This collection includes over 990 diaries written by over 800 individual undergraduate and graduate students of Dr. William E. Smith in the Department of History at Miami University between 1942 and 1957. The project originated as a means for Dr. Smith and the university to document student perceptions and campus life during World War II, but continued following the war’s end. The contents of the diaries provide commentary on practically every subject relating to World War II, current events, and university life between 1942 and 1957. Included in this collection are 16 diaries written by students from the University of Cincinnati who participated in an evening history course taught by Dr. Smith. Some diaries were written with complete anonymity, while others remain closed to the public for a specified period of time at the request of the author.