This site is devoted primarily to publicizing the journals of John Gallison and his other writings. It does not purport take the place of peer-reviewed scholarship. For that, a better place to start would be my master’s thesis, which I wrote under the supervision of Dr Nicholas P Cole. My perspective on this source has changed a bit since then, but the Massachusetts Historical Society has a hard copy of the original, should you wish to pursue that route.
In order to make the volume of readings manageable for all of us, I begin by offering entries from two centuries ago. Accordingly, the first post contains Gallison’s summary of events from Thanksgiving through the end of 1816. 2017’s entries revisit 1817, including Monroe’s famous “Era of Good Feelings” tour to Boston, among other events.
From time to time, I may also post entries that are not precisely two centuries old. Some of those will be useful in establishing context for other writings. Others are just too interesting to keep to myself.
You may also find occasional editorial comments from me, but I will try to keep those to a minimum. This site was not established to celebrate my profound thoughts on the state of the universe– at least, not nearly so much as my demographic as a *@#&cough&%*-something male blogger might suggest.
A word of warning: please be even more careful than usual with access date(s) for any citations, as I reserve the right to make edits over time. First judgments are often as imperfect as they are hard to forget. So I’m told, anyway.
Note: the transcriptions of the journal you see were mostly done by Transcription Services Ltd, with some further editing from me. The original manuscripts are at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
And a GOOD NEWS ALERT from 2024: an eminent publisher has agreed to issue the entire journal in print and online, along with Gallison’s other papers. This will include newspaper articles– most of which would be unattributed without knowledge of his journals– a few pamphlets on subjects he felt strongly about, the 1819 annual address to the Peace Society of Massachusetts, and a memorial meant to dissuade Congress from adopting the proposed first Missouri Compromise. More later, but I don’t want to jinx it, or subject the publisher and editor-in-chief to unwelcome attention from the paparazzi.
Many thanks, and enjoy the reading!
Stephen L. Symchych
Please direct correspondence to me at stephen.symchych@history.ox.ac.uk.