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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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September 2, [1865?]
Clergyman and abolitionist Moncure Daniel Conway (Class of 1849) writes a letter of sympathy to the parent of an unnamed acquaintance recently deceased: "I had just returned from a tour in Russia to hear of the death of your son, who I might almost call my friend..."
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-AsbellY-2002-5
Subject: Personal and Family Life
Time Period: 1860-1879
September 13, 1865
Ned Hastings (Class of 1865) writes to Jane Hastings, his mother, describing his search for housing and receiving his "certificate as 'a member of Harvard Law School". Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-Friends-1975-16
Subject: Education, Personal and Family Life, Travel and Tourism
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Ned Hastings to Jane Hastings
September 13, 1865
Ned Hastings (Class of 1865) writes to his four sisters about his life as a student at Harvard and in Boston. Hastings also compares Harvard's campus to Dickinson's campus as well as comments on how Boston is different from New York and Philadelphia. "Talk about Dickinson's Campus," Hastings says, "Ah tis nothing when compared to Harvard's." Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-Friends-1975-16
Subject: Education, Personal and Family Life, Travel and Tourism
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Ned Hastings to His Sisters
October 10, 1865
Charles C. Carter writes to his mother about his life in Carlisle. While "Carlisle is not as big as our town," Carter explains that "it is a great deal prettier" than Decatur, Illinois. Carter also describes Dickinson College's campus. "The college is a very pretty place [and] the grounds are very large and beautiful you can see the front of the two colleges on the first page of this letter," as Carter observes. In addition, Carter describes his living situation. Carter notes that "I am rooming at [Charles] Chestons, the principal of the Grammer school," and that "our room is a very nice one." Carter also thanks his mother for sending money. Carter attends Dickinson's Preparatory School from 1865 to 1866. Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-Original-1865-1
Subject: Carlisle and Cumberland County, Dickinson College Student Life, Education, Personal and Family Life
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Charles Carter to his Mother
December 26, 1865 - September 28, 1869
Horatio Collins King details his life in post-war New York City society, including his work as a lawyer, his second marriage to Esther A. Howard and honeymoon at Niagara Falls, and a trip to Nebraska aboard the new Union Pacific railroad. Transcript included.
Format: Diaries and Journals
Location: MC 1999.9, B3, F2
Subject: Legal Affairs, Personal and Family Life, Travel and Tourism
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Journal of Horatio Collins King (Transcript)
1866
The Dickinson College catalog for the 1865-1866 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: 1860-1879
View Item:
1866
A speech about the history of Dickinson College written by an anonymous author for a reunion of Dickinson alumni in 1866. Transcript included.
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Location: I-Original-1866-2
Subject: Dickinson College Alumni Affairs, Dickinson College History, Education
Time Period: 1860-1879
January 11, 1866
Associate Supreme Court Justice Robert Cooper Grier writes to Representative Leonard Myers and asks him to send an enclosed Surgeon General's report to his son.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-BeachW-1972-2
Subject: Health and Medicine, Politics and Government
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Robert Grier to Leonard Myers
January 19, 1866
Former President James Buchanan thanks Marvin H. Boves for support of "my much much maligned administration." Buchanan also mentions his new book, Mr. Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion. While "the Book has had an extensive sale," Buchanan complains that "the extravagant price" has "limited its circulation." Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: MC 1998.10, B4, F11
Subject: Literary Pursuits, Politics and Government
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from James Buchanan to Marvin Boves
May 20, 1866
Medal of Honor Recipient Horatio Collins King (Class of 1858) writes to Edward "Ned" Howard in San Francisco just before his marriage to Ned's sister, Esther. King describes his wedding attire and discusses mutual friends and colleagues. Envelope included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-HartC-1981-3
Subject: Personal and Family Life
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Horatio Collins King to Edward Howard
June 1, 1866
English philosopher John Stuart Mill writes Moncure D. Conway and invites him and his wife to appear as a special guest at an upcoming dinner party. Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-Friends-2004-5
Subject: Personal and Family Life
Time Period: 1860-1879
June 25, 1866
Newton Edward Kupp prepared this oration, entitled “The Wrongs of Ireland," for the Junior Prize (Pierson Prize) contest held June 25, 1866. A committee selected the top two orations, based on "the combined merits of Declamation and Composition," and awarded those two students with gold and silver medals for first and second place, respectively. Kupp did not win an award for this oration. Transcript included.
