The collection consists of Edith Smellie's diary, a photograph, and notebook "Visiting List." The first section of her diary recounts a trip from Brockville, Ontario, to New York from October 2-10, 1888. She and her companions left Brockville by steamboat and transferred to rail at Morristown. The diary details visiting Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as Macy's and other stores. The final pages of the diary contain calculations and a short list of purchases, including boots, shoes, paints, and collars. A few pages in the diary begin to recount a second trip in 1889, as well as some poems. In addition to the diary is a sepia cabinet portrait by Sheldon & Davis, Kingston. The visiting list contains numbered entries of visitors for 1897, 1898, and 1899. There are also some addresses.