Capturing Stories, Creating History

Preserving women’s voices and experiences has been an important initiative at Smith since the college’s earliest days. Now, as the college celebrates its 150th anniversary, the Jill Ker Conway Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center is partnering with the Traveling Diary Tour to collect a new set of stories and perspectives from today’s Smith students and alums.

“I think the Traveling Diary will capture this moment in Smith’s history like nothing else can,” says René Heavlow AC ’08, Ann Kaplan 1967 Director of the Conway Center. “It’s the perfect way to connect the Smith community in a unique way and provide an invaluable resource for the future.”

The Traveling Diary Tour was founded in 2020 by entrepreneur Kyra Peralte to combat the isolation and tech overload of the COVID lockdown. Since then, more than 2,000 women from 33 countries have participated. Here’s how it works: Participants, primarily women, receive a “diary”—usually a traditional black-and-white composition notebook—in the mail and have a limited amount of time to add to it. There are no rules or restrictions on what can be shared. Women have filled diaries with artwork, personal reflections, poetry, handwritten narratives, recipes, and stories. “The entries can be intimate and personal,” says Peralte. “They share what’s happening in their marriage or with their job; some write about loved ones who have died. And then some write about what they ate that day.” Once finished with their contribution, participants send the notebook on, creating a compelling narrative that grows with each new entry. The fact that the diary is not a digital document is key. “I felt that if a person took the time to pick up a pen and write down something, it would come out totally differently than if they had typed it on the computer and used spell check,” Peralte explains. “I wanted to see the scratched-out words. I wanted to see the doodles. I wanted the real experience.”

With both Smith students and alums contributing, the Smith edition of the Traveling Diary will be a first. Those who participate will have five days with the diary before they return it—at no cost—to the Conway Center. Smithies are invited to share their stories, hopes for the future, challenges, a favorite recipe, or a Smith memory—the options are limitless.

“With the challenges in higher education and other issues, including concerns for segments of our population, I think it’s so important to capture the voices of generations of Smithies from around the world at this time,” says Heavlow.

Kate Metzger ’26 participated in a college edition of the Traveling Diary last year that included students from Smith and Montclair University in New Jersey. She says writing in the diary was very cathartic. “It helped me sort through a difficult and confusing period,” she says. “My childhood best friend had just left Smith due to a cancer diagnosis. I wrote our entire story, from when I first met them when I moved to the United States to the last text we’d sent, right up until the day I got the diary.”

Metzger is eager to add her voice to the Smith edition of the Traveling Diary and says that projects like this are crucial right now. “Nobody should feel like they’re going it alone,” she says. “Building intergenerational, intercultural, and international connections helps us build empathy, which enables us to support each other through tough times. I wish there were more spaces like this in the world.”

Sign up for the Smith edition of the Traveling Diary Tour, which runs until December 31, 2025.