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Collection

American Society for Information Science and Technology Records, 1925-2001 (majority within 1937-2000)

185 linear feet in 188 boxes — Photographs are primarily in boxes 149-156. — Audio material is primarily in boxes 172-187. — Visual material is primarily in boxes 121, 169, 173-187. — Most printed materials have been removed and cataloged separately. Newsletters are scattered throughout the collection.

ASIS&T (or ASIST) is a professional association which creates, organizes, disseminates, and applies knowledge regarding information and its transfer. ASIS&T was preceded by the American Documentation Institute (ADI), which was founded in 1937 with the goal of acquiring and indexing the knowledge of the world. Name changes followed in 1968 (ASIS) and 2000 (ASIS&T). The records consist of correspondence, business and financial documents, minutes, bylaws, memoranda, manuscript and printed journal articles, printed promotional material, microfiche, photographs, and audio and video tapes covering the society's activities (and those of its predecessor organizations) from 1925 to 2001, with the bulk falling between the 1930s through 2000. Organizational business affairs and activities, including the conceptual evolution of its purpose and mission, are well-documented in several series, most notably in the Council Files. These broad areas are also covered in the Committee Files, but in a more detailed fashion, focusing on specific activities or issues. This series also represents the scope of ASIS's liaison committees, ranging from the American Library Association to the Egyptian Society for Information Technology. Documents generated by ASIS-approved regional and student chapters and the organized professional groups within ASIS devoted to special interests (SIGs) are found in the large Chapter Files and Special Interest Groups series. The Publications series includes significant editorial and administrative documents as well as some manuscript submissions for the "Annual review of information science and technology, and the Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science." Special note may be made of the Special Libraries Association Merger Files which chronicle the history of the ultimately unsuccessful merger of ASIS and SLA. The main correspondents found in the collection include: Robert McAfee, Assistant Executive Director; Joshua I. Smith, Executive director (1973-1976); Bonnie Carroll, Councilor and President; Linda Resnik, Executive Director (1985-1988); Samuel Beatty, Executive Director (1976-1984); and John Brokenshire, ASIS Financial Officer.

For the purpose of clarity, the organization shall for the most part be referred to as "ASIS"--the name by which it has been known for most of its history and to which it is mainly referred in the records--throughout this section.

Throughout the record group, the year listed for a folder is often the fiscal year rather than calendar year. This is particularly so for records in the Financial series. The fiscal year for ASIS runs from October through September.

Collection

Benjamin Brown collection, 1817-2000 (majority within 1829-1844)

Approximately 2 linear feet

The Benjamin Brown collection is made up of correspondence, documents, and artifacts related to the showman's career as a circus owner in the early 1800s. Many of the letters relate to his journey to Egypt between 1838 and 1840, as he attempted to procure giraffes for an American menagerie company; to his other travels; and to the contemporary American circus industry.

The Benjamin Brown collection is made up of correspondence, documents, and artifacts related to the showman's career as a circus owner in the early 1800s.

Letters, documents, and printed materials concern Brown's early ventures as a show owner, including correspondence and financial records pertaining to his travels in the Caribbean and to the northeast coast of South America in the early 1830s. These materials document the difficulties of transporting exotic animals by sea, the type of equipment necessary to run a circus, and other logistical issues.

A later group of letters and documents reflects Brown's experiences in Egypt, where he traveled as an agent of the June, Titus, Angevine & Company, attempting to purchase giraffes. Many of these letters are from Stebbins B. June, who was also in Egypt at the time, and several items relate to George R. Gliddon, United States consul in Cairo. Brown's friend Gerard Crane wrote about Brown's business affairs in New York, and frequently reported the increasingly frail health of Brown's father. Benjamin Brown received a letter from P. T. Barnum, who asked him to find a pair of fortune tellers for Barnum's museum. He also inquired about locating a pony small enough to accommodate his performer Tom Thumb (June 29, 1843). While in London, Brown frequently received letters from his sister, Eudocia Brown Noyes, who wrote of the Brown family farm and provided other news from Somers, New York.

