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59 items

Robert McCleery, a career Navy man, was appointed Chief Engineer aboard the U.S.S. Wabash and detailed to Port Royal Harbor as part of the South Atlantic Blockading fleet during the Civil War. His collection contains routine paperwork concerning the maintenance of federal ships involved in blockading Charleston and Port Royal Harbors, S.C., and one notebook he kept while a student.

One notebook contains content produced between 1845 and 1853, while McCleery was studying chemistry, engineering, and other topics while livin gin Frederick City, Maryland. The letters date from the months in which Robert McCleery served as a Chief Engineer at Port Royal Harbor. The collection is a compact assemblage of routine paperwork concerning the maintenance of federal ships involved in blockading Charleston and Port Royal Harbors, S.C., including requisitions for machinery, foodstuffs, dry goods and personal goods, as well as routine repairs to ships. A few letters make minor note of staff relations on board ships.

Fundamentally routine in nature, the McCleery correspondence makes few direct references to blockading activity or the naval activity at sea. The collection represents, instead, the mundane, but essential port-side work required to maintain a fleet in good order.

1 result in this collection

100 items

The Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society papers consist of documents generated by the society as well as correspondence to and from various members of the society about slavery, the conditions of freemen, and other progressive issues.

The Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society papers contain only a small portion of what must at one time have been a much larger collection. As a society devoted to the immediate abolition of slavery, the antislavery movement forms the context of most of the correspondence in the collection, but the members of the society were individually and collectively involved in the education of freedmen and in other movements, including women's rights. As a result, the collection offers a broad perspective on the mentality and activity of a small group of progressive northern women involved in the reform of what they saw as the worst inequities in American society.

The Society maintained contact with several national-level leaders of the antislavery movements, and provided important financial support to Frederick Douglass, in particular. The nine letters from Douglass in the collection all relate to the assistance provided for publication of his newspaper or are requests from him for direct aid to fugitive slaves en route to Canada. A particularly affecting letter is one that he wrote from England in 1860, while on an antislavery tour. Harriet Tubman, Beriah Green, Lewis Tappan, George B. Cheever, and Gerrit Smith also appear in the collection, either as correspondents or subjects of letters. Among the more interesting of these letters is one from John Stewart, probably a free black man, addressed to Harriet Tubman; a letter from Moses Anderson, also African-American, writing about the importance of Uncle Tom's Cabin in shaping his political consciousness; Jacob Gibb's letter of introduction for a fugitive slave; and William Watkins' report on the number of fugitive slaves that have passed through Rochester into Canada in the year 1857.

British support for the Society was crucial in keeping it viable in the late 1850s, and is documented through the letters of Julia Griffiths Crofts (Leeds, England); Sarah Plummer (Dalkeith, Scotland), and Maria Webb (Dublin, Ireland). The fund-raising efforts of the society can be tracked partly through the list of goods donated for a Festival (1:77), a small collection of ephemera relating to British antislavery societies (1:82), and a list of donations from those British societies (1:28). The most significant item for tracking finances, however, is the account book for the Society (2:20), which covers its entire history. The secretaries of the Society recorded the complete finances of the organization, and provided lists of speakers at their annual events, and carefully delineated money remitted to individual fugitive slaves. Included at the end of the collection are a set of photocopies of the manuscripts (2:21) and supplemental information about the Society and its members, provided by the University of Rochester (2:22).

Freedmen's education was a major concern of the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society, and is discussed extensively by several correspondents. The single most frequent correspondent in the collection is Julia A. Wilbur, writing while working with freedmen in Alexandria, Va., 1862-1865. Wilbur writes long and vivid letters describing the miserable living conditions found among the freedmen, their want of clothing and shelter, and she describes several individual cases. Wilbur also met and became familiar with the renowned ex-slave and author, Harriet Jacobs. The situation that Wilbur describes in Virginia verges on the chaotic, with corruption at the highest levels, dissension among those in charge of contraband matters, and many in the military reluctant or unwilling to take any responsibility. She was a perceptive observer of the progress of the war, Southern citizenry, and of the destruction that the war had inflicted upon Virginia. Her official reports to the Society, which are more general and less pointed than her private correspondence, were published in the Society's published annual reports (2:1-13).

