Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip.

This journal page covers January 19, 1959, and January 19, 1960. In the entry for January 19, 1959, Indiana records that the demolition and transformation of his neighborhood (Coenties Slip) made the front page of The New York Times that day, and that he called Ellsworth Kelly to discuss it. He also writes that he spent the evening at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, so that Charles Hinman (whom he had recommended to take over his position there) could practice on the electric typewriter, noting that "his inability on the machine was shocking and surely looked beyond all hope of any quick improvement."

The entry for January 19. 1960, includes a small sketch of a sewer cover, "found on [the] pier, all rusted and beautifully eaten away," which Indiana records he applied to the central panel of Wall of China. He also describes his day in Scarsdale, where he taught art classes, and where a workshop was taking place.