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
This copy of the printed program for the commencement exercises held on June 26, 1873 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: 1860-1879
View Item: 
1873 Commencement Program
Naturalist Spencer Fullerton Baird (Class of 1843) writes to Dr. Alfred W. Bennett, thanking him for sending a package of notes. Baird acknowledges similar gifts in the introduction of the Annual Report for 1873 and is sending Bennett a copy; he...
Location: I-Friends-1986-5
Subject: Literary Pursuits, Science and Technology
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Spencer Baird to Alfred Bennett
Professor Charles Himes writes Professor William Fisher a "strictly confidential" letter to discuss several sensitive issues related to Dickinson College. Professor Himes mentions the upcoming Board of Trustee meeting and discusses how they might...
Location: MC 2000.12, B1, F3
Subject: Dickinson College Academic Affairs, Dickinson College Administration, Education, Personal and Family Life
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Charles Himes to William Fisher
Professor Charles Himes writes Professor William Fisher to discuss various affairs at Dickinson College. Professor Himes notes an allegation that Fisher might soon be directly involved in, and warns him to be cautious of these allegations. Himes...
Location: MC 2000.12, B1, F3
Subject: Dickinson College Academic Affairs, Dickinson College Administration, Education, Personal and Family Life
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Charles Himes to William Fisher
Professor Charles Francis Himes writes Professor William Fisher to discuss a controversy related to how the Dickinson College Board of Trustees decided to fill faculty positions. Himes also mentions his recent activities and travels as well as...
Location: MC 2000.12, B1, F3
Subject: Dickinson College Academic Affairs, Dickinson College Administration, Education, Personal and Family Life
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Charles Himes to William Fisher
A copy of the monthly pamphlet "Young and Old," no. 46, edited by Horatio Collins King (Class of 1858).
Location: I-PfliegerP-2005-1
Subject: Literary Pursuits
Format: Newspapers and Magazines
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: "Old and Young" No. 46, edited by Horatio Collins King
Horatio King responds to a request for his autograph. The note may have been removed from the bottom of a letter. King, father of Horatio Collins King (Class of 1858), served as Postmaster General and was the first to officially deny the right...
Location: I-Friends-1995-1
Subject: Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
The Dickinson College catalog for the 1874-1875 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: 1860-1879
View Item:
Professor William Henry Allen delivers a speech, "Dickinson College: An Historical Sketch," about the first 90 years of the College's history to the Philadelphia Conference Historical Society. The Dickinsonian publishes Allen's speech...
Location: Dickinsoniana Periodicals
Subject: Dickinson College Academic Affairs, Dickinson College History, Education
Format: Newspapers and Magazines
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: "Dickinson College: An Historical Sketch," by William Allen (Transcript)
Clergyman and abolitionist Moncure Daniel Conway (Class of 1849) bids farewell to newspaper editor St. Clair M'Kelway before leaving Belgium. Conway encloses postage for 100 issues of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, M'Kelway's publication, and...
Location: I-AsbellY-2004-2
Subject: Personal and Family Life, Travel and Tourism
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
John Henderson Ahl receives his Bachelor of Arts Diploma from Dickinson College on June 24, 1875.
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Bachelor of Arts Diploma - John Ahl
Abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher writes to Horatio Collins King about King's apparent change of mind on becoming a publisher for Christian Union. Beecher accepts King's decision regretfully after admonishing that "backward" steps can be...
Location: I-HartC-1981-1
Subject: Literary Pursuits, Religion and Spirituality
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Henry Beecher to Horatio Collins King
Harriet Beecher Stowe writes Horatio C. King to discuss musical compositions and to suggest changes to the Christian Union. "I want the C Union to put the public in early possession of the signal hymns of the [revival?] times," as Stowe...
Location: I-Friends-2011-2
Subject: Religion and Spirituality, Visual and Performing Arts
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Harriet Beecher Stowe to Horatio Collins King
S. Homer Dosh writes to his mother, Mrs. J. H. C. Dosh, about life in Carlisle as a student at Dickinson College. He comments on the Presbyterian church, saying that the ministers are boring and that there "is not fire enough in the meetings." In...