The collection includes playbills and broadsides advertising Brown's circus; Brown's marriage license (March 20, 1841); a pencil sketch of Brown; two passports; and three fragments of an Arabic-language scroll, offering protection to the bearer. Later material includes newspaper clippings from 1879, 1880, and 1931, on Brown's life and career, as well as an audio tape of an interview with his grandson, Benjamin Brown.

The following three broadsides are located in Oversize Manuscripts:

Box 2 of the collection includes correspondence, documents, printed items, photographs, and audio recordings related to the history of Benjamin Brown, the circus, and Somers, New York. Principally organized around the career and research of Carrie Brown Rorer (1903-1969), President of the Somers Historical Society and Benjamin F. Brown's great-grandaughter, the material provides insight into public history, memory, and research on the circus. Included is a typed document, "Circus History: Recollections by Benjamin Brown (1877-1962) as told to Carrie Brown Roher, (1903-1969), who was one of his three daughters," which details memories of Benjamin F. Brown and family stories about him.

Benjamin Brown acquired clothing and artifacts, including the following:
  • Two shoes, [1800s]
  • Burnoose, [1800s]
  • Black circus jacket, [1800s]
  • Pipe stem and bowl
  • Two rocks
  • Fragments from an ostrich eggshell
  • Canopic jar lid
  • Two small boxes
  • Ushabti figure
  • Harpocrates figure

The Egyptian figures may date to around 600 BCE.

Collection

Nannie S. Newman papers, 1864-1980 (majority within 1880-1929)

1.5 linear feet

This collection includes correspondence, documents, and more relating to the life and career of Nannie S. Newman, a seamstress, prison matron at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Cañon City, Colorado, and beauty parlor owner in San Francisco, California. Materials relate to incarcerated women and their lives post-imprisonment, women's work, beauty culture, and family relationships. Additional material related to Newman's in-laws provide insight into the oil industry in late-19th and early-20th century America, World War I naval operations, and leisure travel.

The Correspondence Series primarily consists of letters sent to Nannie S. Newman, Ida and Jack Palmer, and later descendants of the family. The bulk of the letters were written from the 1880s to 1920s by family members and close acquaintances, and they demonstrate Newman’s extended support network. Immediate family, including her father and brother, wrote to her from Kentucky, describing the family homestead, tobacco farming, and updates on the community (for example, see Mar. 28, 1864; July 5, 1888; Nov. 6, 1890; Dec. 21, 1890; Nov. 28, 1896; Sept. 6, 1907; Feb. 27, 1910; Nov. 7, 1911; Oct. 9, 1912).

Family relationships are a dominant theme in the collection, centering around Nannie's role as a mother to Ida C. Newman, the marriage of Ida to Jack S. Palmer, Ida's death in 1906, the continuing but sometimes fraught bond between Nannie and Jack in the years following, and Jack's eventual death in 1914. On September 26, 1890, Jack wrote to Ida in the months preceding their marriage and mentioned people questioning the wisdom of him going to Colorado, suggesting Nannie Newman's eventual move there was likely tied to her daughter's doing so. Newman also received letters from various members of the extended Palmer family who were based in Titusville, Pennsylvania.

The letters regularly reflect on Newman's work. For many years she worked as a seamstress while living in Kentucky and upon her move to Colorado around 1890, but she continued making dresses and doing alteration in later years even while employed in other jobs. Correspondence touches on dresses she has produced either in a formal capacity or potentially as favors to friends and family. One letter written on May 14, 1891, from Leadville, Colorado, shares details about dressmaking in that town and expected wages, showing that Newman was thinking about the business and salary options in the area. She also received letters from others working in the field, discussing sewing machines and sewing work (see July 5, 1888; Nov. 28, 1892; Nov. 2, 1907).

