{"id":1837,"date":"2023-02-15T09:46:32","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T14:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/?p=1837"},"modified":"2023-02-15T17:26:47","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T22:26:47","slug":"maggie-boyd-150","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/2023\/02\/15\/maggie-boyd-150\/","title":{"rendered":"Maggie Boyd and I have a lot in common; We will graduate 150 years apart"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Taylor Burnette, BSJ \u201923, Digital Collections Social Media Manager, Ohio University Libraries.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Margaret<\/a>
Margaret Boyd, the first woman graduate at Ohio University. Ohio University Archives.
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Note: This Founders Day, February 18, we are celebrating the 150th anniversary year of OHIO’s first woman graduate with the digital exhibit \u201cMargaret Boyd 150: OHIO Founders Day 2023<\/a>,\u201d created by Taylor Burnette.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Maggie\u2019s<\/a>
Margaret Boyd\u2019s 150-year-old diary next to the author\u2019s iPhone 14.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

150 years ago, almost to the day, Margaret \u201cMaggie\u201d Boyd was dealing with something I have dealt with far too many times. Similar to Maggie, sitting up all night also does not agree with me.<\/p>\n

\n

Wednesday, February 12, 1873<\/a>. \u201cI have hard work to get my lessons today.\u00a0 Sitting up all night does not agree with me\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Diaries, and the experiences written in them, are extremely personal accounts of history. They\u2019re about as intimate a medium you can get in historical materials. A beautiful recount of her day-to-day life, Maggie\u2019s diary<\/a> lists triumphs, low points, and the mundane things in between.<\/p>\n

As she finishes her time at Ohio University with commencement, the \u201cday of all days<\/a>,\u201d she calls it, she goes onwards into the working world to become a teacher. And despite her great joy in pride and graduation, she laments feelings of waywardness and loneliness.<\/p>\n

\"Ohio<\/a>
Ohio University class of 1873 photo<\/a>. Ohio University Archives.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I am about to finish my time at Ohio University. Maggie and I had very parallel experiences here at OU. We live off campus and walk to class. While an escort is not a social requirement for me, I go just about everywhere with my friends. I go to lectures, although I usually have more than 6 classmates. And I do tons of homework.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Tuesday, February 4, 1873<\/a>. \u201cStudy and recite, Study and recite what monotony! Sometimes I get tired.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

(Me too, Maggie.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m grateful Maggie paved the way for me to get my education 150 years ago. Today I have a lot more freedom as a student and as a woman (for example, I can hold the job I am writing this blog post for). As I go into that next phase of my life, I am going to remember Maggie. I\u2019m glad that 150 years later she let me know I\u2019m not the only person who has ever been nervous about my first job, and that it’s okay to be a little lonely when moving away from home for the first time.<\/p>\n

The world has changed a great deal since Maggie graduated–instead of letters I am grateful to be able to just text my friends and family in far away places–but even 150 years later, some things remain the same. Like Maggie, I will miss my friends I met here in Athens. I treasured my time as a student, and I am sad to leave this place when it’s time for my own \u201cday of all days,\u201d as Maggie called her commencement.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m grateful for my time at old OHIO. And I frequently wonder about one of the things Maggie ponders in her diary on Sunday, May 25, 1873<\/a> in regards to my own life and going into adulthood:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThese longings after something higher and better, will they ever be sadisfied?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Maggie<\/a>
Maggie Boyd diary, May 25, 1873<\/a> detail. Boyd Family collection.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More information<\/h3>\n

Learn much more<\/em> in the Resources<\/strong> section of \u201c<\/a>Margaret Boyd 150: OHIO Founders Day 2023<\/a>.\u201d<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Founders Day 2023 Birthday Bash<\/a><\/strong> Button-making. <\/strong><\/span>Will include images of Maggie! Saturday, February 18, 1-4pm. Baker Center Ballroom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCelebrate Founders Day 2023 with University Libraries\u2019 in-person and digital exhibits\u00a0<\/span><\/a>.\u201d Ohio University Libraries article.<\/p>\n

Read Maggie\u2019s diary<\/strong> at https:\/\/bit.ly\/ou-mboyd<\/a> and learn the history<\/strong> of OHIO\u2019s Founders Day at https:\/\/bit.ly\/ohiofoundersday2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Taylor Burnette, BSJ \u201923, Digital Collections Social Media Manager, Ohio University Libraries. Note: This Founders Day, February 18, we are celebrating the 150th anniversary year of OHIO’s first woman graduate with the digital exhibit \u201cMargaret Boyd 150: OHIO Founders Day 2023,\u201d created by Taylor Burnette.   150 years ago, almost to the day, Margaret […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86,21,6,29,28],"tags":[13,87,16,17],"class_list":["post-1837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-exhibits","category-events","category-manuscript-collections","category-student-workers","category-university-archives","tag-digital-archives","tag-founders-day","tag-ohio-university","tag-student-project"],"modified_by":"Janet Carleton","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1837"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1882,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions\/1882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}