In addition to Wilbur's letters, there are six other items pertaining to freedmen's education. Three letters from G. W. Gardiner and one document signed by Lewis Overton, 1862-63, relate to the work of the Colored School, founded for freedmen at Leavenworth, Kansas, and both letters from Daniel Breed, 1863-64, include discussions of the Rochester School for Freedmen in Washington, D.C., named for the Society whose money founded it.

The printed items in the collection include fourteen of the seventeen known annual reports of the Society, a report from the Toronto Ladies' Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored fugitives (2:14), and circulars from two British societies (2:15-16). Three issues of Frederick Douglass' Paper (October 2, 1851, February 19 1858, and July 1, 1859) and one issue of The North Star (April 14, 1848) are included in Oversize Manuscripts. An issue of the Christian Inquirer (New York, July 24, 1858), having no direct relation to the Rochester Society, was transferred to the Newspapers Division. Finally, in two letters written in 1859 and 1861, Rebecca Bailey discusses her father William Bailey's newspaper, The Free South.

1 result in this collection

2 volumes

This collection consists of two variations of a 1912 yearbook for members of the 1915 co-ed class of Rochester High School in Rochester, Pennsylvania.

This collection consists of two variations of a 1912 yearbook for members of the 1915 co-ed class of Rochester High school in Rochester, Pennsylvania. These yearbooks include pencil and pen-and-ink portraits of students, faculty, and sports teams, as well as caricatures, cartoons, and humorous drawings. Several poems are also included. Their content touches on humor, social affairs, class members' personalities, curriculum, athletics, and gender. The content is very similar between the two volumes, with some variations of student descriptions and introductory matter.

The first volume, titled "The Nightmare," includes an introduction stating that "the only excuse for publishing this book is because the rest of the bunch have one apiece . . . [and] merely aids one in passing some idle hours in school . . . this book is strictly 'Entre Nous,' so don't tell anybody outside of America." One page, headed "Familiar Quotations" quotes Bunny Amos Rex as having said, "Aw fellows let's git together and do some devilment." On the opposite page of the "Quotations" section is a drawing of the Rochester High School with the label "Agony Building." Accompanying the student portraits are humorous descriptions of said students: Armin Barner is described as an elegant musician, politician, electrician and magician of the lowest rank.

The second volume, titled "Freshmen Class Book 1911," includes a preface claiming the book "touches on such topics as Elementary Science, Natural Science, Natural Phylosophy, Orthography, Uranography, Geodasy and Wireless Telegraphy" to emulate "when all writters chiseled out dedications for a book thereby showing their originality." It further states that the class has attempted the same "because of our first class solid ivory domes." Many pages feature illustrations or descriptions of the school's sports teams. It also contains croquet scores for the women's team, who apparently gave the class "the thing we need to brag over," as they "mopped the valley clean" in their season.

1 result in this collection

81 photographs in 1 album

The Rogers family trip to China photograph album contains 81 photographs from a visit to Shanghai, China, by a group of Americans.

The Rogers family trip to China photograph album contains 81 photographs from a visit to Shanghai, China, by a group of Americans.

The album (18.5 x 27.5 cm) has green cloth covers with "Album" stamped on the front. No captions are present for any of the images. The inclusion of a White House invitation issued to Allan H. Rogers (Superintendent of Public Works in Garden City, Long Island) in 1957 requesting his participation in a traffic study conference raises the possibility that his parents Caroline and Newton Rogers may have been the original compilers of the album.

Images mainly document the activities of a group of Americans visiting China around 1910, but they also provide a glimpse of the U.S. military presence in Shanghai at a time when protection of American commercial interests in the region (especially on the Yangtze River) was a high priority. Images of people playing tennis, attending social events, riding through Shanghai, naval officers aboard ship, sailors marching on land, and a U.S. Navy destroyer in the harbor are all included. Also present are a relatively small number of snapshots documenting street scenes, rickshaws, and commercial river traffic.

1 result in this collection

approximately 8 cubic feet (in 17 boxes, 4 Oversized folders)

This collection consists of a wide range of materials including biographical information, manuscripts, research and notes, and correspondence of Professor Maybee's (including Central Michigan University (CMU) Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Historical Society, personal, and student academics). Two boxes of the collection consist of papers and correspondence from Professor C.S. Larzelere, also of CMU.