In 1892, letters begin to reference Newman's work as a matron at the Colorado State Penitentiary. At least one letter appears to have been written by a former coworker at the penitentiary. Emily E. Dudley wrote from Provo City, Utah, on October 12, 1894, referencing various administrators of the prison and incarcerated women. She also wrote of Mormons in the Provo area, their disinclination to mingle with "Gentiles," plural marriages, and more. Other letters reference prison administrators and "the girls," suggesting they were written by coworkers or others associated with the prison, but additional research is required (see Aug. 3, 1895).

Newman corresponded with friends and family of incarcerated women, and the letters demonstrate the writers' gratitude for the care and interest she showed to the inmates, as well as the support she was providing to the families through written communication and occasional gifts. Several letters were written from members of the Jones family in Medicine Lodge, Kansas, who were left without support when the male head of the household was imprisoned. Newman appears to have sent updates and gifts to the wife, Bessie, and her two children, Bessie and Ethel. Their letters in return depict the realities of families struggling in the aftermath of family members' incarceration (Feb. 23, 1895; Mar. 7, 1895; Apr. 1, 1895; June 19, 1895). Newman wrote a character reference for Annie Watson and Lillie Williams who were seeking a pardon (July 23, 1894), emphasizing their respectfulness, attentiveness as mothers, and that a pardon would release the state from the cost of providing for their children. At least one other writer requested her aid in securing a pardon for a family member, assuring Newman "if they should get out I promise you they never will get into any more trouble they will lead an honest life and be respected again" (Oct. 25, 1896).

Particular interest seems to have been shown to an incarcerated woman named Maggie Montgomery (later Loullard or Larillard), who had been sentenced to ten years in prison for the murder of John Gross in 1891. One letter from Jennie Moss, dated June 24, 1892, includes an enclosure to Maggie Montgomery, advising her directly to "have a nice clean record in every respect when your case goes before the Gov . . . For Gods sake & your own do nothing foolish. I know if anything about love came up there, it would go harder against you then any thing else in the eyes of the public." Moss wrote to Newman again two years later, on November 18, 1894, describing how she came to advocate for Maggie, her pleasure with Newman's continued support, and her thoughts on "fallen women." Moss hinted that she had a possible criminal past, noting that she "lived a life of sin in the eyes of the world, But I've lived it 'openly.' I've been no whining hypocrite. The world has punished me for it." Moss reflected on the negative impact of the public's distrust in women's reformation, women's harsh treatment of each other, her fears for Maggie's future, and plans for providing for her. "You know how hard she will be pressed & how every harmless little event, will be made mountains of sin."

An additional letter written by Annie Sears on December 6, 1894, whose association with the prison is currently unknown, inquired after Maggie shortly after she was released, also mentioning an African American man who had formerly been incarcerated, attempting to contact a man for an inmate, and her good regards to the "poor unfortunate women" still imprisoned. At least two letters were written by Maggie Montgomery/Loullard upon her release and relocation to Detroit, Michigan, describing her travels, her memories of friends from the penitentiary, and her current emotions (postmark December 6, 1894; December 14, 1894). Upon requesting updates of the other incarcerated women, Loullard reflected, "I miss them, and at times when I'm lonesome I long for my little cell but I'm glad I'm free."

A group of letters written by Ellen Smith from Salida, Colorado, suggest a partnership between her and Newman to support recently released women as well as some seamstress collaboration (Sept. 15, 1895; Sept. 27, 1895; Apr. 13, 1897; Apr. 17, 1897; Apr. 22, 1897; May 4, 1897; May 9, 1897; May 18, 1897). Smith had been formerly incarcerated at the penitentiary and appears to have run a boarding house, and provided rooms for several women that Newman was helping transition back into freedom. She wrote, "...if a Decent Girl comes here I have rooms where she can be private and by her self and if a girl comes and wants to go on the row and lead a sporting life I have rooms for her to[o]" (Apr. 13, 1897). Her letters provide details about some of the women, their interpersonal dynamics, and their lives post-incarceration. In one she mentioned "Black Ida," suggesting there may have been African American inmates (Sept. 15, 1895). She also referenced two African American men inquiring after Fay, a recently released woman who periodically stayed with her, and hinted at racial tensions (Apr. 13, 1897). Subsequently she discussed firing her African American cook for being romantically involved with some of the girls, and disparaged Black Americans "as they don't count. There Friendship don't count for nothing. I make my own living and do as near right as I can and I don't care what other People says" (Apr. 17, 1897). Smith hinted at some tension between her and the prison warden, declaring, "I don't know what the Warden has against me Miss Nannie and I don't care either. I am Free now and never intend to get in trouble again" (May 4, 1897). She reiterated the feeling in her next letter, "I don't care anything about that Warden or his oppinon [sic]. I am not coming back to the Pen, so he can not have the pleasure of having any say over me. I intend to do as near write [sic] as I know how and don't care for any ones opinion" (May 9, 1897).

