Robert Shields liked to chronicle what he read, often describing exactly what newspapers, books, or magazines he read each day. His prodigious diary—all 37.5 million words worth—contains many quotations from literature, the Bible, and other notable works.
Washington State University Manuscripts Librarian Will Gregg is just starting to catalog the typewritten life’s work of the Dayton, Washington resident, businessman, minister, and teacher.
The Shields collection is remarkable as not just the longest diary of its kind but as a detailed record of an ordinary family, Gregg said. Much of the documentation preserved in archives is associated with an event or person of lasting political or cultural importance. Records of everyday life are not as common.
“For that reason, Robert Shields’ minute-by-minute diary provides a unique account of everyday life in our region for nearly 30 years and gives us a way of seeing historical events through different eyes,” Gregg said. “We hope that the collection will appeal to people in several disciplines at WSU and elsewhere.”
The cataloging work was made possible with the Robert and Grace Shields Library Endowment, which the husband and wife established when Shields donated his diary in 1999. The diary is collected in 96 boxes in WSU Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections. Shields asked that his work be closed until both he and his wife died. Shields passed away in 2007 and his wife, in April 2024.
The $245,253 endowment will primarily be used to process, index, and house Shields’ diary as well as other related costs. When that process is complete, the remainder of the endowment will support other MASC needs, including the enrichment of collections, specialized library equipment, and support for visiting speakers.
Gregg said the Shields collection is not only large but also complex: In addition to the diary for which he is known, Shields included photographs, letters, books, pamphlets, receipts, and even a pair of eyeglasses. Preparing the collection will entail sorting content into several major groups or “series,” moving the material into archival-quality boxes and preparing a well-researched guide to the collection that will inform readers about its contents as well as its overall scope and historical background. (A preliminary guide to the Shields papers is located on the Archives West-Orbis Cascade Alliance website.)
Anyone interested in working with the collection is asked to make an appointment with MASC.
Well remembered in his town
Shields and Grace had three daughters, all of whom attended and graduated from WSU: eldest Cornelia Shields (1984, English, history minor) and identical twins Klara Shields Hicks (1985, psychology, speech communications minor) and Heidi Shields (1985, zoology, French minor). Cornelia owns a publishing company. Hicks is an attorney with the U.S. Postal Service, and Heidi practices family medicine at Saint Alphonsus Nampa Hospital in Idaho.
Oregonstate News Blog 