Poetry and Lyrics

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 18th Massachusetts Volunteers (1861-63); as a land speculator in Tennessee; and as a businessman in Boston. The collection also includes other family correspondence and legal materials, the latter comprised of family deeds and the settlement of Ayer's father's (Joseph Cullen Ayer, Sr. - 1846) and his mother's (Rachael Ellis Ayer-Washburn - c. 1888) estates. Miscellaneous materials include poetry and a medical thesis by Joseph Cullen Ayer, Sr.; printed materials contain three Civil War manuals.

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 less fortunate kin in Talbot County, MD, including making provisions for the old age of James Lloyd, a beloved slave. The letters of William James Bowdle (1834-1876; Class of 1854) reflect student life at Dickinson College; letters of numerous other relatives are supplemented by genealogical notes on the Bowdle Family. Also included are papers on the settlement of the estate of Capt. Patrick Dickey, dated 1806-1841, which involve lands in Ohio and in Mason Co., VA.

The Robert Bridges Papers Collection provides insight into literary works of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and reflects Bridges’ long period of work as an editor and literary critic. The collection spans a date range of 1875-1937, with large portions pertaining to the early 1890s and 1900s. The collection is divided into 16 series: Administrative Records, Editorial, Literary Reviews, Prose, Poetry, Drama, Addresses and Speeches, Other Writings, President Woodrow Wilson, Princeton University, Aldine Club, Personal, Images, Biographical Materials, Publications, Photographs, Oversized Photographs, and Artifacts.

A fuller description of each series is provided in the Collection Inventory.

Marcia Chamberlain was a friend and correspondent of poet Marianne Moore. This collection contains letters exchanged between the two women and other acquaintances, as well as a small amount of writings, photographs, and ephemera.

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 consists of correspondence, financial materials, literary materials, and printed materials. There are only minor amounts of correspondence, financial and printed materials. The bulk of the collection is the literary materials which include diaries, memoranda books, and compilations of sermons. The diaries cover Collins' spiritual life, his early presidency of Dickinson College, his decisions to leave Dickinson, and the effects of the Civil War in Memphis. The diary dated 1842-1874 has very scattered entries while the 1855-1872 diary contains copies of Collins' correspondence. Much of the financial material relates to Dickinson College, including two account books for subscriptions to the college and to a special telescope fund.

Three journals in this collection have been digitized and are available for reading online (see links for related entries below).

Thomas Creigh (1808-1880), Dickinson Class of 1828, attended Princeton Theological Seminary and was ordained by the Carlisle Presbytery in 1831. He served as a pastor in Mercersburg, Pa. The collection includes two notebooks from Creigh's student days at Dickinson College. The first notebook dates from 1827 to 1828 and contains lecture notes from William Neill's "Revealed Religion" class and Alexander McClelland's "Metaphysics" class. The second notebook contains a variety of original compositions, including poems, essays, and copies of correspondence dating from 1824 to 1827. The collection also includes two letters from Creigh to James Hamilton written in 1862 and 1872.

Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson (1737-1801) was a Philadelphia writer who was known for hosting literary salons attended by individuals such as John Dickinson, Jacob Duché, Francis Hopkinson, Dr. Benjamin Rush, and Annis Boudinot Stockton. The collection consists of a commonplace book compiled by Fergusson that contains handwritten poems and transcriptions of correspondence dating from 1770 to 1787. The poetry includes odes, elegies, and neoclassical-style poems written by Fergusson and others, such as her husband, Henry Hugh Fergusson; her niece, Anna Young Smith; and Francis Hopkinson. The book also includes transcriptions of correspondence between Fergusson and Anna Young Smith and Elias Boudinet, as well as correspondence between Smith and her husband, Dr. William Smith.

The commonplace book has been completely digitized and is available for reading online (see link for related entries below).

The collection includes correspondence and manuscripts of William Righter Fisher, a Dickinson alumnus (class of 1870) and professor of modern languages (1874-1876). These papers reflect Fisher's graduate study in Germany, teaching at Dickinson, business and law, and the writings of Mrs. Fisher.

Lewis Daniel Gobrecht graduated from Dickinson College in 1955. This collection primarily represents his academic and extracurricular life as a student, with particular emphasis on his involvement in theatre and music activities.

