1937 Diary: Preparing for lectures, going to church, Rose’s headaches, guests for dinner, playing Monopoly, working in the lab, faculty meetings, weather, grading papers, staying at Gillette Hotel in Manhattan (Kansas) while visiting to talk to the Kansas Academy, thought the Kaw valley was pretty, embalming cats experiment – cats not keeping, dissecting cats, all school picnic, social gatherings, September 4 arrival at Ottawa (Kansas), baby Donald, zoology and biology classes, botany lecture, socializing, dinner at others’ homes, listening to Charlie McCarthy on the radio, rabbit hunting, playing volleyball, Rose ill with swollen knee and sore finger, rabbit dinner, Rose in a choir, problems with car, Kansas City trip on September 18 to see baby boy (Donald) born August 17, trip to court in Kansas City on September 21 to sign adoption papers and take Donald home to Ottawa, and taking care of Donald. At the back of this diary are a number of printed pieces of information unrelated to the Padys’ lives.
1938 Diary: Teaching class and labs, going to church, feeding Donald, playing volleyball, grading papers, paying bills, attending Ottawa University sports events, entertaining friends at dinner, conducting experiments, weather, March 14 noticed that Donald was cutting two teeth, attending faculty meetings, preparing tests, going to the library, March 20 reported that Donald was chattering in church, attending college social gatherings, attended conference at Pittsburg State (Kansas), visited Big Brutus shovel and saw coal mines, taking Donald for walks, attending Ottawa University track meets, taking pictures of Donald, reported on April 8 that they awoke to eight or more inches of snow on the ground after a spring blizzard, bought new car (Grey Standard DeLuxe Coach with trunk), university commencement, flooding, Howard Hughes radio broadcast from his airplane over the Atlantic, and July 16 was his last entry. Rose started writing in diary on September 21 and changed date to September 20, 1939. She wrote of attending meeting, ironing, singing, all school picnic, and attending church. The last entry was on October 22/23.