Gertrude Carter’s Diary: An Introduction

Gertrude Carter with her husband Gilbert and son John, 1916

(Library of Congress, Public Domain)

Following the serialization of the 1915 travel diary of an anonymous Boston woman who journeyed down the Nile, and the 1916 line-a-day-diary kept by upper-class Bostonian Mrs. Margaret Pelham Russell, I am continuing to explore the personal narratives contained in the MHS collections in 2017 with the 1917 illustrated diary of Boston-born artist Gertrude Codman Carter.

Born in 1875 to Frank Parker and Mary Codman, Gertrude grew up in a comfortably upper-middle class family that had made its wealth in the textile industry before and during the Civil War [1]. Encouraged in artistic pursuits, young Gertrude was an accomplished artist and studied at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts during the 1890s and traveled abroad to Italy and France to refine her work as a painter and illustrator [2]. In her late twenties she became the second wife of Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter, a British colonial officer who served as Governor in The Bahamas and Barbados and, briefly, in Trinidad and Tobago.

Gertrude and Gilbert began the year 1917 living in Barbados at Ilaro Court, a residence that Carter had designed herself, with their young son John (pictured above with his parents). Though an ocean away from Europe, the long shadow of WWI hangs over the household even as the activities of white British Colonial society carries on. Beginning in January 2017 we will be following Carter through her year to learn what her diaries can tell (and show) us about the life of a female artist, mother, and white British colonial was like one hundred years ago.

Do you have specific questions about Codman’s life or diaries? Leave a comment below! Throughout the year, I will be exploring Codman’s biography and context, and will be happy to take requests.

If you are interested in viewing the diary yourself, in our library, or have other questions about the collection please visit the library or contact a member of the library staff for further assistance.