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1864. A resident of Allentown and student at the University of Pennsylvania, R. H. Romia turned 18 during the summer of 1864 while studying for a medical career. The diary he kept in that eventful year includes brief entries on daily activities while at university, including his hunt for a room in which to board, attending concerts at the Academy of Music, attending church (and on at least one occasion, Quaker meeting), and walking and visiting sites throughout the city, from the Eastern State Penitentiary to Girard College to the Institute for the Blind. On several occasions beginning in June, Romia and his sister attended the Great Sanitary Fair, the grand long-running event to raise money for the Union cause, getting the opportunity to meet the greatest celebrity of the day. On June 16, he writes, `Went down to the Continental where I saw Pres. Lincoln, shook hands with him. From thence to Wints, then with the girls to the wharfÂ….` Not surprisingly, Romia, a young man, also made occasional notes of war-related events, such as July 30, when he wrote that `Chambersburg was burnt this morning by the Rebels` or September 1, when news of the fall of Atlanta reached the city and was greeted with the pealing of bells. A nice student`s diary, with brief entries but nice association and reference to important events. A small (16mo) pocket diary bound in green leather, entries in ink.

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