Irene Sickel Sims diary, 1916-1967, bulk 1916-1917 | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Sims' handwritten diary is about 280 pages, with the first entry on 13 July 1916. On 19 July she copied in entries she had made for 27-30 June. She then made regular entries until 29 June 1917, with a the final entry dated 18 November 1917, when Sims explained that the hiatus resulted from her breaking an arm during a horseback ride in June. Sims wrote in detail about her work relationships and duties, including business lunches and dinners, salary negotiations, interactions with colleagues and superiors, attendance at conferences, as well as her meetings with John Wanamaker and Condé Nast. She was delighted when business associates were willing to treat her as they would a man and when she had evidence of their respect. In fact, she was courted by other companies and discusses those negotiations. She also stressed the importance of reading and high culture to her work and private life, and provided numerous quotes along with reports on her reading habits, as well as her attendance at public performances of all kinds, including extensive notes on lectures made by John Cowper Powys and Sir Ernest Shackleton. In regard to her private life, she expressed concern about the customs of the men she dated and that they might consider her "old fashioned." Later she came to revel in her conservatism. Includes three clippings laid in. There is a note written in 1967 regarding the discovery of a key to unlock the volume