File consists of 3 diaries of Dorothy Choate Herriman.
Diary 1 pertains to when Herriman and family lived in Orillia, Ontario where her father was assistant superintendent of the Ontario Hospital at Orillia. Dorothy was in Toronto attending Ontario College of Art (OCA) for her last year. She writes about her new Remington portable typewriter, a new short coat, dreading going home for the summer because the house is "all torn up" and she and her mother seem incompatible. On July 24, she notes a drowning accident in Balsam Lake when 11 boys of St. Andrews Brotherhood died. August 19, "as a united household we would make a good volcanic eruption! We are the acme of disintegration, individualism & misinterpretations. I wish some invisible being would 'write us up' --- as a comedy." September 25, Garvin's book containing poems and photographs of Dorothy Herriman was published, and Dorothy hated her picture, "...I have such a 'hatchet' faced expression.” She returned to OCA. in October and found that "Mr. Reid is very uninspiring in costume. I shall forget all I ever learned with Mr. Varley." On October 18, Herriman notes it is a red-letter day because she was "wangled" into getting her hair bobbed.
Diary 2 starts with Herriman's last few months at OCA. On March 4, she is wondering who will get appointed as administrator of Rockwood. The diary is full of details about courses, instructors, public lectures she has attended, residence problems, health concerns, and letters from her father. On May 30, Herriman talks about her mother who has gone to Battle Creek for a few days and has consulted Dr. Kellogg. Dr. William Herriman had been assistant superintendent at Orillia, and in 1927 was made superintendent of the Ontario Hospital at Cobourg as Herriman notes on September 20. On November 17 she writes, "I seem to crave an impetus of some sort to feel any vital interest in life. I must be suffering from ennui--or the modern craze for excitement & stimulation."
Diary 3 documents a problem in the family with William and his daughter Dorothy's habit of going to bed at 2:00 AM and often later and not arising until noon. The diary also talks about quarrels with her mother and constant tension at home. On May 10 she writes, "Daddy wants to go to Orillia over Sunday but is afraid I won't get up on time while he is away. He looks 'crushed & broken" with his 'domestic troubles'."
