Collections of college and personal papers, as well as a select number of individual documents, have been briefly described in entries available for browsing and searching on this site. All collection and document descriptions contain a representative image and a summary of the contents.
Sorted chronologically
James Buchanan declines to put in a "kind word" for a colleague seeking employment in Philadelphia. “Amid the very numerous friends there to whom I am under political obligations,” Buchanan asks “how am I to select a few of them & refuse to...
Location: I-Friends-2012-4
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
James Buchanan (Class of 1809) writes to Robert Tyler about his nomination as President and discusses one of the delegates at the Pennsylvania State Convention, a Franklin K. Curran of Marietta. Robert is the son of President John Tyler....
Location: I-AsbellY-2002-21
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: 
Letter from James Buchanan to Robert Tyler
Jacob C. Bomberger writes thirteen letters to Eli Slifer, Pennsylvania State Treasurer and later Secretary of the Commonwealth during the Civil War, regarding various financial transactions, politics issues, local and federal elections,...
Location: MC 2003.4, B1, F23
Subject: Economics and Finance, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government, Religion and Spirituality
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letters from Jacob Bomberger to Eli Slifer
Location: MC 2003.4, B1, F23
Subject: Economics and Finance, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government, Religion and Spirituality
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letters from Jacob Bomberger to Eli Slifer
James Buchanan, who is preparing to take the position as the United States Minister to the United Kingdom, writes to W. H. Welsh, regarding the "present difficulties in the way of appointing a Secretary of Legation to London." Buchanan declares...
Location: MC 1998.10, B3, F13
Subject: International Affairs, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from James Buchanan to W. Welsh
President Franklin Pierce authorizes Secretary of State William L. Marcy to "affix the Seal of the United States to the envelope of a letter addressed to Her Majesty Queen Victoria," which contains James Buchanan's credentials as the new...
Location: I-SpahrB-1956-4
Subject: International Affairs, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Franklin Pierce to William Marcy
Pennsylvania politician James Buchanan (Class of 1803) writes to Peter G. Washington about political appointments and state elections. Buchanan discusses Washington's prospects of getting a clerkship as well as the possibility of appointments...
Location: I-AsbellY-2002-31
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
James Buchanan writes to Joseph R. Ingersoll regarding President Franklin Pierce's trip to Crystal Palace in New York City and Buchanan's plans to travel to London as the new United States Minister to the United Kingdom. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1998.10, B3, F13
Subject: International Affairs, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from James Buchanan to Joseph R. Ingersoll
Harriet Lane writes Lily Macalester with gossip about mutual acquaintances and discusses Wheatland. Lane lives with her uncle, James Buchanan, in Pennsylvania. Transcript included.
Location: I-Friends-2001-5
Subject: Personal and Family Life
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Harriet Lane to Lily Macalester
James E. Clawson prepared this oration, entitled “The American Citizen," for the commencement ceremonies held July 14, 1853. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript...
Location: Orations-1853-C617a
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: "The American Citizen," by James E. Clawson
Albert Ritchie prepared this oration, entitled “National Days," for the commencement ceremonies held July 14, 1853. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included...
Location: Orations-1853-R598n
Subject: International Affairs, Military Affairs and Conflict, Politics and Government
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: "National Days," by Albert Ritchie
James M. Shearer prepared this oration, entitled “The Bastile-Sixty Four Years Ago," for the commencement ceremonies held July 14, 1853. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time...
Location: Orations-1853-S539b
Subject: International Affairs, Military Affairs and Conflict, Politics and Government
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: "The Bastile- Sixty Four Years Ago," by James M. Shearer
This copy of the printed program for the commencement exercises held on July 14, 1853 shows the members of the graduating class and the speeches that they were scheduled to deliver.
Location: Dickinsoniana Programs
Subject: Dickinson College Events
Format: Memorabilia and Ephemera
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: 1853 Commencement Program
Dickinson College President Charles Collins writes five letters to his wife, Harriet Collins, while on a trip. Collins describes his travel experience as well as the various meetings he attended. Collins explains that "contrary to expectation...
