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.
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Noah Bowlus prepared this oration, entitled "Napoleon," for the commencement ceremonies held July 13, 1854. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included.
Location: Orations-1854-B787n
Subject: International Affairs, Military Affairs and Conflict, Politics and Government
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: 
"Napoleon," by Noah Bowlus
Henry Hamilton Pfeiffer prepared this oration, entitled “American Literature," for the commencement ceremonies held July 13, 1854. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time....
Location: Orations-1854-P526a
Subject: Literary Pursuits, Politics and Government
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: "American Literature," by Henry H. Pfeiffer
This sample Union Philosophical Society Diploma is dated July 13, 1854.
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Union Philosophical Society Diploma (Sample)
John Fletcher Hurst receives his Bachelor of Arts Diploma from Dickinson College on July 13, 1854.
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Bachelor of Arts Diploma - John Hurst
William Charles Ford Reed (Class of 1854) receives his Master of Arts Diploma from Dickinson College on July 13, 1854.
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Master of Arts Diploma - William Reed
This copy of the printed program for the commencement exercises held on July 13, 1854 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: 1854 Commencement Program
US Minister to the United Kingdom James Buchanan thanks Sir William Molesworth for his speech on "Naval Prizes." While "the agreement is unanswerable," Buchanan tells Molesworth that he "presented more historical information on the subject, in a...
Location: I-Friends-2002-1
Subject: International Affairs, Military Affairs and Conflict
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from James Buchanan to Sir William Molesworth
Diplomat and politician Richard Rush writes to "the Messrs. Corbin of Virginia, Maryland, and their collaterals" to meet and investigate their claims to the Jennings Estate. Rush also recommends his son, Benjamin, as someone qualified to serve as...
Location: I-Friends-1976-12
Subject: Land and Real Estate, Legal Affairs
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
President Franklin Pierce writes to Secretary of the Interior Robert McClelland regarding how to handle Kentucky Representative John Cabell Breckinridge. "I wish to oblige Breckinridge if it can be done with any propriety," as President Pierce...
Location: I-SpahrB-1953-21
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
Horatio Collins King's diary during his first semester as a student at Dickinson College. King is a member of the class of 1858. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1999.9, B2, F6
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Student Life, Education
Format: Diaries and Journals
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Editor's Note -- Diary of Horatio Collins King, Diary of Horatio Collins King, Fall 1854 (Transcript)
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney writes to J. Mason Campbell and describes his time at Old Point. While his daughter "Alice had a letter from [her niece Phoebe] yesterday," Taney notes that Campbell has not sent any letters recently...
Location: I-SpahrB-1965-19
Subject: Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney writes Deputy Marshall Samuel G. Phillips and asks for information about an individual who asked for an autograph. "Can you tell me any thing about the writer" because, as Taney explains, "I am not...
Location: I-SpahrB-1969-9
Subject: Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
Charles Collins records his thoughts and activities during his latter years as president of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and then as the head of State Female College in Memphis, Tennessee. Collins's entries also include detailed...
Location: MC 2003.6, B2, F2
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Academic Affairs, Dickinson College Administration, Dickinson College Student Life, Education, Military Affairs and Conflict, Personal and Family Life, Religion and Spirituality
Format: Diaries and Journals
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Journal of Charles Collins (Transcript)
Location: MC 2003.6, B2, F2
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Academic Affairs, Dickinson College Administration, Dickinson College Student Life, Education, Military Affairs and Conflict, Personal and Family Life, Religion and Spirituality
Format: Diaries and Journals
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Journal of Charles Collins (Transcript)
The Dickinson College catalog for the 1854-1855 academic year. Through the years, the annual catalog was variously titled "The Bulletin," "Catalogue and Register," "Course Catalog," and similar variants. The catalog typically includes the list of...
Location: Dickinsoniana Periodicals
Subject: Dickinson College Academic Affairs, Dickinson College Administration, Education
Format: Books and Pamphlets
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Catalogue of Dickinson College for the Academical Year, 1854-55
John W. Killinger writes four letters to Eli Slifer discussing candidates for local elections as well as other political matters. "I have secured a place for [Snyder], after such a struggle as exceeded all my past political experiences," as...
Location: MC 2003.4, B6, F15
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letters from John W. Killinger to Eli Slifer
Location: MC 2003.4, B6, F15
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letters from John W. Killinger to Eli Slifer
Israel Gutelius writes sixteen letters to Eli Slifer in which he primarily discusses his political activity and its relation to his paper, a German language newspaper published in New Berlin, Pennsylvania (The Der Demokrat, which is also...
Location: MC 2003.4, B5, F8
Subject: Business and Industry, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letters from Israel Gutelius to Eli Slifer, 1855-59
Horatio Collins King's diary during the spring of his first year at Dickinson College. King is a member of the class of 1858. Transcript included.
Location: MC 1999.9, B2, F6
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Student Life, Education
Format: Diaries and Journals
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Editor's Note -- Diary of Horatio Collins King, Diary of Horatio Collins King, Spring 1855 (Transcript)
James M. McKim, a member of the Class of 1828 and an editor at the Philadelphia based The Anti-Slavery Standard, writes to a subscriber, Mr. Worrell. McKim mentions the major slavery related event of the day as well as the Anglo-French...
Location: I-Friends-2013-6
Subject: International Affairs, Military Affairs and Conflict, Politics and Government, Social Reform and Advocacy
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from James M. McKim to Mr. Worrell
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney writes to attorney J. Mason Campbell and discusses the potential government purchase of the Exchange in Baltimore for public offices. Justice Taney explains why this purchase would be a poor...
Location: I-SpahrB-1964-9
Subject: Economics and Finance, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
Senator William H. Seward writes to Dr. John McClintock and notes that he cannot send a copy of the speech that McClintock had requested. Seward promises to send this speech to McClintock at a later date.
Location: I-BeachW-1974-5
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
James Buchanan, the United States Minister to the United Kingdom, writes four letters to General James Watson Webb regarding Buchanan's experiences living in London and international affairs, including the Ostend Manifesto, the Vienna Conference...
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Business and Industry, Economics and Finance, International Affairs, Military Affairs and Conflict, Politics and Government, Travel and Tourism
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letters from James Buchanan to James Webb
A printed advertisement for Carlisle Springs, which announces June 10, 1855 as the opening date and lists prices for board and horse keeping.
Location: I-SellersC-1961-1
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Land and Real Estate, Travel and Tourism
Format: Broadsides and Posters
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Broadside for Carlisle Springs
James Buchanan writes to Sir Edward Curt and conveys his regrets that he cannot attend Her Majesty's Ball because he has "been unwell for the last two or three days." Buchanan is the Minister to Great Britain during President Franklin Pierce's...
Location: I-Friends-2005-3
Subject: Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
John Gilmore, class of 1856, writes to his sister and discusses his life as a student at Dickinson College. Gilmore discusses the recent weather, his fellow students especially the women who he says "are very fine looking rather handsome,...
Location: I-Original-1855-3
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Student Life, Education, Personal and Family Life
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from John Gilmore to His Sister
Josiah F. Kennedy prepared this oration, entitled “Philanthropy" for the commencement ceremonies held July 12, 1855. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript...
Location: Orations-1855-K35p
Subject: Education, Social Reform and Advocacy
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: "Philanthropy," by Josiah F. Kennedy