Financial Documents

The collection consists of correspondence, legal and financial materials primarily related to Price's law practice, his service in the Pennsylvania State Senate (1854-1856), and as a commissioner for Fairmount Park Association. Also included in the collection are papers concerning the Fisher's Creek Improvement Company and from the files of Eli Kirk Price, Jr., correspondence and applications for the Keene Home for Women, a retirement home in Bristol, Pa.

The Priestley Award was established by Dickinson College in honor and memory of Joseph Priestley, the eighteenth century scientist and theologian best known as the discoverer of oxygen. Every year the award is presented to a distinguished scientist for his or her discoveries or contributions to the welfare of mankind.

The Priestley Award collection is organized chronologically by the year in which the award was presented. Also included in this collection is some biographical information on Joseph Priestley, general information about the award itself, a history of the award written by Horace Rogers, financial receipts, and information on the 1973 Science for Survival Symposium.

Each yearly award celebration series is further divided into different folders. These divisions include folders for correspondence; event preparation; posters, programs, and invitations; news releases and publications; and nominating committee. Correspondence consists of letters concerning the award and celebration, inter-office memos, and invitations, all arranged chronologically. The event preparation file consists of various papers such as invitation lists, menus, sample letters, itineraries, speech transcriptions, and any other information collected by the President of the College in preparation for that year’s award. The posters, programs, and invitations folders contain ephemeral materials related to the annual event. In the news releases and publications file, all newspaper articles and other writings pertaining to the award or the award winner are maintained. Nominations, ballots, and letters and memos concerning the nominations can be found in the nominating committee file.

The Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC) collection consists of the various papers, newsletters, court dockets, and publications which were housed by PIRC in an effort to organize all efforts against the restart of Three Mile Island, following the near-meltdown on March 28, 1979. The PIRC was established as a liaison group between the major anti-nuclear groups formed in Central Pennsylvania, and their goal was to coordinate all efforts against TMI: legal actions, protests, and financial actions.

This collection contains the personal and legal papers of John Meredith Read, a Pennsylvania lawyer and state supreme court justice. The collection is housed in one document box and is divided into two categories: Correspondence and Legal and Financial Papers. The correspondence consists of letters sent to or from Read and his son, John M. Read, Jr.

The records contained in the President George Edward Reed record group pertain only to his time and affairs as president of Dickinson College. As such, no personal papers are included in this record group. For records concerning Reed’s interactions with students, please refer to RG 5/1. The Reed records are arranged into two series: General Business, and Personnel.

Robert Fleming Rich attended Dickinson College from 1903-1906 before withdrawing to take up a position in the family business, the Woolrich Woolen Mills. He later became active in Republican politics, serving in the United States House of Representatives from 1930-43 and 1945-51. This collection contains papers related to Rich's role as a member of Dickinson's Board of Trustees and as an active alumnus.

The Charles Arthur Robinson Collection was donated by Charles L. Robinson on January 14, 2012. The collection is housed in two document boxes, one oversized box, 57 photograph folders, and one small artifact box. The collection contains materials related to Charles A. Robinson ('20) and Reba M. Beam’s ('22) Dickinson College careers as well as their married life. It also includes items belonging to Dickinson graduates Harry Delmar Robinson ('18) and Dorothy Anne Robinson ('45). The Collection is arranged into eight series: Academic Papers, Correspondence, Ephemera, Financial Papers, Photograph Albums, Miscellaneous, Oversized, Photographs, and Artifact.

This collection consists of folders in 13 manuscript boxes relating to correspondence and papers of Eli Slifer (1818-1888), an active figure in Pennsylvania politics and the Secretary of the Commonwealth under Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin, 1861-1867. Most of the letters were written during the Civil War and represent the pressures of local politicians, office seekers, and military men upon the Governor's office. There is much material on the enlistment and acceptance of military companies dated 1861 (e.g. Wiliam Foote of the "Lycoming Mountain Ears"), on the operation of the draft law, 1862-1864, on the soldier's vote, election of 1864, and on military surgeons and hospitals. The collection contains 47 letters and telegrams from Curtin, 1852-1866, and 61 from Col. Alexander Kelly McClure, 1851-1866. The political power of Simon and William Cameron is reflected. The political influence of the German and English press appears in letters of Israel Gutelius and his family. Other subjects discussed include banking, transportation, coal, iron, oil industries, military contracts, and the invasion of Pennsylvania.