This collection consists of a wide range of materials including biographical information, manuscripts, research and notes, and correspondence (including Central Michigan University (CMU) Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Historical Society, personal, and student academics). The collection is widely related to the history of Michigan and the history of Central Michigan University. Correspondence with President Dwight D. Eisenhower and correspondence between H.L. Menckin and Mr. Leighly can be found in box 2 of the collection. Telegrams from the following people can be found in box 8: Richard Nixon, Congressman Elford A. Cederberg, Governor G. Mennen Williams, and Arthur S. Flemming (Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare). Box 4 of the collection holds a Correspondence from Henry Miller, and Box 6 has newspaper clippings related to Senator Robert Griffin, and alumni of CMU.

1 (Boxes 11-12). Oversized folder 4 includes his and related certificates and diplomas, 1835, 1925. This collection was processed by three student processors: Anjali Grose, Tressa Graves, Bronwyn Mroz Benson.

Materials processed by Anjali Grose largely include correspondence related to: the Central Michigan University (CMU) Department of Social Sciences; the Michigan Historical Society Trustees and Committees; the Michigan Historical Society about state conferences; student academic; and personal information. Other materials processed by A. Grose include a collection of glass slides used for educational purposes (most of these slides were withdrawn); research and a rough draft of a paper on Father Nouvel; newspaper clippings (copies) on R.H. Maybee, H.C. Maybee, and B. Maybee; programs for the memorial services of R.H. Maybee and H.C. Maybee; photographs and related correspondence; miscellaneous research, notes, and sources; and the scrapbook materials found in Box 9.

Materials processed by Bronwyn Benson include Maybee’s Master’s Thesis, the manuscripts for his publications and speeches, the transcripts of sources he used for his research, and a newspaper article relating to a mystery rock Maybee was researching; correspondence from Dwight Eisenhower and H. L. Mencken; documents relating to CMU including the dictation discs and reel-to-reel tapes, and the architectural plans for a possible new building; and the documents pertaining to Claude S. Larzelere and his wife including speeches, teaching notes, and diplomas.

Materials processed by Tressa Graves include biographical information pertaining to Maybee’s research, information on Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School, United States Navy V12 program at CMU during World War II and various data related to the surrounding area and CMU. Other materials included the telegrams from Richard Nixon, Congressman Elford A. Cederberg, Governor G. Mennen Williams, and Arthur S. Flemming, updated information on the Prof. Charles Bellows’ desk (up until the new Maybee information it was presumed to be Charles Grawn’s), Claude S. Larzelere’s certificates and diplomas, and a letter from Henry Miller. Besides the significant materials, most of the materials that were processed were withdrawn.

What did others process? Other materials found include two 16mm films, seven glass slides used for educational purposes, photographs, four Reel-to-Reel tapes, pamphlets and catalogues from a scrapbook on CMU. Notecards are organized by size into 5 boxes (Boxes 13-17) pertaining to research by R.H. Maybee and CMU faculty members, and oversize materials including Federal Census data for Isabella County, Michigan, CMU account books, and others.

Oversized folders 1-3 include materials collected by Maybee, a proposal by architects, undated; notes on CMU accounts, 1894-1923; and notes on Rolland Township, Isabella County, Michigan Federal Census data, 1860.

In addition to this collection, papers of Claude S. Larzelere and publications by both Maybee and Larzelere are separately cataloged and housed in the Clarke Historical Library. Maybee also wrote an article on David Ward which was published in Michigan History (32, 1, March 1948). Copies of Maybee's notes on CMU history may also be found in the Central Michigan University 75th Anniversary collection in the Clarke.

Processing Note: A total of 24 cubic feet was withdrawn from this collection including duplicates, published items, reading materials, generic correspondence, generic applications, resumes, interview materials, and student papers.

1 result in this collection

1 volume

Rosa Boyer, likely a student in Pennsylvania, kept this notebook between 1881 and 1887, in which she copied rhyming maxims and poems, wrote names of friends, produced various lists, and drew a number of pencil sketches.

Rosa Boyer, likely a student from Pennsylvania, kept this notebook between 1881 and 1887, in which she copied rhyming maxims and poems, wrote names of friends, produced various lists, and drew a number of pencil sketches. Boyer drew people, animals, buildings, furniture and household goods, geometric designs, and one small map of South America.