Location: I-EwigC-1990-1
Subject: Dickinson College Administration, Health and Medicine, Personal and Family Life, Religion and Spirituality, Travel and Tourism
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letters from Charles Collins to Harriet Collins (Jul. - Aug. 1853)
James Buchanan writes to Mr. Lane and James L. Reynolds regarding paying bills, political appointments, and Buchanan's political future. "I shall not be a candidate for the Presidency, & would not wish to become President" because, as...
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Economics and Finance, International Affairs, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letters from James Buchanan to Mr. Lane and James L. Reynolds
President James Buchanan writes to Gerard Hallock regarding the Presidential Election of 1860 and whether to remove the editor of a "leading Democratic" newspaper for not supporting his administration's policies. "This organ... maintains...
Location: MC 1998.10, B4, F3
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from James Buchanan to Gerard Hallock
James Buchanan writes eight letters from London to James L. Reynolds on a number of different subjects, including life as the United States Minister to the United Kingdom, the Vienna Conference, the Crimean War, the Nebraska Bill, and the 1856...
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: International Affairs, Military Affairs and Conflict, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government, Travel and Tourism
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney writes President Franklin Pierce and recommends Lieutenant Colonel Taylor’s son, Francis H. Taylor, for an appointment “to the office of military storekeeper in Oregon.” Justice Taney argues that Francis...
Location: I-SpahrB-1948-1
Subject: Military Affairs and Conflict, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
James Buchanan writes to Christopher L. Ward and describes life in London as the new United States Minister to the United Kingdom and discusses the possibility of a conflict between Russia and Turkey in the Crimean. Buchanan also mentions his...
Location: MC 1998.10, B3, F13
Subject: International Affairs, Military Affairs and Conflict, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from James Buchanan to Christopher L. Ward
James Buchanan describes his experience working and living in London as United States Minister to the United Kingdom and comments on the latest political news from the United States. George Plitt is a Pennsylvania attorney. Transcript included....
Location: MC 1998.10, B3, F14
Subject: International Affairs, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government, Travel and Tourism
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from James Buchanan to George Plitt
Tiphen Walsingham Allen, from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, records his thoughts and activities from November 1853 to August 1854 as a student at Dickinson College. Allen is a member of the Class of 1854. Transcript included.
Location: I-Friends-2003-6
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Student Life, Education, Personal and Family Life, Travel and Tourism
Format: Diaries and Journals
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Journal of Tiphen W. Allen (Transcript)
Rev. Charles Collins, the eleventh president of Dickinson College, writes this short biography of Rev. Charles Nisbet, the first president of the College, in 1853.
Charles Collins, "Rev. Charles Nisbet, D. D., First President of Dickinson...
Location: Special Collections Periodicals
Subject: Dickinson College Administration, Dickinson College History, Education, Religion and Spirituality
Format: Newspapers and Magazines
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: "Rev. Charles Nisbet, D. D., First President of Dickinson College," by Charles Collins
Harriet Lane writes to her friend Mrs. Christopher L. Ward in December 1853. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1998.10, B4, F16
Subject: Personal and Family Life
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Harriet Lane to Mrs. Christopher L. Ward
James Buchanan writes to Lily Macalester and describes his life in London as the United States Minister to the United Kingdom. "I should be far happier in retirement at Wheatland than amidst the gaiety of London," as Buchanan notes. Transcript...
Location: MC 1998.10, B3, F15
Subject: Health and Medicine, International Affairs, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government, Travel and Tourism
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
Harriet Lane writes to Lily Macalester and discusses her voyage to London. She will be presented to Queen Victoria later that week. In addition, Lane notes that she attended the opera with a Mr. Peabody and sat in a box opposite of the Queen....
Location: I-Friends-2001-5
Subject: Personal and Family Life, Travel and Tourism, Visual and Performing Arts
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Harriet Lane to Lily Macalester
Alexander McClure writes seventeen letters to Eli Slifer in which he discusses the political campaigns of various Pennsylvania politicians, denies his opposition towards Whigs, expresses joy at the success of Pennsylvania Governor James Pollock...
Location: MC 2003.4, B7, F11
Subject: Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letters from Alexander McClure to Eli Slifer, 1854-59