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In the 1870s and 1880s Charles H. Lund of Nashua, New Hampshire, compiled this collection of letters, documents, essays and other writings (including a manuscript newspaper), artwork, and miscellaneous printed items relating to his education, social life, and participation in the Nashua City Guards. The collection is accompanied by the original album in which Lund housed them.

In the 1870s and 1880s Charles H. Lund of Nashua, New Hampshire, compiled this collection of letters, documents, essays and other writings, artwork, and miscellaneous printed items relating to his education, social life, and participation in the Nashua City Guards. The collection is accompanied by the original file which housed them.

The Correspondence Series consists of eleven letters, ten of which are addressed to Charles H. Lund. The bulk appear to have been written by former schoolmates and commented in some fashion on education. One was likely written by one of his teachers. A handful of others relate to politics, railroads, agriculture, and the Nashua City Guards.

The Documents Series consists of miscellaneous items relating to Lund's education, including report cards for Charles and Marcus Lund, a reward of merit, and notices for readings from the Taming of the Shrew. The series also contains a receipt for payment to the Nashua City Guards, a document relating to payment for use of the patented "Richardson's Centennial Gate," and a handmade advertisement for Charles Lund's "Crosses Cut to Order."

The Writings Series includes school essays and compositions on topics like American history and the causes of the American Revolution, the seasons, the last day of school, railroads, "A Kiss in School," secret societies, Edmund Burke, and others. Lund annotated one essay from 1870 with the message, "First Composition and a poor one too." The verso of an undated essay entitled "Railroads" includes a manuscript drawing of a school desk along with diagrams of how the interior was organized. A manuscript newspaper, "The Star," was dated March 17, 1887, and proclaimed itself "The leading grange paper in Nashua. Is adapted to the farmer, the mechanic, the business and professional man." It features poetry, jokes and riddles, advertisements, and articles relating to farming, religion, cities, manhood, and other topics. Two poems are also present in the series.

The Original Artwork Series includes calling cards for Charles H. Lund and several of his acquaintances, featuring manuscript drawings of birds, flora, and calligraphic embellishments. Other drawings in the series include pencil illustrations of flowers, a bicycle, a train engine, dogs, Charles Lund's initials done in colored pencil with graphic elements added, and a pencil and colored pencil rendering of the Lund homestead, showing the main residence and outbuildings.

The Printed Materials Series consists of programs, two catalogs for the Nashua Literary Institution, a printed calling card for Lund, a menu for the Profile House, and a newspaper clipping of a government bond.

The album in which the collection was originally housed is located at the back of the box.

This collection is made up of correspondence and photographs related to James Shearer's life in South America in 1921 and 1922 as an agent for the Bay City Industrial Works. Shearer's letters to his family concern his trip from New York to Chile; daily life and customs in Santiago, Chile, and other locations; and visits to Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil.

This collection is made up of correspondence and photographs related to James Shearer's travels and life in South America in 1921 and 1922.

The Correspondence series (67 items) includes letters that Shearer wrote to his family in Bay City, Michigan, between June 27, 1921, and September 3, 1922. Shearer's first letters concern his voyage from New York City to Santiago, Chile, by way of the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, Ecuador, and Peru; he described his trip through the canal and other aspects of the locales he passed or visited. The bulk of the correspondence pertains to Shearer's life in Santiago, Chile, which he discussed in his frequent letters to his mother and, less often, his sister-in-law Winifred. He wrote about local customs and language, his work and the economy, historical influences on Chilean culture, and other aspects of his daily life. Shearer traveled in Peru and Bolivia in February and March 1922 and briefly returned to Santiago before traveling by railroad to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in June 1922. He compared Buenos Aires to Santiago and mentioned his attempts to locate potential clients for the Industrial Works of Bay City, Michigan. In the fall of 1922, he also wrote from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Writings series (2 items) includes an undated description of the collection's contents written by Shearer, with brief notes about his work at the time, and a typed article regarding earthquakes in Coquimbo and La Serena, Chile.

The Photographs and Postcards series (77 items) consists of 40 photographic prints, 28 picture postcards, and 9 photographic negatives; the negatives correspond to a group of prints. The photographs, which include Shearer's captions, show scenes from Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, including views of the Coquimbo harbor, views of railroad lines running through mountains, overhead views of cities and surrounding scenery, and street-level pictures of buildings and street scenes. Some images feature groups of people and, in one instance, a flock of llamas; 3 show a well-dressed man holding open a very large, manuscript musical book. The series includes a portrait of James Shearer from his South American trip and a formal portrait of Shearer taken in 1956. The postcards, many of which have captions by Shearer, feature pictures of Santiago landmarks; Chilean railroads; the town of Sewell, Chile; Chilean women; a mountain monument in Mendoza, Argentina; La Paz, Bolivia; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Some of the postcards and photographs have numbers written on the back that appear to correspond to Shearer's letters.