There is a series of appendices that arranges the correspondence by Civil War Units, Military Affairs, Political Affairs, Business Affairs, and Miscellaneous Affairs.

In the nineteenth century, the activities pertaining to admissions and student affairs were performed by the President of the College, with some assistance from the other faculty members. Inquiries concerning admissions were generally made directly to the President of the College. Members of the faculty (including the President) supervised students both inside and outside the classroom. Besides taking attendance, delivering lectures, and grading students, faculty members also monitored students’ behavior and managed the financial accounts of underage students. Communications with parents and other day to day affairs were handled directly by faculty members. This state of affairs lasted until the early twentieth century, when the College began establishing separate offices to handle the necessary paperwork for running an institution of higher learning with an ever increasing enrollment. For ease of access, the following Student Affairs/Registrar papers, representing the period prior to the modern college office system, have been assembled into one record group.

The Student Affairs/Registrar 1783-1914 Record Group is organized into seven series:

Series 1 - General Student Affairs
Series 2 - Matriculation/Registrar
Series 3 - Attendance and Deportment
Series 4 - Grades
Series 5 - Student-Patron Accounts
Series 6 - Individual Students
Series 7 - Admissions

These records document the activity and structure of Dickinson's student government.

Allen C. Tanner (1898-1987) was an Illinois-born pianist. At fifteen he was awarded a scholarship to study music in Chicago. There he met Margaret Anderson, editor of the Little Review. Tanner then moved to New York City where he performed in musical salons and accompanied many musical greats of the era including Marguerite Namara and Marguerite d'Alvarez. In 1922, Tanner left for Berlin, where he met Russian artist Pavel Tchelitchew and the two men became lovers. In 1924 the pair moved to Paris to pursue their artistic careers. There they became friends with literary greats Gertrude Stein and Edith Sitwell. Tanner and Tchelitchew ended their relationship in 1934. Tanner returned to the United States where he coached piano students in concert repertory. In 1967 he released the album Allen Tanner Plays Bach, Debussy, Scriabin, Granados, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, and Steinert. The collection contains correspondence, writings, programs and publicity, news clippings, financial documents, sheet music, sound recordings, photographs, and books. The correspondence comprises the bulk of this collection. In addition to Tanner's correspondence with fellow musicians and cultural figures, Tanner also exchanged letters with authors and publishers who were interested in his memories of individuals such as Tchelitchew, Gertude Stein, Edith Sitwell, and Margaret Anderson.

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University also holds a collection of Allen Tanner papers. 

Three Mile Island Alert (TMIA) collection consists of the various papers, government documents, legal documents, transcripts, and publications collected and maintained by Three Mile Island Alert, a not-for-profit citizens' organization dedicated to promotion of safe-energy alternatives to nuclear power. The bulk of this collection consists of reports and legal papers pertaining to the accident at Three Mile Island Unit-2, its cleanup, and the restart of TMI Unit-1. Due to the size of the collection, an outline of the collection has been provided to serve as a guide to the full register. The processing of this collection was funded, in part, by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Ruth Agnes Trout graduated from Dickinson College with the class of 1936. In 1983, she and her sister, Helen Elizabeth Trout, established the Trout Gallery at the college in honor of their parents, Brook and Mary Agnes Cook Trout. This collection of papers documents Trout's relationship with the college, primarily as an alumna. It contains correspondence with college officials and financial documents that particularly emphasize her support of the Trout Gallery. This collection also includes a record of her family's history back to approximately the Civil War. Family-related materials include correspondence, genealogical materials, photographs, legal and financial documents, and memorabilia from important life events. Surnames represented in the collection include Brindle, Cook, Dale(s), McCall, Ritter, Stringer, and Trout.

The collection consists of the papers of the families of Jacob and Cornelius Vanderbilt, farmers and tax assessors of Newton Township, Cumberland County, Pa. Accounts of the Civil War are included among family correspondence, bills, accounts, and tax lists. Also included in the collection are a Psalm book and a small Civil War photograph.

The collection contains papers of Ferdinand de Wilton Ward (1812-1891) concerning the Central Church in Geneseo, New York, the American Bible Society, and the genealogy of the Ward family. Also in the collection are a journal of Ward's voyage to India in 1837 and a letter book of the Indian mission.

These records document the activity and organization of the Zatae Longsdorff's Women's Center, a feminist organization at Dickinson that included student and faculty members.