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.

In his journal entry for June 16, 1961, Indiana records a hot, sunny day and a session on the roof before turning to work on the "Trilogy" (The Melville Triptych), cartooning all of the necessary words. He notes finishing a second coat of yellow on The Black Diamond American Dream #2 by repainting the star at the bottom, and drafting J. (his partner, fashion designer John Kloss), into re-cartooning the "Square" (Polygon: Square) due to the first one being misspelled (the painting reads quadrangel instead of quadrangle).

Indiana also writes that they had dinner in, watched  Another Part of the Forest (a 1948 film) on television, and that their friend Norman came over to sew with Kloss.