Boyer also recorded the death of James A. Garfield. Several pages may have been used in relation to her education, such notes on the Pennsylvania congressmen and governor, sentence diagrams, a record of the numbers of days attended and missed from school, and a testimonial about her teacher Samuel S. Diehl.

1 result in this collection

2.8 linear feet (in 3 boxes)

University of Michigan professor of French and Comparative Literature. Chambers taught some of the first courses with LGBTQ+ topics at U-M. Includes course materials, correspondence, and topical files.

Ross Chamber's papers primarily document Chamber's academic career and activities, with some personal correspondence documenting his personal life and relationships. Course materials include various records surrounding courses that Ross Chambers taught, including course schedules, syllabi, texts, and notes. Also includes one folder of student responses on why they decided to take individual courses, including courses about AIDS and queer topics; these materials are restricted as they contain student grades. Courses taught by Chambers with material present in this collection, including courses not taught at the University of Michigan, are indexed under the Contents. Also included in the collection are collections of correspondence–a majority of the correspondence is related to Chamber's academic career, but occasional correspondents discuss more personal matters. Topical files include various lectures, conference materials, speeches, notes, and creator-titled folders. Lectures, speeches, and notes are related to his work on AIDS (particularly in relation to gay men), queer and LGBT+ studies, and French.

Course numbers and titles:
  • French 155/220: 20th Century French
  • French 155/220: Testimonials
  • French 240: The Getting of Wisdom
  • French 372: Poetry as you Like It
  • French 378: Studies in Genre
  • French 4100: Poetry for Pleasure
  • French 7960: Autobiography, History, Testimonial
  • French 885: Desouevrement / Loiterature
  • Comparative Literature 390: Loiterature: Pleasure, Reading, and Social Critique
  • Comparative Literature 413: Witnessing Writing
  • Comparative Literature 490: AIDS: Myths and Countermyths
  • Comparative Literature 490: The Literature of Witness: From the 1914-18 War to AIDS
  • Comparative Literature 490: Representing AIDS
  • Comparative Literature 750: Genre, Writing, and Identity
  • Comparative Literature 760: The Queer and the Creepy
  • Comparative Literature 780: Turning to the Everyday
  • Comparative Literature 781: Untimely Interventions

1 result in this collection

1 volume

The Rowland Stephenson scrapbook contains numerous clippings, engravings, illustrations, notes, and ephemera primarily related to British banking and finance, the Royal Family, and prominent political and historical figures.

The Rowland Stephenson scrapbook contains numerous clippings, engravings, illustrations, notes, and ephemera primarily related to British banking and finance, the Royal Family, and prominent political and historical figures.

The scrapbook (23 x 18 cm) has brown board covers, is lacking a spine, and contains 184 pages in total. While it is unlikely that Stephenson himself created the scrapbook, it does appear that it may have been compiled by a close associate or relative of Stephenson's. Dated contents range from ca. 1767 to 1840 and generally speaking include numerous engraved portraits of various individuals (mainly royal personages, aristocrats, politicians, military and religious leaders, writers, artists, doctors, scientists, athletes, eccentrics, criminals, and historic figures), engravings and illustrations of buildings and other scenes, handwritten notes and ephemeral materials related to various subjects including royal finances and banking, multiple pasted in signatures, and newspaper clippings regarding various subjects including a reward notice for information on Stephenson's whereabouts after his disappearance following his embezzlement scandal. A number of engravings appear to have been clipped from European Magazine as well as R. S. Kirby’s Wonderful and Eccentric Museum; Or, Magazine of Remarkable Characters. Many undated engravings of pre-18th century historic figures were likely produced prior to 1767.

