Morton Hartzell notebook, 1912

Bertha Hartzell kept journals and diaries throughout her life. Many of her journals are simple and brief recordings of the general nature of her days. However, some of her most extensive writing comes from her travel diaries, written during her time in Europe. These offer a fascinating and beautifully rendered picture of the life of well-to-do, educated Americans touring through the Old World. Clear and concise, her writing paints vivid scenes of perilous donkey rides to recently discovered ruins in Greece, of visits of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and of boat trips through the Mediterranean.

The diary she kept in Germany in 1900 includes frequent references to the time she spent with young Artur Rubinstein, who would become the famous concert pianist. Rubinstein borrowed this diary from Bertha's son, Karl, as source material for his memoirs. He used red pencil to mark the portions that he would use for his writing, and these marks are still present, as is a portion of envelope in which Rubinstein shipped the book back to Karl after he had completed his research.

Her other diaries provide a look at the life of an unusually educated woman living in early 20th-century New England. These diaries include notes on social visits and events (in her younger years, visits from what appear to be suitors were very common subjects) as well as notes on her work as a student and later as a librarian. She also, unsurprisingly, recorded information about the state and activities of her family. Morton's work was a frequent topic while he was alive, but the goings-on of her son Karl and her father were often discussed thereafter.

Three other diaries are included in the collection that were not written by Bertha. Two are diaries from the Civil War era that apparently belonged to Bertha's father, Charles A. Drew. Another appears to have belonged to Bertha's husband Morton, and includes notes on religious philosophy as well as records of visits to (presumably) members of his congregation.

In addition, there are documents dealing directly with Bertha's life and with those of her family and friends, including a selection of Drew/Hartzell family letters spanning from the early 1900s to the 1970s, photographs, and clippings.