Personal and Family Life

George Edward Reed II (1912-1998) graduated from Dickinson College in 1935. This collection contains journals that document his service during World War II. The journals include diary entries, which start in June 1941 and end in November 1945. The journals also include correspondence, photographs, news clippings, and ephemera.

This collection contains the correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings and other materials of Mary Lamb Riley. The bulk of the collection is correspondence sent to Mary Lamb Riley by her mother, Harriet Collins Lamb, and her daughter, Marjorie Lamb Riley. The collection also contains some Collins/Riley family memorabilia, including an announcement for the birth of Marjorie Lamb Riley.

The Charles Arthur Robinson Collection was donated by Charles L. Robinson on January 14, 2012. The collection is housed in two document boxes, one oversized box, 57 photograph folders, and one small artifact box. The collection contains materials related to Charles A. Robinson ('20) and Reba M. Beam’s ('22) Dickinson College careers as well as their married life. It also includes items belonging to Dickinson graduates Harry Delmar Robinson ('18) and Dorothy Anne Robinson ('45). The Collection is arranged into eight series: Academic Papers, Correspondence, Ephemera, Financial Papers, Photograph Albums, Miscellaneous, Oversized, Photographs, and Artifact.

The Sarah L. Rowe Collection is composed of books authored by Pearl S. Buck, as well as correspondence to and from both Buck and Sarah Rowe. This collection was acquired through a bequest of Rowe. The books are individually cataloged and accessible through the online library catalog; a list of these books is also included as an appendix at the end of this collection register. A number of these books have been signed by Pearl Buck, and some include marginal notes penned by Sarah Rowe.

William Howard Sharp (1891-1958) graduated from Dickinson College in 1913. After graduation he worked as an insurance agent, was admitted to the New Jersey bar, and was elected to the New Jersey State Senate. This collection contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, and photographs that document Sharp's political career and civic involvement.

Spencer Bauman Smith (1911-1984) graduated from Dickinson College in 1934. He then attended the Princeton Theological Seminary and served as pastor of the Camp Hill (PA) Presbyterian Church for 34 years. This collection contains correspondence and memorabilia from his college days.

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.

James Alexander Streams fought for three years with Company A of the Sixty-First Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, which recruited its members from Indiana County. This collection contains 41 letters, most of which were received by Streams while he was fighting with the Union Army. They include information about life on the home front during the war, accounts of fellow soldiers' experiences, and details about the post-war life of members of the Streams family.

Charles Lowe Swift enrolled at Dickinson College in 1900 with the class of 1904, but left in Fall 1903 to become a journalist for the Baltimore Herald.  He taught English at Dickinson's Conway Hall and later at the Hill School in Pottstown, PA before joining Dickinson's English Dept. faculty in 1935.  Swift retired in 1947 and passed away in 1956. This collection consists primarily of correspondence from writer H. L. Mencken and John Charles Thomas, a noted concert baritone who had attended Conway Hall. An article about the letters from Mencken to Swift appeared in the Nov. 1979 alumni magazine.

These images are from the collection of Illinois-born pianist Allen C. Tanner (1898-1987) who lived in France from 1924 to 1934. This collection reflects Tanner’s interactions with members of his family, as well as with musicians, artists, and literary figures, such as Margaret Anderson, Georgette Leblanc, and Pavel Tchelitchew.

Allen C. Tanner (1898-1987) was an Illinois-born pianist. At fifteen he was awarded a scholarship to study music in Chicago. There he met Margaret Anderson, editor of the Little Review. Tanner then moved to New York City where he performed in musical salons and accompanied many musical greats of the era including Marguerite Namara and Marguerite d'Alvarez. In 1922, Tanner left for Berlin, where he met Russian artist Pavel Tchelitchew and the two men became lovers. In 1924 the pair moved to Paris to pursue their artistic careers. There they became friends with literary greats Gertrude Stein and Edith Sitwell. Tanner and Tchelitchew ended their relationship in 1934. Tanner returned to the United States where he coached piano students in concert repertory. In 1967 he released the album Allen Tanner Plays Bach, Debussy, Scriabin, Granados, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, and Steinert. The collection contains correspondence, writings, programs and publicity, news clippings, financial documents, sheet music, sound recordings, photographs, and books. The correspondence comprises the bulk of this collection. In addition to Tanner's correspondence with fellow musicians and cultural figures, Tanner also exchanged letters with authors and publishers who were interested in his memories of individuals such as Tchelitchew, Gertude Stein, Edith Sitwell, and Margaret Anderson.

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University also holds a collection of Allen Tanner papers. 

