Subject Area
American history
Description
Brigid McEvoy ’23
Majors: History and Spanish
Minors: Business and Innovation and Latin American Studies
Mentor: Dr. Adrian Weimer, History and Classics
Through funding from a Veritas Research Grant, I deciphered the Shelton shorthand writing of the second volume of Michael Wigglesworth's diary, digitized through the New England Hidden Histories project. Wigglesworth was a famous poet and preacher in early New England. One of the chief purposes of deciphering this second volume was to create a more nuanced perspective on Wigglesworth's life and artistic career.
This diary, written from March 1658 through November 1687, includes both longhand and shorthand writing. Eight of the thirty-six pages have shorthand, a form of abbreviated writing in the seventeenth century with a specific system of symbols for letters and rules for vowel placements. This project strove to not only decipher Wigglesworth's writings, but to also uncover why he implemented shorthand alongside longhand.
Although previous scholarship has depicted Wigglesworth as a selfish, pessimistic, and depressed individual, this project exposes the joy Wigglesworth experienced in serving his community and living out his faith. The diary provides instances of self-reflection on both his spirituality and writing process, displaying the strong relationship between the two. Whereas the first volume portrays Wigglesworth wallowing in guilt, the second volume reveals his productive self-awareness and practices of sanctification for personal growth.
Publisher
Providence College
Academic Year
2021-2022
Date
4-27-2022
Type
Presentation
Format
Text
Language
English
