Thomas Neely, a notable diarist from Muncie, began keeping a diary on January 1, 1860, and continued to make regular entries with few interruptions for almost 42 years. When his sight began to fail in 1897, his daughter Jennie continued making entries until his death in 1901. The whereabouts of the first volume (1860-1867) are unknown. This blog post comments on his May 1867 diaries and a few EDLM diaries from May 2020.
The diary of Thomas Neely provides a window into the life of a person living in Muncie, Indiana in the 1860s. Neely’s diaries are an important historical resource which provides details about daily life in Muncie during the post-Civil War time. Neely started to record his personal activities, Muncie’s weather, and the socio-political activities of the time. His entries show that he was interested in noting temperature changes and precipitation levels for this area during that time period. It is also interesting to note that he was concerned about climate change even back then because he believed it would have an effect on agriculture production. The following snippets of his diaries indicate that every diary opens by reporting the weather.
In his May 1, 1867 diary, he begins by stating “The Sun Shines brightly to day but the wind is chilly. It does not feel much like the first day of May.” This unusual weather overshadows the whole month.
The journal entry for May 2, 1867, also starts with a weather report: “It is cloudy and very chilly, so much so that it is necessary to have fire in the stove.” The entry then goes on to note various other aspects of life at that time: “Business is very dull indeed…The Military reconstruction arrangement appears to be working.”
The third diary records the writer’s observations about the frosty weather and its impact on vegetation. One hundred fifty-five years ago, the weather in Muncie was a matter of concern for the residents. Is this still the talk of the town after the gas boom period and industrialization? In May 2020, our EDLM diarists illustrate weather which is altogether different from May 1867. Let us see how our diarists respond to this weather. Diarist G61 begins his diary by describing the morning sunshine of Tuesday, May 12, 2020.
And, another diarist, A02, utters “Sun and warmth makes our locked-down days tolerable…Today, the sun is out and it is supposed to warm up some, so better”. These weather reports in May 2020 diaries show a significant increase in temperature in the town.
In May 1867, Thomas Neely recorded in his diaries that it was cold, frosty and chilly. He even wrote about how there was a frost on the ground. Fast forward to May 2020. The weather is warm and sunny with a higher temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit. The people’s interest in everyday atmospheric conditions in Middletown reflects their environmental consciousness. This sort of consciousness also finds expression in Charles F. Coldwater’s poetic collection entitled The Ghost of Gas Boom Past. Coldwater is a self-claimed poet laureate of Middletown. His representative poem titled “Native Son” ruminates about everyday weather and its connection to everyday tasks and clothing.
Once upon a time,
So goes the rhyme,
There was found on the bank
Of the former White River
A parcel of normalcy
Called Middletown.
And where weather oft determined
The clothing and the tasks
For each honest day.
(Coldwater, F. Charles 16)
If the weather can determine our tasks and clothing then it can possibly shape our daily moods and overall behaviors. Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing (1989) portrays a hot day in a heatwave in Brooklyn and, this film depicts how the rising temperature provokes violence in the city. Trevor Harvey’s book titled The Psychology of Weather (2018) explores the human relationship with the weather, and how it can affect our mood, behavior, and lifestyle. This weather psychology may potentially be a guiding principle in understanding the everyday life experiences of different individuals. Diaries of Thomas Neely and EDLM diarists make us cogitate about the weather and its connection to our day to day moods and temperaments.
Works Cited
Coldwater, F. Charles. “Native Son”, The Ghost of Gas Boom Past, 1980, p. 16.
Do the Right Thing. Directed by Spike Lee, performances by Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee. 1989.
Harley, Trevor. The Psychology of Weather. Routledge, 2018.
Neely, Thomas. Diary of Thomas Neely, May 1867, Digital Media Repository, Ball State University, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/NlyThmsDiar/id/925/rec/1
Muhammad Hafeez ur Rehman