Research and Comparison

I am starting a new research project. I will be analyzing and comparing the 1894 and 1931 travel diaries of Mrs. Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is my intent to take in the period of the day and present them in a comprehensive "snapshot". 

Between 1894 and 1931 the United States of America had changed dramatically. America was beginning to urbanize. Horseless carriages, or automobiles, were beginning to be common place in 1931. Culture, law, politics, trade, emigration, education, entertainment, language were all changing within those forty years. 

Many things mentioned in her 1894 diary would eventually become outdated; buying feed for the horses, camping at the town school to use the public water pump are only a few of the events that would change out by 1931. In 1931 they traveled in an automobile. They would buy gasoline instead of horse feed. They would stay at camp grounds and motels instead of sleeping in their covered wagon. Utilities were becoming common in cities. Electricity and running water were mentioned quite a bit. 

So, on this blog I plan to compare cultural  impacts of the day from 1894 and 1931 to 2013 (2010 US census).