Frequently Mentioned Places & Subjects

This list is not all-inclusive but is meant as a general guide to help viewers read and understand the diary.

The Grand Exposition. The Exposition Universelle de 1889 in French; the Universal Exposition of 1889 in English. This was a huge exposition in Paris that was being held when Addie arrived in France, and which she visited many times and of which she wrote frequently in her diary. It made one of the largest profits of any international fair, and it is no wonder with the very large number of visitors Addie frequently mentions in her diary. There are many online resources on the Exposition; one is this page hosted by the [United States] Library of Congress and another is these digitized photographs.

Boulevard Haussmann, or simply Haussmann, sometimes misspelled in the diary. The wide street where Addie and Jennie lived in Paris, in a building that seems to have been for long-term rentals by foreigners. The Boulevard runs on a relatively horizontal line (if looking at a north-oriented map) between the eight and ninth Arrondissements of Paris. The painter Gustave Caillebotte painted Boulevard Haussmann many times. There is a free preview of a silent film of 1926 renovations to Boulevard Haussmann here.

The Garden of (the) Tuileries, usually misspelled in the diary. This was (and remains) a large public garden in Paris. It was originally a private garden for the French royalty. Here is a basic English-language page on Jardin des Tuileries.

The French Revolution. This is usually referred to in less blunt ways. Frequent mentions include famous former French queen Marie Antoinette and “the People,” by which Addie usually seems to mean the French revolutionaries. The Revolution being on Addie’s mind is certainly understandable because the Exposition Universelle was celebrating a century since it had begun; however, Addie seems interested beyond simply what is at the Exposition.

“Oriental.” This term is frequently used in Addie’s diary, generally lower-cased, and seems to use the meaning as per the 1913 Webster’s Dictionary: “1. A native or inhabitant of the Orient or some Eastern part of the world; an Asiatic.” Addie seems to use the term to mean a broader range of peoples than we would mean in using the term “Asian” today, and from her entries, it seems that this was a common English-language usage at the time.