Benjamin Rush writes to Thomas Fitzsimons about a recent funding law and business conditions in the United States. While "lands sell and settle rapidly," Rush argues that "our vitals are unsound and we must finally perish under the weight of Mr.
Matthew Boulton provides an account of the Birmingham riots in England and the destruction of property, including Joseph Priestley's house. The recipient's identity is unknown. Transcript included.
Joseph Priestley writes to George Thatcher regarding news from England, where Priestley expects revolution: "The unanimity you speak of in this country does not exist in this neighborhood.
Statesman William Bingham writes Benjamin Rush and compares the conditions in England with those in the United States in terms of government, economics, and immigration.
This customs declaration and receipt form, sworn and signed by Benjamin Rush, is for "One Box Books a present for Dickinson College."
Theologian and scholar Joseph Priestley writes to his friend Theophilus Lindsey.
William Bingham writes from London to the Dickinson College Board of Trustees concerning his attempts to get support from the British for the College.
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 Buchanan are included in the collection. Drafts of speeches, printed pamphlets, and various memorabilia are also represented.
This collection is comprised of three journals containing notes on lectures delivered by Pieter Burman during his tenure at the University of Leiden, sometime between 1715 and 1740. It is not known precisely who took these notes. The notebooks themselves are believed to have been donated to Dickinson College by Rev. John Erskine not long after the college was founded, as the binding and content is consistent with numerous other works he donated.
Burman’s lectures follow the basic structure of Torsellino’s History, (i.e. the division of chapters and sections), but they expand on those divisions, adding further information and context. More specifically, the focus of the lectures appears to be on the language, history, and poetry of the United Provinces.
The lectures are recorded through three journals. The first journal, Volume 1, contains a prologue as well as Book I of Torsellino’s History, concerning biblical history divided according to important figures and patriarchs. The second journal, Volume 2, follows Torsellino’s Books V-VIII. The third journal, Volume 3, follows Torsellino’s Books IX-X.
This collection reflects the three year period in which Andrew Curtin served as minister to Russia, and is arranged in two series: Photograph Albums and Loose Photographs. The albums are housed in one document box, while the loose photographs are housed within the Dickinson College Photograph Collections as PC 2001.21. Because no definitive date has been given for most of these items, the date of the materials has been indicated as c1870. Curtin, Dickinson College Class of 1837, served as "war governor" for Pennsylvania during the Civil War and was appointed minister to Russia following his tenure as governor.
The collection consists primarily of travel journals of Thomas and Jabez Fisher, sons of Joshua Fisher, a businessman in Philadelphia shipping prior to the Revolutionary War. The journals offer detailed accounts of travel to Europe in the 1760s and 1770s. In addition, a small amount of business account information is included, along with three personal journals of Sarah Logan Fisher Wister, granddaughter of Thomas Fisher.
The collection consists of papers pertaining to Hartigan's military career and to a proposed "Dickinson College School of International Activities." It includes correspondence with Dickinson College, foreign universities, and other institutions regarding similar plans. The collection includes numerous photographs of pre-World War II Germany and Austria, particularly with regard to the performing arts.
These images are a sample of the photographs taken by Charles Francis Himes, a pioneer amateur photographer of the 19th century. Himes took this particular set of photographs while at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
The photographs are from the Charles Francis Himes family papers. For more information about Himes and this collection, see the links under related entries.
These images are a sample of the photographs taken by Charles Francis Himes, a pioneer amateur photographer of the 19th century. Himes took this particular set of photographs while on a family vacation in Europe in 1890. Most of the photographs are from the family's stay in Giessen, Germany.
The photographs are from the Charles Francis Himes family papers. For more information about Himes and this collection, see the links under related entries.
This international society was founded in Europe in 1961 and a North American chapter followed ten years later. Dedicated to the study of civilizations, the ISCSC holds annual meetings, usually in an American university setting, in which papers are read, books are discussed, and theories are shared by the members. The society newsletter and its Comparative Civilizations Bulletin/Review are extensions of these meetings. The collection has been on deposit since 1987. The collection consists of society business, personal and societal correspondence, publications, and manuscripts.
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.
This collection is composed largely of artifacts which the Millers brought back from their nine year mission to Nepal, 1956-1965. Also included in the collection are a scrapbook, picture books of Nepal, and a Nepalese hymnal.
This collection is comprised mainly of The Spirit of Britain and Pictorial Shakespeare, two examples of illustrated manuscripts by artist Montagu Frank Modder. Also included are miscellaneous drawings of literary and historical figures, as well as printer's engraving blocks.
Julia Morgan (1891-1948), Class of 1911, served as a medical missionary in China from approximately 1924 to 1941. This collection contains correspondence written primarily by Julia to her father, James Henry Morgan, during her time in China. These materials also include photographs of members of the Morgan, Curran, and McElfish families dating from 1869 to 1947.
Hiester Henry Muhlenberg (1812-1886) was a member of the distinguished Muhlenberg family of Pennsylvania. He graduated from Dickinson College in 1829. This collection contains almost 200 letters, most of which were written by members of Muhlenberg's immediate family. These letters reflect American politics, European diplomacy, social life, and the student experience at Dickinson College. The collection also includes photographs and engravings of some members of the Muhlenberg family.
Myrl Myers graduated from Dickinson College in 1906. Beginning as a student interpreter for the American Legation in Peking (Beijing) in 1907, he spent the next 40 years serving in various U.S. diplomatic posts in China. The journals and other items in this collection reflect some of his earlier appointments (1907-11) and later ones (1941-46).
The collection consists of the papers of Charles Nisbet, first president of Dickinson College, and his family, particularly his son-in-law, William Turnbull. The majority of these papers is correspondence conducted between Nisbet and his daughter, and also between Nisbet and Lady Leven of Scotland. The business ventures of William Turnbull are reflected through legal, financial, and other miscellaneous documents; the collection's single artifact is Turnbull's leather wallet.
These images were distributed in the United States by the Soyuzfoto Soviet News Agency during the early 1930s. The images themselves date from 1918-1933 and depict notable individuals, places, and scenes from daily life.
James Gordon Steese (1882-1958) was a member of the Dickinson College class of 1902. Among his many activities, Steese served as president of the Board of Road Commissioners for Alaska; the Steese Highway in Alaska is named for him. He later was involved with the development of railroads in both Alaska and Maryland and with several oil companies. Diaries and journals chronicle Steese's military service and his later years. The collection contains mostly professional correspondence, pamphlets, and reports on the Alaskan Road Commission and Steese's military service. Also included are several newspaper articles, maps, charts, and correspondence with Steese's family. A large photograph collection, mainly in the form of photo albums, supplements the document collection.
These images are from a collection of photograph albums compiled by James Gordon Steese, an officer in the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. Steese assembled these albums using photographs he collected on a trip to Europe in 1919 following World War One. Steese served as Assistant Chief of Engineers and chief of a General Staff Section. His mission was to tour the battlefields along what had served as the Western Front and report his findings to the Secretary of War.
For more information about this collection, see the links under related entries.