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Location: Orations-1866-K96w
Subject: International Affairs, Military Affairs and Conflict, Politics and Government
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: "The Wrongs of Ireland," by Newton E. Kupp
June 28, 1866
This copy of the printed program for the commencement exercises held on June 28, 1866 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: 1860-1879
View Item: 1866 Commencement Program
June 28, 1866
Charles Baker Rohland receives his Bachelor of Arts Diploma from Dickinson College on June 28, 1866.
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Bachelor of Arts Diploma - Charles Rohland
June 28, 1866
Vincent Bierbower prepared this oration, entitled “The Tendency of Government towards Democracy," for the commencement ceremonies held June 28, 1866. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included.
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Location: OrationsX-1866-B588t
Subject: International Affairs, Politics and Government
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: "The Tendency of Governments toward Democracy," by Vincent Bierbower
June 28, 1866
Wilberforce Wells prepared this oration, entitled “The Principle of Assimilation," for the commencement ceremonies held June 28, 1866. Authoring an original speech was among the graduation requirements for Dickinson College seniors at that time. Transcript included.
Format: Speeches and Sermons
Location: OrationsX-1866-W456p
Subject: Education, Politics and Government
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: "The Principle of Assimilation," by Wilberforce Wells
1867
The Dickinson College catalog for the 1866-1867 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: 1860-1879
View Item:
February 14, 1867
John W. Forney assures Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice John Meredith Read that he both values and respects his opinions. Mr. Forney then requests that Judge Read not make disputes within their political party public so that they may "keep [their] party united for the Presidential election," and "defeat the aspirations of General [Simon] Cameron." Forney is Secretary of the US Senate and editor of the Washington Chronicle. Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-Friends-1972-2
Subject: Politics and Government
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from John W. Forney to John M. Read
March 21, 1867
Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Spencer F. Baird writes to George Lawrence regarding an order for 4 dog blankets. Baird provides specific instructions, such as including "a G... in the middle of each" blanket.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-SpahrB-1966-15
Subject: Personal and Family Life
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Spencer Baird to George Lawrence
June 2, 1867
Spencer Fullerton Baird writes to an unspecified H. Foster about stamp collecting.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: I-BeachW-1977-3
Subject: Personal and Family Life
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from Spencer Baird to H. Foster
June 19, 1867
Former President James Buchanan writes his nephew James Buchanan Henry and asks him to bring several financial documents when he visits Wheatland, Pennsylvania. Besides "my certificate of Virginia Loan for $11,000," Buchanan tells James Henry that he "will find a policy of insurance on the this house...in the Tin Box with the Deed from Mr. Meredith." Transcript included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: MC 1998.10, B4, F13
Subject: Economics and Finance, Personal and Family Life
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letter from James Buchanan to James Henry
June 27, 1867
This copy of the printed program for the commencement exercises held on June 27, 1867 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: 1860-1879
View Item: 1867 Commencement Program
1868
George Durbin Chenoweth receives this diploma as a member of the Belles Lettres Society in 1868.
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Belles Lettres Society Diploma - George Chenoweth
1868
William Potter Davis, a member of the Class of 1868, receives this diploma as a member of the Belles Lettres Society in 1868.
Format: Certificates and Diplomas
Location: Diploma Collection
Subject: Education
Time Period: 1860-1879
January - December 1868
George Lawrence drafts six letters to Spencer Fullerton Baird, the Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, that include a list of avian specimens from Costa Rica and Panama to be sent to Baird, as well as other specimens requested by the author. Transcripts included.
Format: Letters/Correspondence
Location: MC 2000.11, B1, F18
Subject: Science and Technology
Time Period: 1860-1879
View Item: Letters from George Lawrence to Spencer Baird (Drafts)