Writing History Using Old Diaries: Roles of Honesty , Respect, and Kindness

I'm mulling over a problem about which I'd value input. The John Thurman Historical Society was given some diaries, which I've been transcribing for possible use somehow in our quarterly magazine, cleverly named The Quarterly. As I read these diaries, which were written in the 1930s by a woman now deceased, I was entranced. I must have a voyeuristic streak (there, I've said it!), but I love peeking into the lives of other people in this way. Tucked into the tedium of entries that typically began, "Home all day..." was tragedy. The woman's life was changing, and not in a way to her liking. The children, despite her efforts to cling to them, were growing up and away. Her parents were aging and becoming more dependent. Her marriage was unraveling,thread by thread. It's a poignant story, one that is not new and will never be old. It has started me thinking a great deal about the lot of women in that diarist's position in eras when women's options were so much more limited. I'd like to use these diaries as a centerpiece in a discussion about that issue. It's believable and dramatic. It would work well.

But what about respect? What about the woman's assumption of privacy as she wrote? What about the feelings of her descendants? What about the fact that this is just her side of the story? As a caring person, I feel the itch to censor, to be selective in what I publish.

What's right? There are no simple answers, but your ideas will help me arrive at a decision I can live with.

Perky