1880-1899

Moncure Daniel Conway was born into a southern aristocratic family, but ultimately became one of the nation's leading abolitionists and humanitarians. Conway was a graduate of Dickinson College in 1849 and was trained for the ministry at Harvard Divinity School. The collection consists mainly of correspondence relating to all phases of Conway's career; his student days at Dickinson and at Harvard, his anti-slavery witness, and his pastorate at South Place Chapel in London. His letters reflect his wide acquaintance with leading intellectual and political figures of his day; some of his correspondents include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Dr. Annie Besant.

The journal in this collection has been digitized and is available for reading online (see the link for related entries below).

The collection consists of student notes, correspondence, speeches and commissions related to John A. J. Creswell, Dickinson College class of 1848 and Postmaster General, 1869-1874. The collection also includes an account book kept by Creswell's father, John Creswell.

Albert L. Demaree (1894-1964) graduated from Dickinson College in 1923. This collection contains materials from his service in the U.S. Navy during both World Wars, including certificates, medals, and photographs. The collection also includes materials pertaining to his academic credentials as a graduate of Dickinson College, Dartmouth College, and Columbia University.

John Price Durbin served as president of Dickinson College from 1834 to 1845. From 1842 to 1843 he toured across Europe and the Middle East, and he later published books about his travels. This collection includes a scrapbook that contains an autobiographical memoir as well as items Durbin collected during his travels. There are also several news clippings and engravings.

The collection includes correspondence and manuscripts of William Righter Fisher, a Dickinson alumnus (class of 1870) and professor of modern languages (1874-1876). These papers reflect Fisher's graduate study in Germany, teaching at Dickinson, business and law, and the writings of Mrs. Fisher.

The collection consists of the diaries of Zenanah Gilbert and Dora Gilbert Tompkins; very little else is known about either woman. Gilbert was born in Rome, New York on January 31, 1784; her family ran a guest house in town. Tompkins was born in Knoxville, Illinois, and was a schoolteacher. Gilbert's diary is dated 1805-1809 and describes the typical life of a young woman in the early part of the nineteenth century: household chores, social events, the simple joys of friendship, the depression of being alone. The diary has been written in a code created by Gilbert but has been deciphered and transcribed.

The diary of Tompkins contrasts that of Gilbert, describing her studies as well as her lessons prepared for her students; however, she too enjoyed the simple joys derived from friendship and bike riding. Tompkins mentions the explosion aboard the U.S.S. Maine on February 25, 1898 and is fearful that war is imminent. Miscellaneous items in the collection include a sample of Henry S. Chaffer's handwriting and fragments of the Gilbert family pedigree.

Thomas Miller Griffith (1834-1898) graduated from Dickinson College in 1858 and received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the college in 1891. He was a member of the Philadelphia conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and served Pennsylvania congregations in Carlisle, Chestnut Hill, Churchtown, Cornwall, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Lebanon, Mauch Chunk, and Media. This collection contains correspondence, speeches, sermons and notes, preaching certificates, a Griffith family genealogy, some memorabilia from Griffith's college days, and his Dickinson diplomas.

The collection consists of materials relating to Ethelyn Hardesty's student days at Dickinson College, including a scrapbook, 1899-1902, class and lecture notes, grade reports, and a diary. After graduating in 1902, Hardesty taught high school in Lock Haven, PA. She married Dr. C. Grant Cleaver, Dickinson class of 1894. Both she and her husband were active in alumni activities.

The Hays family papers include correspondence, deeds, and memorabilia of six generations of this prominent Carlisle, Pa. family whose scions include General Ephraim Blaine (1741-1804), Commissary-General in the American Revolution and charter trustee of Dickinson College, and James G. Blaine (1830-1898), presidential candidate and U. S. Senator from Maine. Ephraim Blaine's account books from his war service, his will, deeds, and other papers are included. John Hays (II), great grandson of Ephraim Blaine, was an 1857 graduate of Dickinson College; many others of his family represented here were also alumni. John Hays' own papers reflect his Civil War service, his veterans' activities, literary interests, genealogy, his interest in the history of Carlisle and Cumberland county, and his varied career as lawyer, bank president, founder of the Carlisle Gas and Water Company and of the Carlisle Frog, Switch and Manufacturing Company. Also included is an exchange of correspondence between Mary Abigail Dodge and John Hays concerning her projected biography of James G. Blaine. In addition, there are significant bodies of 19th century correspondence of lawyers James Hamilton and George Metzger.

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.

This collection primarily provides evidence of the personal and professional life of Charles Francis Himes, student, photographer, scientist, teacher, administrator, amateur historian and father. Also found in this collection is evidence of the lives of family members including, most notably, C. F. Himes' wife Mary and her father Joseph A. Murray. Information on Dickinson College is featured prominently throughout this collection through the close association of C. F. Himes with the institution during most of his life. Beyond family and institutional history, this collection offers information on a number of social, political, economic, and historic topics. Some of these broader topics include post-secondary education in the latter half of the nineteenth century, south central Pennsylvania society, the history of photography, and nineteenth century travel.

