This diary's author is not given; however, many details indicate that the writer is likely Thomas R. Robinson (1889-1972), a thirty-two-year-old farmer mainly working as a coal miner, lumberman, and railroad worker. This item is a manuscript handwritten diary. The entries are dated February 20, 1922, through April 9, 1923; these include the weather, who the author worked beside each day, his duties and responsibilities, and other tasks he took upon himself to fulfill. This item will be of significant interest to labor historians wanting a view of daily life from the worker's point of view.

The author appears to have been a young man living on his mother's farm near Danville, Montour County, Pennsylvania, who earned additional money by casual day labor. The diary is a standard pocket diary of the period with notations of work done and other daily activities, with a small cash book section at the rear.