The core of Everyday Life in Middletown is our growing archive of
diaries kept by volunteers. Volunteers write detailed, one-day diaries three times a year, on days
specified by us. In these diaries, they record, in as much detail as possible, what they do and how
they are thinking and feeling during the day.
These diaries are made available to the public in the archive. Anyone can read or search these
diaries to learn how we are living today. The diaries are designed to serve as a public record of
everyday life for today’s citizens of Muncie and as a resource to future historians and
researchers.
We are looking for people who either live or work in Muncie and its immediate environs to join
our panel of volunteer diarists. Our volunteers find the activity fun and rewarding: it makes you
more conscious and aware of your thoughts and feelings and calls your attention to details of
daily life that you might not have noticed. Most of our writers give us their diaries as typed
documents, but we are happy to accept handwritten diaries or audio or video files as well.
Diaries are published anonymously, identified only by a volunteer number. Our volunteers give
us and other researchers the right to read and quote from the diaries.
If you would like to join our panel of volunteers, please contact us at edlmiddletown@gmail.com
or call Project Director Patrick Collier at 317-694-1576.