Items of interest include:
  • Pressed plant life remnants of a “Willow from the grave of Buonaparte at St. Helena. 1838” (pg. 1)
  • Engraved portraits of King George III, Aleksandr Suvorov, and the Duke of Wellington (pgs. 2-4)
  • Handwritten list of debts held by Prince Regent George IV coupled with a newspaper clipping expressing caution about how to deal with being in debt (pg. 7)
  • Engraved portrait of Prince Regent George IV with handwritten notes summarizing "Debts of this King paid by Parliament"; includes juxtaposed clipped engraving of a man with hand-drawn sight lines drawing attention to the total debt amount of £3,113,061 (pg. 8)
  • Handwritten list of expenses for the coronation of King George IV, July 19, 1821 (pg. 9)
  • Invitation to the coronation of King George IV (pg. 10)
  • Printed poem about death of Princess Charlotte of Wales, November 6, 1817 (pg. 13)
  • Handwritten list detailing pensions paid to certain dukes, duchesses, princes, and princesses (pg. 15)
  • Two engravings showing portraits of Queen Victoria (ca. 1837) and the 1st Earl of Munster (ca. 1834) encircled by statistical references regarding “The Population of the British Empire according to the last census” (pgs. 16 & 48)
  • Handwritten list showing stats related to the “Total personal charge of a King of England, on the scale of the reign of George the Third” (pg. 17)
  • Engraved portrait of surgeon Charles Aldis (pg. 19)
  • Engraved view of the comet of 1811 (between pgs. 19 and 20)
  • Clipped handwritten cookery list dated December 29, 1767 (pg. 20)
  • Engraved portrait of “Her late Most Excellent Majesty Sophia Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain,” dated December 1818 (pg. 23)
  • Engraved view of “Frogmore, the favorite residence of Her late Majesty” coupled with smaller engraving of people ice skating (pg. 24)
  • Handwritten notes detailing the history and operations of the Bank of England (pgs. 25, 27, 29, & 31)
  • Three Bank of England checks dated February 14, 1826, Dec 10, 1818, and March 6, 1818, all marked with “Forged” stamps, accompanied by handwritten notes (pgs. 26, 28, & 30)
  • Two unfilled stock certificates for £1 and £10 from the Hibernian Bank, Dublin, illustrated with vignettes (pg. 32)
  • Handwritten statement detailing the Bank of England’s net profits from 1797 to 1816; includes tipped-in engraved portrait from 1803 of Abraham Newland, Chief Cashier for the Bank of England (pgs. 33-35)
  • Handwritten note about scented “love letter paper” made in New Jersey alongside an engraved portrait of Raphael (pg. 37)
  • Engravings including depictions of four honorary medals and views of “The Car on which the Remains of Lord Nelson were conveyed to St. Paul’s Jany. 9, 1806,” the "Palaquin presented by the Marquis Cornwall to Prince Abdul Calic, Eldest Son of Tippoo Sultaun…Sepr. 1796," and "A West View of the Iron Bridge over the Wear near Sunderland" (pgs. 39-41)
  • Handwritten notes detailing the history of the Rothschild Family (pgs. 43 & 44)
  • Engravings of Thomas Coram and the Foundling Hospital as well as a funding solicitation notice seeking contributions for the Foundling Hospital (pgs. 45 & 46)
  • Tickets and other ephemera related to various lotteries (pgs. 49, 50, 52, 54, 55, 56, & 58)
  • Engraved view of the Globe Theater (pg. 53)
  • Clipping regarding election anecdote related to Lord Chief Justice John Holt accompanied by a tipped-in engraved portrait of Holt (pg. 62)
  • Handwritten notes on the "Character of a Good Woman" (pg. 63)
  • Handwritten notes on Freemasonry (pg. 64)
  • Hand-drawn view of the comet of 1811 (pg. 65)
  • Engraved portraits of Benjamin Thompson, the Count Rumford; John Elwes; Joanna Southcott; Thomas Paine; Rev. Thomas Raffles; Richard Carlile; Sir Richard "Dick" Wittington and his cat; Joseph Priestley; Prince Albert; engraver John Rowe; and London eccentric Ann Siggs (pgs. 74-85)
  • Engraved depiction of a sleeping woman named Elizabeth Perkins of Morley, Norfolk, accompanied by handwritten notes detailing her sudden and mysterious entrance into a coma in 1788 (pg. 86)
