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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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May 1849
The third issue of the Collegian, Dickinson College's first monthly literary publication. Includes "Reflections on the Coats-of-Arms of the States," "The Indian Maiden," "Philosophy of Fashion," "Epidemic Sympathy," "Last Verses of Voltaire," "The Germans of Pennsylvania," and "A Leaf from My History."
The Belles Lettres and Union Philosophical Societies created a joint editorial committee to manage this new publication. Although it only produced a handful of editions in 1849, the magazine demonstrates the talent student writers had for turning out a truly amazing publication for the College.
Format: Newspapers and Magazines
Location: Dickinsoniana Periodicals
Subject: Dickinson College Student Life, Literary Pursuits
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Collegian (Vol. 1, No. 3)
June 1849
The fourth issue of the Collegian, Dickinson College's first monthly literary publication. Includes "The Power of Sacrifice," "The 'Me'," "Logan's Revenge," "True Estimate of Self," and "Extract - Prometheus Chained."
The Belles Lettres and Union Philosophical Societies created a joint editorial committee to manage this new publication. Although it only produced a handful of editions in 1849, the magazine demonstrates the talent student writers had for turning out a truly amazing publication for the College.
Format: Newspapers and Magazines
Location: Dickinsoniana Periodicals
Subject: Dickinson College Student Life, Literary Pursuits
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Collegian (Vol. 1, No. 4)
June 15, 1849
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Roger Brooke Taney writes to attorney J. Mason Campbell and discusses various financial issues as well as health concerns. As "I do not know whether I have funds in the Bank to pay the [discount?],” Taney admits to Campbell that “my negligence upon this subject is really inexcusable." In addition, Taney notes that his wife “has improved here wonderfully in spite of the bad weather--and so has Ellen. As to myself--some days I feel as if I was better--but it lasts only for a day or so." Taney also offers advice about a possible cholera outbreak in Maryland’s largest city. While glad to hear "that Baltimore has so far escaped the cholera," Taney tells Campbell to "get into the country as soon as you can."
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-SpahrB-1952-8
Subject: Economics and Finance, Health and Medicine, Personal and Family Life
Time Period: 1840-1859
June 18, 1849
James Buchanan writes to his nephew James Buchanan Henry about the formers efforts to help the latter enroll in the sophomore class at Princeton University. Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: MC 1998.10, B2, F22
Subject: Education, Personal and Family Life
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from James Buchanan to James Henry
July 1849
The final issue of the Collegian, Dickinson College's first monthly literary publication. Includes "Gregory VII," "The Breakers," "A Thunder Storm," "The European Crisis," "The College of the Magii," "American Prejudices," "Recollections," "College Reminiscences," and "Letters from the Rhine."
The Belles Lettres and Union Philosophical Societies created a joint editorial committee to manage this new publication. Although it only produced a handful of editions in 1849, the magazine demonstrates the talent student writers had for turning out a truly amazing publication for the College.
Format: Newspapers and Magazines
Location: Dickinsoniana Periodicals
Subject: Dickinson College Student Life, Literary Pursuits, Politics and Government
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Collegian (Vol. 1, No. 5)
July 4, 1849
James Buchanan writes to his nephew James Buchanan Henry and informs him that Mr. Bolman will supply his pocket money for Princeton. In addition, Buchanan relays news of family and friends, and advises him against using only his initials when signing. Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: MC 1998.10, B2, F22
Subject: Education, Personal and Family Life
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from James Buchanan to James Henry
July 12, 1849
This copy of the printed program for the commencement exercises held on July 12, 1849shows the members of the graduating class and the speeches that they were scheduled to deliver.
Format: Memorabilia and Ephemera
Location: Dickinsoniana Programs
Subject: Dickinson College Events
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: 1849 Commencement Program
July 12, 1849
John H. Watters prepared this oration, entitled “Luther before the Diet of Worms," for the commencement ceremonies held July 12, 1848. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included.
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Location: Orations-1849-W346l
Subject: Religion and Spirituality
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: "Luther before the Diet of Worms," by John H. Watters
July 12, 1849
Alfred Heno Ames receives his Bachelor of Arts Diploma from Dickinson College on July 12, 1849.
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Bachelor of Arts Diploma - Alfred Ames
July 12, 1849
Henry B. Ridgaway prepared this oration, entitled “The American Newspaper Press," for the commencement ceremonies held July 12, 1849. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included.
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Location: Orations-1849-R544a
Subject: Literary Pursuits, Politics and Government
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: "The American Newspaper Press," by Henry B. Ridgaway
July 12, 1849
Richard G. Chaney prepared this oration, entitled “The Angel of Assassination," for the commencement ceremonies held July 12, 1849. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included.
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Location: Orations-1849-C456a
Subject: Politics and Government
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: "The Angel of Assassination," by Richard G. Chaney
August 1, 1849
Smithsonian Institution Secretary Joseph Henry writes to George P. Marsh, requesting favors before Marsh travels to the Ottoman Empire. One wish is that Marsh will write a letter "in favor of our friend Prof. [Spencer Fullerton] Baird [Class of 1840] as a suitable person should one be required to fill the post of naturalist to the Institution." Baird joined the Smithsonian a few months later, becoming its first curator and enacting its function as a museum.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-AsbellY-2005-3
Subject: Education, Travel and Tourism
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from Joseph Henry to George Marsh
1849-50
James Buchanan writes two letters to Charles G. Gonter in which he discusses the condition of the Democratic party, the implications of President Zachary Taylor's death, "the succession of" President Millard Fillmore, and the 1852 Presidential election. "Who shall be selected as standard bearer of the great Democratic party of the Union in 1852 is a question of small importance compared with the success of our time-honored & time tried principles," as Buchanan explains.
