The Bea Blog –
Excerpts from My Grandmother’s Diaries
Bea circa 1909
When my parents and I were cleaning out my grandmother Bea’s
apartment after she died in 1985, we came upon an old suitcase filled with 38
volumes of her daily diaries beginning in 1913.
I started reading the diaries in 2004 and finished them in
2011.
Now, on the 100th anniversary of Bea’s first volume, I am starting The Bea Blog where I will excerpt and annotate some of the diary highlights.
My maternal grandmother Beatrice Cohen was born in 1899, the eldest child of upper middle class Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. She grew up on New York’s Upper West Side where she lived in an apartment with her mother, father, sister and brother. She attended the Horace Mann High School for Girls. She married my grandfather Milton Rubin in 1920 (she was 20, he was 21) and gave birth to my aunt in 1923 and my mother in 1926. In 1952, Milton left Bea for a family friend, a widow who had been Bea’s classmate at Horace Mann. Bea and Milton never divorced but remained separated for the rest of their lives. Her diaries cover the years leading up to their marriage (1913-1920) and the years following their separation (1951-1980). There is no evidence that she kept any diaries during their years together.
At the time of the first volume, Bea was 13. Her friends were named Helene, Jeannette, Cora, Lillian, Natalie, Libby, Maud and Eleanor. She took piano lessons, went horseback riding, played basketball, went ice skating, took long walks, rode the subway, went to parties and went swimming. Her family had an Overland car and a chauffeur named Gus. She looked forward to spending the summer in Long Branch on the Jersey Shore.
The 1913 volume contains the shortest entries as Bea used only a small date book (2 ½” x 4 ½”). By 1914 she was using a standard bound diary (5” x 6”) in which she filled a page or more a day.
Bea’s 1913 diary
1913
1913
Played ragtime. Got my spring riding suit.
Had dandy ride. Got blue ribbon. Had Black Bird Jersey and
the pony. Went to Suffragette Parade and then to Plaza in afternoon.
June
Had fine ride [by car] to Far Rockaway [. . .] only two flat
tires.
October
On October 18, 1913, Bea
turned 14
Had a wonderful day. Had 11 girls for lunch and 12 to
Colonial in afternoon. Got over 20 gifts. I had a very happy day.
And later that month
Went to dentist and he put my brace in. Feels very uncomfortable
at present.
November
On Election Day
Election Day! Mitchell elected.
[At thirty-five years old, John Purroy Mitchel was the
second youngest person ever to be elected Mayor of New York City; he was nicknamed the"Boy Mayor." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/nyregion/unraveling-a-mystery-new-york-citys-youngest-mayor.html?_r=0 ]
December
Mother had New Year’s card party. Dressed up swell with my
white dress.
