Travel accounts vary from straightforward itineraries to thoughtful descriptions which reveal the mind of the observer. J. C. Welsh traveled with his father in 1817 from Boston to Demerara, British Guyana, where they hoped to settle legal claims on an estate. But the case dragged on for two years, and Welsh's description of his predicament increasingly contrasts his miseries and misfortunes to Yankee customs and comforts with which he is familiar. American Harriet Crothers, on a honeymoon tour of Europe with her husband in 1846, appreciates in detail the art and architecture which they view, but reveals her democratic Protestantism in confronting the Catholic culture of shrines and reliquaries. These travelers all made observations in contrast to the comfortable familiarities of home, but they have something else in common.
Gender is another self-evident characteristic of any autobiographical effort.
In 1923 Ponsonby remarked on the unavailability of women's diaries in his survey of English diaries from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. By the 1970s, a host of social historians and feminist literary scholars had discovered new sources in the life writings of unknown, ordinary women. Gender is used to compare life experiences, but also to explore how those life stories are told. In contrast to the business feats and life adventures of several men shown in this exhibition are the home-oriented reflections of a few women. In addition to routine chores such as Monday washing and baking days, Potts helped with seasonal work on her husband's farm, such as slaughtering and the harvest.