The collection is comprised of a photocopy and microfilm copy of a typescript made from the original Martha Brown Ogle Forman (1788-1864) diaries. The contents of the diaries are entirely personal, with many details of the daily life of enslavers and the enslaved at Rose Hill, the Formans residence in Cecil County, Maryland. The diaries begin on her wedding day in 1814 and continue until after her husband's death in 1845. As with many diaries of the period, there are many observations about the weather, social engagements, and the regular daily aspects of Maryland plantation life. Some of the work undertaken at the plantation includes wheat culture, haymaking, butter-making, and candlemaking. There are occasional inventories of household silver, furnishing, and the enslaved. Random entries note purchases, gifts given and received, family illnesses, foodstuffs sold or stored, debts paid, and things such as food, clothing, and other supplies given to the enslaved.