The Hays family papers include correspondence, deeds, and memorabilia of six generations of this prominent Carlisle, Pa. family whose scions include General Ephraim Blaine (1741-1804), Commissary-General in the American Revolution and charter trustee of Dickinson College, and James G. Blaine (1830-1898), presidential candidate and U. S. Senator from Maine. Ephraim Blaine's account books from his war service, his will, deeds, and other papers are included. John Hays (II), great grandson of Ephraim Blaine, was an 1857 graduate of Dickinson College; many others of his family represented here were also alumni. John Hays' own papers reflect his Civil War service, his veterans' activities, literary interests, genealogy, his interest in the history of Carlisle and Cumberland county, and his varied career as lawyer, bank president, founder of the Carlisle Gas and Water Company and of the Carlisle Frog, Switch and Manufacturing Company. Also included is an exchange of correspondence between Mary Abigail Dodge and John Hays concerning her projected biography of James G. Blaine. In addition, there are significant bodies of 19th century correspondence of lawyers James Hamilton and George Metzger.

The Bevery Hess collection consists of the various papers, newspaper clippings, books, audiotapes and photographs collected by Hess during her most active period of involvement with local anti-nuclear groups. Bevery Hess was a resident of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania prior to the accident at Three Mile Island, Unit 2. After the accident, Beverly Hess became heavily involved in the local anti-nuclear movement. She was a founding member of the Susquehanna Valley Alliance and the Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC). An appendix is included, which lists the books belonging to the Beverly Hess collection.

The Herman Merrills Johnson papers consist primarily of financial records, bound and unbound, maintained by Johnson during his tenure as president of Dickinson College. The collection also contains correspondence, notes, manuscripts, and the bill of sale for Johnson's library following his death.

Julius "Steve" Kassovic taught in the Sociology-Anthropology Department at Dickinson from 1979 to 1984. This collection contains assignments from his popular Introduction to Folklore course, during which students gathered jokes, stories, myths, ethnic expressions and other pieces of folkore from encounters with their families, local communities, and Dickinson peers.

Charles Flint Kellogg was a member of Dickinson's history department from 1946 to 1975. His scholarship focused on the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Kellogg helped to establish black studies courses at the College and taught courses on black history. This collection documents his academic career, including his graduate studies at The Johns Hopkins University, his teaching career at Dickinson, and his research into the NAACP. In addition to Kellogg's own correspondence and research materials, this collection also includes press releases produced by the NAACP from 1957 to 1964.

This collection consists of correspondence, journals, photographs, and other personal papers of Kerry Shawn Keys, poet, editor, translator, and cultural liaison. He has authored more than 40 books of poetry and prose and translated more than a dozen other works from Portuguese, Czech, and Lithuanian. (Publications can be found by searching the library online catalog.) He has taught at Penn State University, Harrisburg Area Community College, Dickinson College, and Vilnius University. He has received the Robert H. Winner Memorial Prize from the Poetry Society of America, the Translation Laureate Award from the Lithuanian Writers Union, and a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship.

Horatio Collins King was the son of Postmaster General Horatio King and the nephew of Dickinson College President Charles Collins. A graduate of Dickinson College, class of 1858, King was admitted to the bar in 1861 and saw active service in the Civil War from 1862 until 1865. A songwriter, King composed the Dickinson Alma Mater, among other works. The collection contains King's correspondence, diaries, and copies of his songs. Topics in correspondence and diaries include student life, Civil War, and democratic politics.

The journals in this collection are available for reading online (see links for related entries below).

The collection consists of correspondence, genealogical materials, legal materials, printed and scrapbook materials relating to George Burt Lincoln. Correspondents include Abner Doubleday, Horace Greeley, Julia Ward Howe, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Of particular note is a letter from Julia Ward Howe discussing women's study clubs.

Zatae Longsdorff Straw (1866-1955) was the first woman graduate of Dickinson College as a member of the class of 1887; she went on to a successful career as a doctor and politician. The collection of her papers includes correspondence, printed and manuscript materials, scrapbooks and scrapbook materials, photographs, and artifacts. The bulk of the documents in this collection focuses on Zatae's life in Manchester, New Hampshire, both private and professional. There are some items, however, about her life at Dickinson, namely her dress and medal for the Pierson Prize in Oratory, 1886, and her writing desk.

The collection consists of genealogical, financial, and scrapbook materials related to the McClintock and Wakeman families. Four ledgers concern research notes on George Washington. Also included in the collection are correspondence related to the Proeschel family. Julius N. Proeschel was secretary to Rev. John McClintock in Paris in the 1860's and a life long friend of Emory McClintock. The correspondence include a few letters by John McClintock and a large number by Emory, showing the personal side of both families.

William C. McPherson graduated from Dickinson College in 1829 before beginning a life-long career as a physician. The collection is comprised of two diaries that contain entries dating from his college days, some notes from medical school lectures, and his post-college daily life in Marietta, Pennsylvania.

The collection consists of correspondence and manuscripts of Marianne Moore (1887-1972), the famous American poet. The letters generally discuss her literary work, but some personal business is included as well. Manuscript copies of several of her poems comprise a part of the collection as well.