Research Guides: American history to 1900: Papers of individuals & organizations

Papers of individuals

Nineteenth century southern political leaders
Correspondence and other papers of many state and national political leaders of the 19th and 20th centuries, from the holdings of the Virginia Historical Society.

Papers of Aaron Burr [Microfilm]
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms Z6616.B916G8
See Burr, Aaron (1756-1836) in American National Biography.

Salmon P. Chase papers [microform]
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms E415.6 .C53
Chase was an anti-slavery advocate, senator for Ohio, and Supreme Court chief justice. See Chase, Salmon P. (1808-1873) in American National Biography.

Coxe family papers at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania [microform]
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms Z6616.C755 W47
Coxe was a businessman and political economist. A loyalist during the Revolution, he became an influential supporter of Hamilton's policies as Secretary of the Treasury. See Coxe, Tench (1755-1824) in American National Biography.

Thomas Edison Papers in History Vault

Edison was a prominent inventor and entrepreneur responsible for the stock ticker, phonograph, light bulb, improvements to the telephone, motion pictures, and electrification of cities.

[Joshua Reed Giddings manuscripts] [microform]
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms Z6616.G52 G52
The papers of abolitionist Giddings, who represented Ohio in Congress from 1838-1859. See http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-01174.html .

Parker family papers, 1760-1795 [microform]
Printed guide: none
Reproduced from the originals in the City of Liverpool Public Libraries. Includes material on the American War of Independence. See http://www.microform.co.uk/guides/R95803.pdf for more information.

Draper manuscript collection
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms Z6621.W55
Lyman Copeland Draper, 1815-1891, was a pioneering scholar of America's westward expansion. See http://www.anb.org/articles/14/14-00158.html. The manuscripts he collected cover the Carolinas and Virginia, some portions of Georgia and Alabama, the entire Ohio River valley, and parts of the Mississippi River valley, from 1755-1815.

Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan papers in the Pennsylvania state archives
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms HF3025.P4
Papers of John Baynton, Samuel Wharton and George Morgan, from the Pennsylvania State Archives. "The correspondence and business papers of a famous trading house of colonial Philadelphia." Covers 1757-1787. See http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/mg/mg19.htm

Roscoe papers: material relating to the United States
Printed guide: none
"The American correspondence of William Roscoe (1758-1831), historian, poet, reformer and M.P. for Liverpool." Microfilm of originals in City of Liverpool Public Libraries, Liverpool. On Roscoe, see http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/24084

Dolley Madison Digital Edition
Digital edition of the letters written from 1788-1836 by Dolley Madison, wife of James Madison, fourth president of the United States.

American letters of Sir Horace Plunkett, 1883-1932 [microform]
Printed guide: none
Plunkett was active in promoting agricultural co-operation and was a cattle-rancher in the American west. See http://www.microform.co.uk/guides/R02826.pdf.

Diaries, 1881-1932 [microform] [Plunkett, Horace Curzon, Sir, 1854-1932]
Printed guide: none
See above and http://www.microform.co.uk/guides/R02662.pdf.

Weld papers, 1839-1889 : letters and other papers of the Weld family of Lulworth Castle, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset
Printed guide: none
Papers concerning the Maryland and New York Iron and Coal Company, from the Dorset Record Office, Dorchester, Dorset, Eng.

Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress
Andrew Jackson Papers
Memoranda, journals, speeches, military records, land deeds, and miscellaneous printed matter, as well as correspondence.
Benjamin Franklin Papers
Approximately 8,000 items spanning the years 1726 to 1907, with most dating from the 1770s and 1780s. The collection's principal strength is its documentation of Franklin's diplomatic roles as a colonial representative in London (1757-1762 and 1764-1775) and France (1776-1785), where he sought to win recognition and funding from European countries during the American Revolution, negotiated the treaty with Britain that ended the war, and served as the first United States minister to France. The papers also document Franklin's work as a scientist, inventor, and observer of the natural world, and his relations with family, friends, and scientific and political colleagues.
Elihu B. Washburne Papers
Bound volumes of letters received by Washburne constitute the largest part of the collection and relate to Washburne's career as a member of Congress (1853-1869) and as U.S. minister to France (1869-1877). Letterbooks with letterpress copies of outgoing correspondence and Washburne's notes during the Franco-Prussian War record his official responsibilities in the Paris legation and personal matters.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Papers
Correspondence, speeches, articles, drafts of books, scrapbooks, and printed matter relating to Stanton and the woman's rights movement.
Franklin Pierce Papers
Approximately 2,350 items dating from 1820 to 1869. They include correspondence, a photostatic copy of a diary kept by Pierce while serving in the Mexican War, drafts of Pierce’s messages to Congress, and an engraved portrait. Pierce’s correspondence relates chiefly to his service in the Mexican War, public affairs, and national politics.
Frederick Law Olmsted Papers
The papers of farmer, writer, reformer, landscape architect, urban and suburban planner, and conservationist Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) consist of approximately 24,000 items, cluding family journals, family and personal correspondence, and biographical and genealogical data.
James Buchanan and Harriet Lane Johnston Papers
Correspondence, notes, drafts of remarks, commissions, land patents and other papers relating chiefly to Buchanan’s career in the United States Senate, as secretary of state, and as minister to Great Britain prior to his presidency. Subjects include politics in Pennsylvania and nationally, sectional disputes, nullification, the National Bank, relations with Mexico, the Oregon question, trade treaties, tariffs, and the Ostend Manifesto. Harriet Lane Johnston’s correspondence relates primarily to fashion, social affairs, family matters, and the selection of a biographer of James Buchanan.
James K. Polk Papers
correspondence, presidential letterbooks, diaries, speeches and messages, account and memorandum books, family Papers, financial and legal records, printed matter, portraits, and other papers relating chiefly to Polk’s political career in Tennessee and on the national level. The papers document struggles during Andrew Jackson’s administration over the Bank of the United States, Nullification Crisis, and internal improvements. For the period of Polk’s presidency, the papers cover the annexation of Texas, war with Mexico, the Oregon question, and the acquisition of the territories of New Mexico and California. Other subjects represented include slavery, tariff issues, patronage and office seeking, plantation matters, and family affairs.
James Madison Papers, 1723 to 1859
Correspondence, personal notes, drafts of letters and legislation, an autobiography, legal and financial documents, and his notes on the 1787 federal Constitutional Convention. The papers cover Madison’s years as a college student; as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Continental Congress, and Confederation Congress; as a delegate to the 1787 federal Constitutional Convention and the Virginia ratification convention of 1788; his terms in the House of Representatives, as secretary of state, and as president of the United States. Also documented are his retirement and the settlement of his estate; matters relating to his family, including his wife, Dolley Payne Madison; and his home, Montpelier, in Virginia.
James Monroe Papers
Monroe's papers document his presidency and also his prior careers as secretary of state, secretary of war, delegate to the United States Continental Congress, diplomat, and governor of Virginia. Topics covered include the negotiations with France for the Louisiana Purchase (1803), the Monroe-Pinkney treaty with Great Britain (1806), the War of 1812 (1812-1815), the Missouri Compromise (1820), the purchase of Florida from Spain (1819–1821), the Monroe Doctrine (1823), and Virginia politics.
John Tyler Papers
The collection is made up primarily of correspondence, including letters and copies of letters to or from Tyler (1790-1862), a governor and U.S. representative and senator from Virginia, who served as vice president under William Henry Harrison before becoming the tenth president of the United States upon Harrison’s death in 1841.
Joseph Holt Papers
The papers of commissioner of patents, United States postmaster general, secretary of war, judge advocate general of the United States Army, and lawyer Joseph Holt (1807-1894).

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Holt's correspondence from the 1830s and 1840s relates largely to legal matters and politics in Kentucky and Mississippi. The emerging sectional conflict, which ultimately led to the Civil War, drew Holt into national politics. On the eve of the war he occupied a prominent place in the ranks of the Democratic Party. In 1859, he was appointed postmaster general by President James Buchanan. In January 1861, he became secretary of war, an appointment he later described in an article entitled "How I Became Secretary of War." Among Holt's tasks as secretary of war was keeping the peace in the capital during Abraham Lincoln's inauguration. Correspondence between Holt and U.S. Army commander Winfield Scott reflects concern over numerous rumors of planned assassination attempts.
The Papers of Daniel Webster
Digitized version of Webster's correspondence, legal papers, diplomatic papers, and speeches and formal writings.

Papers of organizations

Moravian mission records among the North American Indians [microform]
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms E99.M9 M672
Material from the Archives of the Moravian Church, whose mission to Native Americans lasted from 1735 to 1900. Consists of letters, diaries, and church registers. Much of the material is in German, but there is also material in English.

Microfilm edition of the American Missionary Association archives
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms Z7817.A45
Microfilm edition of the American Missionary Association archives at the Amistad Research Center. See also American Missionary Association archives as a source for the study of American history, Firestone E175.4.A5 J6 1964.

Jewish Life in America A digital edition of organisational and personal papers and printed books and pamphlets all from the American Jewish Historical Society.