The Extraordinary Work of Ordinary Writing The Extraordinary Work of Ordinary Writing a n n i e r ay ’s d i a ry Jennifer Sinor University of Iowa Press Iowa City University of Iowa Press, Iowa City 52242 Copyright © 2002 by the University of Iowa Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Design by Richard Hendel http://www.uiowa.edu/uiowapress No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. All reasonable steps have been taken to contact copyright holders of material used in this book. The publisher would be pleased to make suitable arrangements with any whom it has not been possible to reach. A portion of the introduction originally appeared in “Waiting for the Words of Annie Ray” in Rosebud, vol. 17 (2000). A version of chapter 3 originally appeared in “Reading the Ordinary Diary” in Rhetoric Review, vol. 21, no. 2 (2002). A portion of chapter 4 also appears in the essay “Inscribing Ordinary Trauma: The Diary of a Military Child” in Arms and the Self: War, the Military and Autobiographyedited by Alex Vernon, forthcoming from Kent State University Press. The publication of this book was generously supported by the University of Iowa Foundation. Printed on acid-free paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sinor, Jennifer, 1969– The extraordinary work of ordinary writing: Annie Ray’s diary/by Jennifer Sinor. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. isbn0-87745-832-4 (cloth), isbn0-87745-833-2 (paper) 1. Autobiography—Authorship. 2. Diaries—History and criticism. 3. Women pioneers—United States—Diaries. 4. Frontier and pioneer life—United States. 5. Ray, Annie, 19th cent.—Diaries. 6. Sinor, Jennifer, 1969–—Family. I. Title. ct25 .s554 2002 808(cid:1).06692—dc21 2002021138 02 03 04 05 06 c 5 4 3 2 1 02 03 04 05 06 p 5 4 3 2 1 for billie schuneman and annie ray Contents Acknowledgments ix Prologue: Annie’s Gaze xi A Note on the Editing xiii Introduction: Stories That Matter, the Matter of Stories 1 1. A Story of the Diary 23 Intertext: The Year 1881 58 2. Time, Days, and Page 86 Intertext: The Year 1882 123 3. Putting Things to Right Generally 145 4. Making Ordinary Writing 180 Notes 211 Bibliography 225 Index 233 Acknowledgments A text is populated by those who have helped daily in its making. They should be more visible. I have benefited greatly from the time and gen- erous attention of many strong and creative scholars. I am thankful for thesupportofAnneRugglesGere,whosededicationto,andrespectfor, thewritingofordinarywomenprovidedaplacetobeginthinkingabout Annie’s writing. My thanks also to Ruth Behar—poet, critic, and eth- nographer—whoencouragedmebywordandexampletotakerisksin my writing. Thank you to Pamela Moss for being a paragon of reflexiv- ityinbothherconversationandherteachingandtoPatsyYaegerwhose work on trauma introduced me to the everyday. I have also benefited greatly from the support of the Institute for the Humanities at the Uni- versity of Michigan, and the Hunting family in particular, who provided a yearlong fellowship that allowed me to work on this project. Also,mythanksgoestothoseinFHE,mywritinggroupatUtahState University, as well as to Kathryn Flannery, Andrea Lunsford, Roxanne Mountford, Margaret Brady, Judy Nolte Temple, Theresa Enos, and to the two anonymous reviewers fora/b: Auto/Biography Studies. Each of them enters this text in some significant way. Michael Spooner, edi- tor of the Utah State University Press, helped my manuscript find a home at the University of Iowa Press and for that I am ever grateful. Thank you also to those at the University of Iowa Press for their time and commitment. In particular to Prasenjit Gupta, Holly Carver, and Charlotte Wright. Making a text requires the love and support of others as well, people who are dear to me. Thank you to Cathy Best, Seunghee Ha, and Rona Kaufman, women who represent all that is good and strongandbeau- tifulinfemalefriendship.WithaspecialthankstoRona, whose bright- ness and generosity of spirit has literally carried me at times.Thankyou to Elizabeth Dutro, Kathleen Collins, Leslie Jeffs, Kara Plumb, Dave Youn, Rafael Heller, Matt Kaplan, Anne Reeves, Babette Cain, Debbie Minter,AmyBrugh,andKeithandJolineSinor,whohaveall,insomany ways and at different times, made my world a better, brighter place.