I am researching a quilt history book and I find that reading old diaries tells you alot. I go to university libraries that are old, such as state land grant universities for most of my materials. They also have special collections within the larger collection of rare books. There is no problem getting access to them as they are public schools. Each one I have gone to has specific rules and you just need to ask them how to access the books. It really is an eye opener to what people whet through and what they considered "normal".