Alexander Biddle, the patriarch of the collection, was born on April 29, 1819 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Thomas A. Biddle and Christine Williams Biddle. A member of a prominent and wealthy Philadelphia family, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1838 and became a...

The collection consists mainly of personal correspondence: fifty letters, most of which are from Carolyn Elizabeth Roberts Ayer to her husband Joseph Cullen Ayer (b. 1839) at various points in his life, beginning before their marriage (1861) when he was at Harvard; as a medical officer in the...

The collection consists of the papers of Charles Gilbert Beetem, a Carlisle, PA rug manufacturer, local historian and genealogist, amateur artist, and omnivorous collector. Diaries, manuscripts, letters, advertisements, greeting cards, and extensive runs of Philadelphia and Carlisle turn-of-the-...

The collection consists of correspondence and miscellaneous materials relating to Andrew Blair (1789-1861), a layman and founding member of the Second Presbyterian Church of Carlisle. In 1833, Blair successfully petitioned the Presbyterian Church in favor of founding a second church; he had...

The collection contains materials relating to family life on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and in Ohio. The central figure is Daniel Bowdle (1796-1876), who as a young man moved to Cincinnati and became the successful business man of his family, with real estate and other interests. He aided his...

James Buchanan was a graduate of Dickinson College, Class of 1809, who went on to become the fifteenth president of the United States. The majority of this collection is comprised of correspondence between Buchanan and his business and political associates; over four hundred letters penned by...

These photographs about the Carlisle Indian School were acquired by the Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections individually and are not part of any larger collection.

Charles Collins (1813-1875) was a native of Maine and a graduate of Wesleyan University (1837); he served as president of Emory and Henry College (1838-1852), of Dickinson College (1852-1860) and as proprietor and President of State Female College in Memphis, Tenn. (1860-1875). The collection...

John T. Cuddy (1844-1864) was the son of John and Agnes Cuddy of Carlisle. Not much is known about his early childhood. At the age of 16 he enlisted in a local Pennsylvania regiment as a drummer boy and thus entered the Civil War. The collection consists of correspondence between Cuddy and...

Albert L. Demaree (1894-1964) graduated from Dickinson College in 1923. This collection contains materials from his service in the U.S. Navy during both World Wars, including certificates, medals, and photographs. The collection also includes materials pertaining to his academic credentials as a...

The collection includes various materials gathered by Blanche, Ray, and Miriam Dum, graduates of Dickinson College in 1910, 1911, and 1913, respectively. Examples of the materials include college bills and report cards from the early part of the century, scholastic materials from Carlisle High...

Robert Emory (1814-1848) taught Latin and Greek at Dickinson between 1834 and 1840 and served as acting president in 1842-43 and 1845-47. This collection contains personal correspondence, as well legal and financial documents, primarily regarding the management of land.