The Journals of Martha E. McMillan

July 1898. On April 20 th , she writes that “Uncle Joe and Alex” are “reading war news,” and that is all she says (McMillan). She travels to Springfield on April 27 th to see a popular speaker with her husband, and writes: “There were 800 soldiers gathered up from Dayton & Charleston and Springfield on their farewell parade in Springfield – they have enlisted for the Cubian war . . . the town [is] crowded” (McMillan). Then, on June 29 th , she mentions that Homer, her son, goes to see a friend in Charleston who enlisted for the war and would soon be deployed (McMillan). From the traditional historical narratives about America during this wartime, it would seem that every citizen paid rapt attention to the war. Martha, however, only claims that her male relatives read war news, and when she records facts about the war, it is because they directly pertain to her personal experience. Her only interest in the parade on April 27 th is that it made the town crowded while she was there to hear someone speak. On June 29 th , she recorded the activities of each of her children, so the only reason she wrote about the war was because it influenced the life of her child in a small way. This lack of interest in the Spanish-American War does not mean that Martha was disinterested by politics – on the contrary, she was incredibly active in her local chapter of the W.C.T.U. and she submitted the first ballot ever cast by a woman in her local school district election (McMillan, April 11, April 21). Martha was politically active, but she cared more about her local community than international affairs. She felt it was more important to record the life of her family and her farm than to record war news. Martha McMillan’s journal provides an alternative historical narrative to the history books writing about the Spanish-American War. Some themes overlap, but Martha’s life in many ways rewrites history as America understands it. She shows that for many Americans, particularly women in rural settings, the Spanish-American War was not even close to the most important event in the summer of 1898. Far more important were the visits of her children, the 133