reDiary is a presentation of three historical diaries from from 1864, presented in parallel as the entries were published 146 years later. These diaries were kept by three people all deeply affected by the Civil War. We are presenting these three diaries in an effort to broaden the sorts of voices we typically hear from the American Civil War. In some ways the diaries are none traditional. They provide us with an opportunity to view the war from alternate perspectives, geographically, experiential and emotionally. The diaries were kept by, Julia Johnson Fisher, Horatio Wilson Taft, and Belle Edmondson. More information on each person follows.

The Diary of Julia Johnson Fisher - January 1, 1864 - August 22, 1864

Julia Johnson Fisher kept her diary over an eight month period in 1864 while she lived in Camden County, Georgia. Originally from Connecticut, Julia describes the increasing deprivations of her life and her efforts to leave south Georgia and return home to New England.

The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865 - specifically we will publish entries from January 1 1864 - December 31, 1864

Taft was an examiner in the U.S. Patent Office in Washington D.C. He kept a diary beginning in 1861. We will work with his third of three volumes, which he began Jan.1 1864. Taft made forty four entries in 1864, often summarizing events from the previous days.

The Diary of Belle Edmondson - January 1 1864 - November 30, 1864

Belle Edmondson was a young unmarried women living in Union occupied Memphis, Tennessee when she recorded this diary of her efforts to support the Confederate cause. Often called a spy, Edmondson moved with ease across Federal lines to smuggle information and goods to and from Confederates encamped around Memphis.

The reDiary project provides an opportunity to engage historical documents and present these document in a creative and public context. We are publishing diary entries that are currently available online, using freely available blogging resources.The diaries are available online from the following

Julia Johnson Fisher - http://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/fisherjulia/fisher.html

Horation Nelson Taft - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/tafthtml/tafthome.html

Belle Edmondson - http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/edmondson/edmondson.html

The reDiary project is presented by the Digital History and Pedagogy Project.

The telegrams were digitized by Shannon Hines. Transcriptions were complete by students in a graduate class at North Carolina State University.

• Lee Adcock
• Stephen Brame
• Robert Coven
• Lindsey Dowling
• Krysta Fitzpatrick
• Candice Gilliland
• Kristen Hales
• Jeremy Hilburn
• Shannon Hines
• Erin Klein
• Jamie Lathan
• Jeanne Martin-Sainovic
• Michael Maurer
• Charles Norkus
• Cristina Raszewski
• Elizabeth Saylor

This project makes use of Joomla for the pages displayed here and Word Press for the actual reDiaries.

If you have questions please feel free to contact the project direction, John Lee at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it