The Craig Robert Thomas collection is housed in two document boxes, one oversized box, and 893 photograph folders, and is arranged into the following three categories: Correspondence, Photographs, and Miscellaneous. The collection consists almost entirely of the letters and photographs from the numerous celebrities who sent their warm wishes and personal regards to Craig Robert Thomas.

A full index to the personalities represented in this collection can be found after the inventory listing

The Craig Robert Thomas collection consists of letters, autographs, and photographs from prominent celebrities and political and military figures who sent their warm wishes and personal regards to Craig Robert Thomas. This collection is a bequest from Craig's father, Robert; another collection of related material was donated by Robert and Beatrice Thomas in 1959, and contains many more documents and photographs of a similar nature (see link for related entries below). This collection is housed in one document box, one artifact box, and 14 photograph folders, and is arranged into three categories: Correspondence, Photographs, and Artifacts.

This collection documents several members of the Dum family of Carlisle, PA, particularly Annie Spotts Dum, Blanche L. Dum (Class of 1910), George B. Dum, Miriam Dum Frey (Class of 1913), and Ray Spotts Dum (Class of 1908).  The collection is composed primarily of family correspondence from the 1880s through the 1930s. It also includes family memorabilia, such as event programs, school documents, and some documents regarding family history. 

Ruth Agnes Trout graduated from Dickinson College with the class of 1936. In 1983, she and her sister, Helen Elizabeth Trout, established the Trout Gallery at the college in honor of their parents, Brook and Mary Agnes Cook Trout. This collection of papers documents Trout's relationship with the college, primarily as an alumna. It contains correspondence with college officials and financial documents that particularly emphasize her support of the Trout Gallery. This collection also includes a record of her family's history back to approximately the Civil War. Family-related materials include correspondence, genealogical materials, photographs, legal and financial documents, and memorabilia from important life events. Surnames represented in the collection include Brindle, Cook, Dale(s), McCall, Ritter, Stringer, and Trout.

William Van Bergen Tudor (1832-1916) graduated from Dickinson College in 1850 and earned a Doctor of Divinity degree from Centenary College in Louisiana in 1872. He served as a minister in the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as well as in the St. Louis and Virginia Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. This collection contains a number of Tudor's sermons, in addition to a small amount of correspondence and other writings.

The collection consists of the papers of the families of Jacob and Cornelius Vanderbilt, farmers and tax assessors of Newton Township, Cumberland County, Pa. Accounts of the Civil War are included among family correspondence, bills, accounts, and tax lists. Also included in the collection are a Psalm book and a small Civil War photograph.

Paul Walker (1896-1985) was a 1921 graduate of Dickinson College and a longtime contributing editor and columnist with the Harrisburg Patriot-News; his column "Roundabout" appeared for over ten years. This collection is comprised of diaries, commonplace books, newspaper articles and other materials donated by Mrs. Paul R. Walker in 1985.

The collection contains papers of Ferdinand de Wilton Ward (1812-1891) concerning the Central Church in Geneseo, New York, the American Bible Society, and the genealogy of the Ward family. Also in the collection are a journal of Ward's voyage to India in 1837 and a letter book of the Indian mission.

Karl Tinsley Waugh ws born in 1879 in Cawnpore, India. His family moved back to the U.S. when he was a teenager, and he later received degrees from Ohio Wesleyan University and Harvard. He served in teaching and administrative positions at numerous colleges and universities, and he served as president of Dickinson College for just one year - from 1932 to 1933. This collection includes papers of Karl and his wife Emily, as well as their children Charles and Eleanor. There is also some material reflecting the time that Karl's parents served as missionaries in India, including numerous photos. Much of the collection includes family correspondence, financial records, school notes and essays, and photographs.

The Anthony Wayne collection consists of four notebooks kept by Anthony, Charles, and Isaac Wayne. The two notebooks belonging to Anthony Wayne, dated 1762 to 1764, contain notes on mathematics and surveying; the notebook of Charles Wayne also includes notes on mathematics. Isaac Wayne's notebook includes his financial accounts as well as brief journal entries of his activities. Some loose notes are also among Isaac's papers.

Emma Catherine Wentzel graduated from Dickinson College in 1934. This collection contains correspondence received during her high school and college years.

The Willoughby collection is divided into three series and housed in four document boxes. It is comprised mostly of drafts of literary works, contained in the Literary Productions series, as well as correspondence, mostly relating to his librarian work, and miscellaneous other materials. The materials date from 1928 to 1965, with the majority of materials dating from the 1940s and 1950s.

The Ravi D. Goel collection of Herbert Wing, Jr. Papers has been organized into one series, Correspondence, and further divided into subseries by recipient. It contains letters, both handwritten and typewritten, and postcards. The collection documents family relationships, and correspondence mainly consists of family news and updates. When not provided in the letter itself, dates for letters are taken from postmarked envelopes.