Exploring Archival Silences: A 1922 Estate Manager’s Diary Offers a New Voice From the Archives at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

In 2020, as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) grant, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens curatorial staff digitized Estate Manager Frank Landon McGinnis’s daily 1922 diary. In addition to being a unique primary source and an interesting research puzzle, this diary also provides a look into the daily workings of a significant estate during the height of its active years. This case study will: share the digitization standards and workflows of this project, analyze the data found in the diary, and also consider the archival silences that exist in all archives and the impact a diary of this type can have on our historic understanding of an era.