The Diary of Florentine Schlimgen

Florentine Bowar Schlimgen was born and raised on a farm in southeast-central South Dakota. She was the first of 8 children born to her second-generation German-immigrant parents and lived in a farming community for most of her life, only 7 miles from where she was born. She was 15 years old when the great depression hit, and a young wife and mother during some of South Dakota's most difficult economic times. These events, along with her deep Roman catholic faith, surely shaped her values and priorities. Florentine started keeping a diary in 1968, when she was a busy mother of 4 children, 3 of whom were still living at home. In this diary she chronicled her daily activities, along with births, marriages, deaths, and celebrations of her family and friends. In later years, as her household became an empty nest, she also captured her inner thoughts, feelings, joys, frustrations, and aspirations. She kept up her diary regularly until 2004, when, at age 90, her health began to fail her. Diary entries were made on an inconsistent basis until 2008. This amounts to 40 years of family and community history, recorded in 28 notebooks, many of which measure 3 x 5 inches.