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 Herman Merrills Johnson collection consists of a scrapbook believed to have been kept by the former college president Herman Merrills Johnson throughout his lifetime and continued by his son Theodore. The collection is housed in one document box. Newspaper clippings from the New York Sentinel, The Emancipator, and Methodist periodicals constitute the bulk of the scrapbook. A number of poetic verses are also included, although none of the poems appear to have been authored by Johnson.

Horatio Collins King was the son of Postmaster General Horatio King and the nephew of Dickinson College President Charles Collins. A graduate of Dickinson College, class of 1858, King was admitted to the bar in 1861 and saw active service in the Civil War from 1862 until 1865. A songwriter, King composed the Dickinson Alma Mater, among other works. The collection contains King's correspondence, diaries, and copies of his songs. Topics in correspondence and diaries include student life, Civil War, and democratic politics.

The journals in this collection are available for reading online (see links for related entries below).

The collection consists of correspondence, genealogical materials, legal materials, printed and scrapbook materials relating to George Burt Lincoln. Correspondents include Abner Doubleday, Horace Greeley, Julia Ward Howe, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Of particular note is a letter from Julia Ward Howe discussing women's study clubs.

Zatae Longsdorff Straw (1866-1955) was the first woman graduate of Dickinson College as a member of the class of 1887; she went on to a successful career as a doctor and politician. The collection of her papers includes correspondence, printed and manuscript materials, scrapbooks and scrapbook materials, photographs, and artifacts. The bulk of the documents in this collection focuses on Zatae's life in Manchester, New Hampshire, both private and professional. There are some items, however, about her life at Dickinson, namely her dress and medal for the Pierson Prize in Oratory, 1886, and her writing desk.

The Elizabeth Anna Low collection contains fine china, glass plate positive photographs and other items donated by Elizabeth Anna Low, class of 1891.

The records contained in the President James Andrew McCauley record group pertain only to his time and affairs as president of Dickinson College. As such, no personal papers or papers pertaining to McCauley’s time as a student are included in this record group. For records concerning McCauley’s interactions with students, please refer to RG 5/1. The McCauley records are arranged into two series: General Business, and Personnel.

The collection consists of genealogical, financial, and scrapbook materials related to the McClintock and Wakeman families. Four ledgers concern research notes on George Washington. Also included in the collection are correspondence related to the Proeschel family. Julius N. Proeschel was secretary to Rev. John McClintock in Paris in the 1860's and a life long friend of Emory McClintock. The correspondence include a few letters by John McClintock and a large number by Emory, showing the personal side of both families.

The records of Metzger Institute (Carlisle, PA) date from 1881 to 1913. They include catalogs and promotional materials, documentation of student grades and deportment, financial records, library circulation records, ephemera, and scrapbooks.

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.

Jacob Simmons Mosher (1834-1883) was a prominent physician and professor of medicine in Albany, New York. Samuel L. Southard (1787-1842) was a lawyer, politician, and cabinet member from New Jersey. These papers contain correspondence and other materials that reflect the professional and personal lives of these two men, as well as genealogical materials regarding their families.

These images were taken from a number of books housed in the Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections.

The sources include:

Thomas Pennant's History of Quadrupeds. Vols. 1 and 2 (1793)
William P. C. Barton's Vegetable Materia Medica of the United States or Medical Botany. Vols. 1 and 2 (1825)
Sir William Jardine's The Natural History of Monkeys (1833)
M. C. Cooke's Our Reptiles: A Plain and Easy Account of the Lizards, Snakes, Newts, Toads, Frogs, and Tortoises Indigenous to Great Britain (1865)
W. B. Tegetmeier's Pigeons: Their Structure, Varieties, Habits, and Management (1868)
Joseph B. Holder's Animate Creation; Popular Edition of “Our Living World,” A Natural History. Vols. 1 - 6 (1898)
J. Delarue's Galerie des Mammiferes. (18??)

The Carlisle and Local Newspaper Collection consists of various newspapers that were produced in south central Pennsylvania, or feature articles which concern local events. The newspapers are arranged alphabetically by title and then chronologically; a description of the contents and donor information for each newspaper are included in this inventory. In order to find newspapers dealing with particular individuals or events, a subject index has been included with the collection.

The Dickinsoniana Newspaper Collection consists of various newspapers acquired by the Library over the years. These items feature articles which concern mainly Dickinson College: happenings on campus, curriculum offerings, and doings of famous alumni such as James Buchanan and Roger Brooke Taney. The newspapers are arranged alphabetically by title and then chronologically; a description of the pertinent article, its location in the paper, and donor information are included in this inventory. In order to find newspapers dealing with particular individuals or events, a subject index has been included with the collection.