skip to Main Content
Images of Belle Skinner as a young woman

In 1887 Ruth Isabelle “Belle” Skinner graduated from Vassar as Class President. That summer at the age of 21, she embarked on her Grand Tour of Europe as was the tradition of educated upper classes.  Belle kept a journal of her travels and  part of it was donated to Wistariahurst by Elizabeth (Betsy) Kilborne Hudnut,  Belle’s niece.  The pages are housed in the archives at Wistariahurst in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Reading someone else’s handwriting is a great challenge, one that the staff at Wistariahurst has not had the time to tackle.  But now, in the Spring of 2020, and with the help of the community and interested scholars these journal pages have been transcribed so that they can be read by all. Special Thanks to Jeff Skinner, Sandra Krein, Dennis and Joanne Picard who have done the lion’s share of transcribing.

Below are links to images of each daily entry and its transcription. Some entries are a single paragrah and others are several pages long.  We have included contextual links to informational websites about people, places and events that Belle mentions in her Journal.

We hope you enjoy this glimpse into the life of young Belle Skinner.

Journal Entry Dates

Back To Top