  • Ca. 1839 advertisement for a showing of Brother Jonathan, the mammoth ox from America (pg. 87)
  • Engraved portraits of boxer James Belcher, eccentric dentist Martin van Butchell, and Madame de Staël Anne-Louise-Germaine Necker (pgs. 88-90)
  • Plan of the King’s Theatre (pg. 94)
  • Engraving showing the three defendants in the 1823 Radlett Murder: John Thurtell, Joseph Hunt, and William Probert (pg. 101)
  • Handwritten copy of a letter sent from Rotterdam, Netherlands, dated August 18, 1817, instructing Stephenson’s firm to pay £100 to someone who was purpsoefully injured by one of their clients (pg. 103)
  • Engraved portraits of Thomas Hobson accompanied by a printed poem, Henry Jenkins of Ellerton in Yorkshire “who lived to the Surpizing Age of 169,” and Thomas “Old Tom” Parr (pgs. 110-112)
  • Engraved view of London and the observatory erected over the cross of St. Paul's Cathedral that was used by Thomas Hornor to create his panoramic view of London accompanied by a handwritten note about an individual nearly falling to their death after slipping on top of the cathedral's dome (pgs. 115 & 116)
  • Engraved portraits of Lady Morgan Sydney Owenson and Charlemagne (pg. 117)
  • Ca. 1840 advertisement for London-based rubbish collector John Allford attached to French cologne advertisement (between pgs. 117 & 118)
  • Clipping regarding Edmund Burke's description of the Bible, an engraved portrait of Burke and an engraving of two Biblical-era priests preparing sacrifices (pgs. 123 & 124)
  • Engraved portraits of Rev. Rowland Hill and George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (pgs. 125 & 128)
  • Cut and pasted signatures of various individuals (pgs. 129-168)
  • Engraved portraits of Governor Joseph Wall, Sir Francis Burdett, Lord Brougham and Vaux, Lord Durham, John Bellingham, T. S. Duncombe, Colonel George De Lacy Evans, Lord Thomas Erskine, George Canning, Granville Sharp, Henry Hunt, Richard Watson, Joseph Hume, William Cobbett, Daniel O'Connell, Charles Lennox the Duke of Richmond, Lord Palmerston, Thomas Spring-Rice, William Henry the Duke of Portland, Sir James Shaw, Lord Bexley Nicholas Vansittart, Sir Matthew Wood, Robert Waithman, W. T. Raynal, Sir Richard Birnie, Joliot de Crebillon, John Gully, Sir John Oglander, John Soane, Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal, Hippocrates, Josiah Ricraft, Dr. Herman Boerhaave, Henry Hastings, Marie and Catherine de Médicis, James Cook, Rev. Obadiah Sedgwick, Lord Burghley, King William IV, and Queen Victoria (pgs. 133-183)
  • Hand-colored engraved portrait of Stephenson accompanied by his own clipped signature as well as a newspaper clipping of a reward notice offering £1000 pounds for Stephenson's apprehension following his alleged embezzlement and flight from London (pg. 171)
  • Four tipped-in manuscript items including an undated note from Stephenson quoting "Lev: 12: Blair" about choosing one's path in life; a letter dated January 9, 1804, from B. Pratt to Stephenson regarding the importance of being careful with money; a letter dated August 29, 1827, from “Rody Moroney” to Stephenson thanking the latter for favors; and a letter dated March 23, 1822, from "the Independent Inhabitation of West Looe" to innkeeper Robert Reath inquiring about the whereabouts of Stephenson's friends and remarking on business matters impacted in the wake of a contested election (between pgs. 171 & 172)
  • Clipping of a poem dated January 10, 1829, regarding Stephenson's alleged embezzlement and lamenting the volume of negative newspaper coverage devoted to Stephenson as well as to the Duke of Wellington (pg. 173)
  • Loose letter dated March 19, 1828, from Michael Meredith to Stephenson expressing the former's willingness to work for Stephenson again in Leominster "if it should happen that your Honour should call on me again at any future Election" (between pgs. 173 & 174)
  • Handwritten notes regarding the "Expenses of the Coronation of Queen Victoria" accompanied by a clipping that details the approximate value of the jewels found in Her Majesty's Crown (pg. 184)
  • Engraved view of the passenger steamboat SS British Queen (pasted inside back cover)

