A Darned Good Time

What happened on a normal day to a normal teenager in 1868?

Step inside the world of 13-year-old Lucy Potter as she lives her everyday life in Cortland County, New York.

A Darned Good Time invites us into Lucy's world. She writes of classes, teachers, friends, boys, a new stepmother, an invalid aunt, and complains about upstate New York weather.

Lucy's words transport us through time to experience teenager life in the 19th century.

Perspectives may change, but 13-year-old girls' interests in writing about their lives remain a constant over the generations.

This diary is from New York History Review's "Learning from History" series of printed primary source materials.