Dear Diary,
Big news! I read in the newspaper that Mr. Thomas Edison of New Jersey has invented a lamp that runs on electricity instead of oil. Isn’t that exciting? Soon we’ll have electric lights in our house, in school, and even on the street!
Mr. Edison is my favorite inventor. When I grow up I want to be just like him. People say girls can’t be inventors. I say why not? I don’t care what anyone says. I’m going to do it. People also say you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it.
A few years ago, Mr. Edison invented an amazing machine called a phonograph. It’s a about the size of a bread box, and it can record sounds and play them back just like they sounded in the first place. Isn’t that incredible?
Now Mr. Edison says that in a few years he’ll be able to make moving pictures. Can you imagine? Photographs that move? It seems impossible, but until Mr. Edison came along, nobody thought we could record sound or use electricity to make light. So I think he will do it.
Of course, people say lots of silly things about what we’ll have in the future. I’ve read that soon we won’t even use horses anymore to get around. We’ll have carriages with engines in them powered by gasoline. I’ll believe it when I see it. Personally, I’d be sad if we didn’t have horses anymore. What will happen to our horses?
I’ve even heard people say that someday we’ll have machines that can fly. I’m not joking, Diary! They say we’ll be able to sit inside a machine that can lift up into the air under its own power and fly around from place to place! That sounds pretty dangerous to me. But this is why I want to become an inventor when I grow up. Inventors create things that change the way we live.
TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 1880
Dear Diary,
I invented my first invention today! My aunts and uncles and cousins were over for dinner and the table was crowded with food. It was hard to pass things back and forth across the big table. I suggested that if we put the food on a big wheel that could spin around, everybody could just take what they wanted without having to reach across the table.
After dinner I found two big boards in the basement. I used my father’s little coping saw to cut them into circles. That was really hard, because wood wants to be cut in a straight line. But I did it. Then I drilled a hole in the middle of the two big circles and put a little post in there, like the axle of a wheel. Finally, I took a bunch of marbles and put them between the two circles so the top circle could spin around. We will try it out tomorrow when Annie’s family is coming over for dinner.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1880
We tried out my new invention at dinner tonight. It worked like a charm! Annie’s mother liked it so much that she asked me to make one for their family too. Now I’m an inventor just like Mr. Edison!
THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1880
Dear Diary,
School is out. Hooray! I like school, but I also like summer vacation. I’m going to spend a lot of time with my best friend, Annie Higgins.
Finally, there was a mention of Cleopatra’s Needle in the newspaper today. The ship carrying it here has left Egypt. I can only imagine how difficult it will be to take a two-hundred-ton piece of stone and move it across the Atlantic Ocean.
All kinds of rumors are flying around. Some people say Cleopatra’s Needle is going to be placed near Columbus Circle, at 59th Street. Annie says they’re going to put it on 96th Street. Personally, I hope it’ll be closer to 34th Street, where we live. Then I’ll be able to see it any time I want.
SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 1880
Dear Diary,
I just got the news. They’re going to place Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park behind the new Metropolitan Museum of Art! Right now, there’s nothing but farms and vacant lots out there. It’s in the middle of nowhere.
But that’s okay. I figured it out. I live at 34th Street, and the Needle will be at 80th Street. 80 minus 34 is 46. So the Needle will be 46 blocks away from my house. There are twenty blocks in a mile. So Cleopatra’s Needle will be a little more than two miles away from my house. That’s not so far. If only Mom and Dad would buy me a bicycle, I could ride up there in no time.
I was afraid Cleopatra’s Needle would be put inside the museum or some other building, and it would cost money to see it. That would be a shame. But when it’s in Central Park, anyone will be able to go see it at any time, for free.
They’re going to put Cleopatra’s Needle in a part of Central Park called Graywacke Knoll, which is close to the east side of the park. It’s quiet up there. Families will be able to take their horse and buggy over there and have a nice picnic at Cleopatra’s Needle.
FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1880
Dear Diary,
I read in the newspaper that the ship carrying Cleopatra’s Needle is called The Dessoug. That’s a funny name for a ship. It should be here in less than a month. I can’t wait!
THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1880
Dear Diary,
Guess what? I just found out that another big monument is coming to New York City! The French-American Union just announced that they’ve raised enough money to finish building Liberty, that statue of the lady holding a torch up in the air. They’re building the statue right now, and it may take five years for her to arrive. But then she’s going to stand in New York Harbor to welcome people from all over the world.
Soon she will be finished!
MONDAY, JULY 19, 1880
Dear Diary,
Today is the day! Cleopatra’s Needle is due to arrive in New York. The newspaper said the ship is going to dock in Staten Island first. I want to go there to see it, but Mom and Dad said no. Boo! They never let me go anywhere.
TUESDAY, JULY 20, 1880
Dear Diary,
It’s in all the newspapers—The Dessoug is docked at 23rd Street. Cleopatra’s Needle is less than ten blocks from us! Annie and I rushed over there. As it turned out, there was nothing to see. Cleopatra’s Needle is still inside The Dessoug. But lots of people went there anyway. Somebody said there were almost two thousand people. All the ferryboat passengers were waving their hats and hankies.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1880
Dear Diary,
