04/13/2026
Thorvald M. Stoen was a high school senior in 1938, and he kept a very detailed day-to-day diary of his life – from classes to friends to sports to entertainment and family life. On this day in 1938, Thorvald went to school, practiced with the baseball squad in the gym, played some basketball in his yard, and then finished the day with homework and the radio. Sounds like a busy Thursday!
If you want to find more personal documents like this diary in MDL, there are a few ways to go about it. First, visit our website at mndigital.org, then click on the “Browse All” link. Under the “Type” drop down menu on the left, select “Text.” Then, in the search bar on the top of the page, type in a term like “diary,” “letter,” or “poem” and view your results. You could also use the “Browse by Format” button on our home page to find the specific format you are looking for.
Thorvald went on to serve in the Civilian Conservation Corps later in 1938, so be sure to read his whole diary in MDL. Thanks to the Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa for sharing it: https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/p16022coll70:222
