publisher’s note at the beginning says, “No possession can surpass or even equal a well-kept diary.” This one was at least very well preserved. I’ve got another World War 1 diary, but having one that was belonged to a female nurse seems even more special, somehow. I hope Marie Schultz was able to get over her homesickness. Even if she didn’t make it to France, enlisting as a wartime nurse was an incredibly brave thing to do.