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 daily life on Coenties Slip. 

His journal page for March 19, 1961, includes a color sketch of The American Dream (later retitled The American Dream, I) with the work's title and dimensions (72 x 60 inches) listed. Indiana writes that he repainted all of the raw sienna sections, and then describes the rest of his day's activities (including a visit from pianist/conductor Glen Clugston and the purchase of fruit at the Staten Island Ferry building). The artist often added comments to pages at a later date; here "MoMA" (Museum of Modern Art), which purchased the work later that year, is written above the sketch.