1 result in this collection

0.5 linear feet

The papers of Dr. Rufus Degranza Pease are made up of 219 letters, documents, drafts, a diary, notes, broadsides and handbills, a printed journal, and ephemeral items dating between 1844 and 1890. The papers contain 195 incoming letters and drafts of outgoing letters focusing heavily on four main areas: itinerant teaching and lecturing on scientific and pseudoscientific subjects in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and other areas between the 1840s and 1860s; Dr. Pease's imprisonment at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in October-November 1863; Dr. Pease's work for and later litigation against the National Christian Association Opposed to Secret Societies, late 1860s-1870s; and his work as phrenologist and physiognomist in Philadelphia in the 1870s and 1880s. The collection also includes Dr. Pease's 1855 pocket diary, a copy of Pease's The Journal of Man (1871), and a variety of printed handbills, tickets, broadsides, business cards, and trade cards associated with Dr. Pease's lectures and occupations.

The papers of phrenologist and physiognomist Rufus Degranza Pease are made up of 219 letters, documents, drafts, a diary, speeches, notes, broadsides, a printed journal, and ephemeral items dating between 1844 and 1890.

The Correspondence and Documents series contains 195 incoming letters and drafts of outgoing letters focusing heavily on four main areas:

  • Itinerant teaching and lecturing on scientific and pseudoscientific subjects in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and other areas between the 1840s and 1860s;
  • Dr. Pease's imprisonment at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in October-November 1863;
  • Dr. Pease's work for and later litigation against the National Christian Association Opposed to Secret Societies in the late 1860s and early 1870s; and
  • His work as phrenologist and physiognomist in Philadelphia in the 1870s and 1880s (including several drafts pertinent to Dr. Pease's analysis of Charles Guiteau's "psycho-physiology," dated 1881 and 1882)

The collection also includes Dr. Pease's preprinted Pocket Diary for 1855. For Registering Events of Past or Present Occurrence ... Boston: Wm. J. Reynolds & Co., [1855]. Dr. Pease used this daily diary to document activities, notes, costs and purchases, medicinal recipes and more. It is unclear whether or not many of the entries correspond to the pre-printed dates on which they were written. He spent much of 1855 in Indiana (particularly Wayne County). Examples of his brief entries include: "Completed my large portfolio" (March 3); a recipe for broth taken from the Tribune (March 10). "Went to Indianapolis on cars . . . got cards printed . . . guitar strings. & saw Risher Linder in bookstore" (April 2); a rough pencil sketch of a "Puzzle box"; card printing and costs, and Silas Galespy's printer in Iowa (April 4-6); section headed "The Italian Lost Girl" with brief biographical notes about Amelia [Ettensberger?] (April 7-9); instructions for making "Webber's Plates" (for portrait painting) (April 22-23); reference to "Lectures to Ladies on Anatomy..." followed by a note "Mrs Lukens is said to be in sympathy with H.C. Wright." (April 24-25); an entry stating "a want of sensibility in the skin has been found in a vast number of cases of insanity" (June 18); a treatment for "Frozen flesh" (July 15-16 and November 27). Throughout are very brief notes or lists pertinent to articles and books, art, geographical locations, body measurements, names of people, professions, where they were from or where he met them, and places.

The papers include a single Photograph, a 3.5" x 2.5" tintype group portrait of three unidentified women, one standing behind two seated.

The collection's Printed Items include:

  • R. D. Pease, The Journal of Man. Philadelphia: Wm. S. Rentoul, January 1872.
  • Two business cards for "R. D. Pease, M. D., Editor of the Journal of Man," one with manuscript revisions.
  • One trade card for R. D. Pease's services in Philadelphia.
  • Eleven different handbills, broadsides, programs, and prospectuses for lectures and courses by Dr. Pease and others, plus fragments.
  • Four tickets to lectures and courses by Dr. Pease (including one complimentary ticket for the Wagner Institute of Science).

1 result in this collection

3 linear feet — 1 oversize folder — 1.8 MB (online) — 7 digital audio files

Russell M. Magnaghi is professor of history at Northern Michigan University. The collection consists of oral history recordings and transcripts and photographs, developed as part of Magnaghi's work in documenting history and ethnicity of the Upper Peninsula and Michigan in general.

The collection consists of three series developed as part of Magnaghi's work in documenting history and ethnicity of the Upper Peninsula and Michigan in general. The series are Italian-American Immigrant Oral History Series; Ethnic Heritage of Presque Isle County, Mich.; and Photographs.

1 result in this collection