The Notebooks of Allie Reid

Charles Reid served as Washington College’s 14th President and is responsible for instituting coeducation. It would then come as no surprise that his wife shared his academic pursuits.

Along with some of her books and notes on Greek and Roman history are several books popularly kept by people in the 1800s. There is a journal she kept just before her marriage when she was courted by Charles. In the front is a list of books for reading in 1867, including books of philosophy, English history, and several of Shakespeare’s plays. Two other books show her love of botany. 

In an autograph book given to her for Christmas by her brother in 1861, there are a few notes from friends and family but also pressed flowers and plants. This interest in botany is even more evident in a commonplace book she kept in 1862. Commonplace books dated back to the Renaissance and have remained popular ever since. Rather than a journal of one’s thoughts or feelings, these existed to write down things of interest like quotations, sayings, observations, and other notes; they are ways of compiling knowledge. Allie used hers to write down various selections of poetry and quotes along with stitching in various ferns, turning it into a commonplace book and an herbarium. Herbariums are collections of dried plants usually mounted and arranged for reference. Often found in early scientific collections this is an amateur’s collection, but she does include locations and other information for her specimens.

Allie’s papers show a religious and intellectually curious woman. While most of the focus is on her husband as one of Washington College’s presidents, Allie seems to have been her own woman with interests perhaps deserving of more research.