Location: I-BaconJ-1961-1
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Student Life, Education, Personal and Family Life, Religion and Spirituality
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
Naturalist Spencer Fullerton Baird (Class of 1843) writes to James T. Ames about his hopes of having "a good long talk." Baird tried calling at Ames's hotel, but he was not there. Baird gives Ames his hours at the Smithsonian and invites him to...
Location: I-Friends-1983-11
Subject: Personal and Family Life
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Spencer Baird to James Ames
Dickinson College President James McCauley writes Daniel Gilman, President of Johns Hopkins University, in order to recommend S. Homer Dosh, a senior at Dickinson. Dosh is an excellent student and is a "young man of excellent character – is a...
Location: I-BaconJ-2001-1
Subject: Dickinson College Student Life, Education
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from James McCauley to Daniel Gilman
S. Homer Dosh writes his thesis, titled "Some Experiments in Taking Transparencies," about developing photographs while a student at Dickinson College. While using a piece of ground glass behind the negative film is the most satisfactory method,...
Location: I-BaconJ-2001-2
Subject: Dickinson College Student Life, Education, Science and Technology
Format: Essays and Dissertations, Photographs
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: "Some Experiments in Taking Transparencies," by S. Homer Dosh
Professor Joshua Lippincott writes Daniel Gilman, President of Johns Hopkins University, in order to recommend S. Homer Dosh, a senior at Dickinson, for a program at that institution. "[Dosh] has proved himself both industrious and successful" at...
Location: I-BaconJ-2001-1
Subject: Dickinson College Student Life, Education
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
Professor Charles F. Himes writes Daniel Gilman, President of Johns Hopkins University, in order to recommend S. Homer Dosh, a senior at Dickinson, for a program at that institution. Himes discusses Dosh's thesis, "Some Experiments in Taking...
Location: I-BaconJ-2001-1
Subject: Dickinson College Student Life, Education
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Charles Himes to Daniel Gilman
Amy A. Carothers writes to Doctor Cornelius Rea Agnew, thanking Agnew for his donation of five dollars to Carothers' class of Indians. Carothers also notes that Howling Wolf is under Agnew's treatment for an eye condition. Transcript included....
Location: CIS-MC-001, B1, F1
Subject: Education, Native Americans
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Amy A. Carothers to Cornelius R. Agnew
F. Harry Hoffer prepared this oration, entitled “The Statesman and the Politician," for the commencement ceremonies held June 29, 1876. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time...
Location: OrationsX-1876-H698s
Subject: Politics and Government
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: "The Statesman and the Politician," by F. Harry Hoffer
John Webster Henderson prepared this oration, entitled “The Elevation of the Masses ," for the commencement ceremonies held June 29, 1876. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that...
Location: OrationsX-1876-H496e
Subject: Education, Social Reform and Advocacy
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: "The Elevation of the Masses," by John W. Henderson
Naturalist and Smithsonian administrator Spencer Fullerton Baird writes to his colleague Charles Bell. Baird thanks Bell for his "assistance in securing for us the magnificent collection of mining materials in the Canadian exhibit" of the 1876...
Location: I-Friends-1987-3
Subject: Education, Science and Technology
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Spencer Baird to Charles Bell
Naturalist and Smithsonian administrator Spencer Fullerton Baird writes to his colleague Charles Bell at the Canadian Geological Survey, following up on his previous letter. He writes to urge Bell "to press the matter to a decision on the subject...
Location: I-Friends-1987-3
Subject: Education, Science and Technology
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Spencer Baird to Charles Bell
Naturalist and Smithsonian administrator Spencer Fullerton Baird writes to Professor Robert Bell of the Canadian Geological Survey. Baird is anxious to receive geological specimens from someone at the Survey. He also thanks Bell for his "...
Location: I-Friends-1987-3
Subject: Education, Science and Technology
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Spencer Baird to Robert Bell