Kitty Barry Blackwell: Diary

Kitty Barry Blackwell was an Irish orphan adopted by Elizabeth Blackwell in circa 1854 in New York. She served as her mother’s secretary and companion, and her slight deafness made her self-conscious and shy. Blackwell’s papers are significant in that she kept up an extensive correspondence, shedding considerable light on her life and Elizabeth Blackwell’s years in England. Her correspondence with her cousin, Alice Stone Blackwell, also contains detailed accounts of the Blackwell family’s activities in the United States. In 1921, Kitty Barry Blackwell left England and spent her remaining years living with Alice Stone Blackwell.

Kitty Barry Blackwell kept this sparse diary in 1917, while living in England during World War I.