Buchanan also offers Gonter some advice on whether he should buy a newspaper in Iowa. "Generally speaking it is but a poor business in [Pennsylvania], so far as profit is concerned, to become the editor of a County newspaper, as Buchanan notes. Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: MC 1998.10
Subject: Business and Industry, Politics and Government
Time Period: 1840-1859
September 25, 1849
Henry Culler, a resident near Jefferson, Frederick County, Maryland, publishes this broadside offering a 400 dollar reward for the return of two run-away slaves; Bill Dorsey and John Ceders, on September 25, 1849.
Format: Broadsides and Posters
Location: I-LoganH-1978-2
Subject: Business and Industry, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Broadside, Reward for Fugitive Slaves by Henry Culler
November 1849 - November 1854
Ulysses Hobbs records his thoughts and activities as a college student at Dickinson College. Hobbs includes lists of his fellow students attending events, and details information about the running of the activities that he was involved in such as the Union Philosophical Society. He discusses sermons that he heard in churches in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and provides a number of small compositions in the later sections.
Format: Diaries and Journals
Location: I-Purchase-1962-1
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Academic Affairs, Dickinson College Events, Dickinson College Organizations, Dickinson College Student Life, Education, Religion and Spirituality
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Journal of Ulysses Hobbs
1850
The Dickinson College catalog for the 1849-1850 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 courses offered, requirements for enrollment, requirements for graduation, tuition and other fees, and campus facilities, college policies, and lists of teaching faculty, college trustees, and various administrators.
Format: Books and Pamphlets
Location: Dickinsoniana Periodicals
Subject: Dickinson College Academic Affairs, Dickinson College Administration, Education
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Catalogue and Register of Dickinson College for the Academical Year, 1849-50
January 2, 1850
James Buchanan writes A. Boyd Hamilton to discuss the details of a loan, Buchanan's decision to sell his house in Lancaster, and to criticize articles in the Pennsylvanian. "One great fault of the Pennsylvanian is its indiscriminate praise of individuals," as Buchanan notes. Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: MC 1998.10, B2, F24
Subject: Business and Industry, Economics and Finance, Land and Real Estate, Personal and Family Life, Politics and Government
Time Period: 1840-1859
1850-1859
Oliver Worden writes five letters to Eli Slifer in which he comments on Slifer's "very interesting and very racy" first chapter of Shades of Public Life as well as offers advice for political speeches. Worden also updates Slifer on affairs regarding the Star and Chronicle paper and shares his opinion of various politicians. Transcripts included.
Format: Legal and Government Documents
Location: MC 2003.4, B11, F11
Subject: Literary Pursuits, Politics and Government
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letters from Oliver Worden to Eli Slifer
March 2, 1850
William Snively writes to J. S. Gordon regarding his experience as a student at Dickinson. Snively, who is preparing for the ‘April Examination,’ describes students' rowdy behavior, including an incident when "some persons tore all the seats out of Prof. Marshall’s lecture room, and made a bonfire of them in the Campus." In addition, Snively mentions his membership in the Union Philosophical Society and encloses a program for the 64th anniversary of the Belles Lettres Society. Snively also shares details about how William Fotzinger died after one of his stirrups broke while "riding out the turnpike." Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence, Memorabilia and Ephemera
Location: I-AsbellY-2002-30
Subject: Dickinson College Organizations, Dickinson College Student Life, Education, Personal and Family Life, Travel and Tourism
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from William Snively to J. S. Gordon
March 5, 1850
James Buchanan thanks Henry C. Carey for sending two pamphlets with information about "the Tariff question." While "they are written with much ability," Buchanan observes that it seems "somewhat paradoxical to contend that the road to free trade is by the way of a protective Tariff." Buchanan also explains that he could not review the pamphlets until he left Washington DC. "It was impossible for me whilst there to bestow upon [the pamphlets] any attention, - as no subject was spoken of or thought of, morning noon or night except the Slavery question," as Buchanan notes. Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: MC 1998.10, B2, F24
Subject: Economics and Finance, International Affairs, Politics and Government
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Letter from James Buchanan to Henry Carey
April 23, 1850
John Thropp Jr. asks Christian Humrich about an old friend and asks him to write to "let me know... how you are all getting along at Old Dickinson." In addition, Thropp describes a trip he took the previous year and notes his intent to visit Carlisle soon. "I want to see old Carlisle once more," as Thropp notes. Humrich drafts a reply to Thropp on the reverse side, in which he discusses student life at Dickinson.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-Original-undated-15
Subject: Dickinson College Student Life, Education, Personal and Family Life, Travel and Tourism
Time Period: 1840-1859
July 11, 1850
Samuel Richard Peale receives his Bachelor of Arts Diploma from Dickinson College on July 11, 1850.
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: Bachelor of Arts Diploma - Samuel Peale
July 11, 1850
William C. Wilson prepared this oration, entitled “What is the True Progress of the Age?," for the commencement ceremonies held July 11, 1850. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included.
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Location: Orations-1850-W754w
Subject: Education, Religion and Spirituality
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: "What is the True Progress of the Age?," by William C. Wilson
July 11, 1850
Samuel Henry Reynolds prepared this oration, entitled “Democratic Passion," for the commencement ceremonies held July 11, 1850. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included.
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Location: Orations-1850-R465d
Subject: Politics and Government
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: "Democratic Passion," by Samuel H. Reynolds
July 11, 1850
This copy of the printed program for the commencement exercises held on July 11, 1850 shows the members of the graduating class and the speeches that they were scheduled to deliver.
Format: Memorabilia and Ephemera
Location: Dickinsoniana Programs
Subject: Dickinson College Events
Time Period: 1840-1859
View Item: 1850 Commencement Program