THE MYSTERY OF EMMA WAITE

The “Emma Waite Diary” is an intriguing document, written by an African-American domestic servant and hotel cook who worked in Saratoga and New York City. Recorded on the pages of a small, leather-bound, printed daybook for 1870, it chronicles a single year in the life of this otherwise unknown individual. Illness, injuries, bitter cold, exhausting work, headaches, unemployment, deadening heat, and racial discrimination plague Waite’s months in Saratoga. Yet Waite also receives presents, enjoys parties and dances, as well as sermons and lectures, goes out with friends, and takes part in church excursions.

The most interesting section of the diary comes in the fall and early winter, when Waite moves from Saratoga to New York City. Working as a day cook, Waite is free to attend almost nightly lectures and performances, including speeches on women’s rights and spiritualism. she develops an intense crush on Lydia Thompson, the Queen of Burlesque, and the last pages of the daybook are dominated by her passionate desire to see, even stalk, her idol.