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Primary sourceDiary entry1834-1893

Diary and Letters of Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford B. Hayes · 1834-1893

A multi-volume diary Hayes kept from his student years into old age, recording his law career, Civil War service, the disputed election and his presidency.

This diary is Hayes's own lifelong personal record, covering his career, the Civil War, the disputed election and his presidency.

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Dark maroon cloth book cover with a faint embossed title area and subtle woven texture, showing no legible text. This appears to be the binding of a volume of the Hayes diary and letters.
Rutherford B. Hayes, Diary and Letters, 1834-1893. Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums.

About this source

What it is

This is a volume of the diary and letters of Rutherford B. Hayes, written by Hayes himself over nearly his whole life, from 1834 to 1893. It is held by the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums.

The entries cover his childhood travels, his legal work opposing slavery, his service in the Civil War, the contested 1876 election, and his presidency, all described in his own words.

Why it matters

Personal diaries like this let historians see events through the eyes of the person living them, rather than only through official records. Hayes's long record shows the development of a man from a traveling boy to a lawyer, soldier and president, and offers his private thoughts on major events of nineteenth-century America.

Look closer

  • Why might a diary give a different kind of information than an official speech or document?
  • What do the earliest entries, written as a child, tell you about Hayes's family and times?
  • What might Hayes have left out of a diary he may have expected others to read someday?

This diary entry is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Rutherford B. Hayes on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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