Other letters appear to have been written by women who had completed their sentences. They note their new residences, work, or social attitudes they were facing. Sadie L., for example, relocated to Lyndon, Kentucky, and wrote of her travel by railroad, the heavy demands of her new job, and her lonesomeness. She shared that a fellow female traveler speculated that she looked forlorn because "You love a man and he either is not worthy or he has proven false" (Sept. 27, 1895). One written by Fay Love, referenced by Ellen Smith as one of her boarders, discusses conflict with a man who financed a trip to visit Newman, but she ran out of money in Denver. "Someone sent him word that I was in Denver running all over town so he came after me." She noted that she was working "for Banker Plummer's Wife she knows you" ([18]97).

By 1906, Nannie Newman was living in San Francisco, California, and correspondence to her begins to mention her work with beauty products. People inquired how her business was faring (July 4, 1907), were purchasing or commenting on her beauty products (Sept. 9, 1907; Oct. 14, 1907; May 15, 1913; May 8, 1914; Dec. 28, 1917), and were providing advice and support when her business seemed to be slow or struggling (Feb. 1, 1908; Mar. 22, 1908). H. J. McGhan warned that Newman's "sorrowful appearance" following her daughter's death "has a tendency to drive your customers from you," and mused that the location of Newman's shop was not advantageous to business (Nov. 27, 1906). Correspondence also includes suggestions of others involved in the trade, as indicated by various cosmetics letterheads such as "Fanny Briggs Carr Face Preparations" (Sept. 13, 1906) and "Viavi Co. Manufacturing Pharmaceutical Preparations" (Feb. 20, 1908). Several letters written to Newman by Jennie and Nanie Youngblood reference taking beauty courses, cosmetic recipes, and parlors (Apr. 24, 1911; Dec. 18, 1911; Mar. 12, 1912; Jan. 6, 1913). Jennie Youngblood's letter of April 24, 1911, also references passing near Cañon City, Colorado, and seeing the penitentiary, suggesting Newman's ongoing interest in the institution, as well as a description of visiting a Mormon Tabernacle and discussing polygamy with a female Mormon.

Correspondence also reflects on the life and work of Nannie S. Newman's son-in-law, Jack S. Palmer, particularly after 1910. Letters reference his work in the oil industry, his health and travels, and commentary on his relationship with his siblings and Newman. Several indicate a strained relationship (July 21, 1911; July 12, 1912; Mar. 14, 1914). Newman also corresponded regularly with other members of the Palmer family, who provided details on life in Titusville, Pennsylvania, work in oil fields, and various travels in Alaska, California, and elsewhere.

Later correspondence predominantly relates to Thomas Leon Mitchell, who had married into the Palmer family through his wife, Virginia Palmer Davies. Two letters appear to have been written by Tom early in his life from Pleasantville, Pennsylvania (Mar. 22, 1905; [ca. 1905?]), and nine pieces written between 1915 and 1922 relate to his training and service in the United States Navy, as well as military acquaintances in the Panama Canal Zone. These include several letters describing World War I naval operations in the Caribbean, in particular while he was stationed in Martinique and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, in 1918. From the 1920s to 1950s, correspondence primarily relates to the Mitchell family's travels, in particular to Western Canada, Hawaii, Fiji, and Tahiti.

The Documents Series includes receipts and bills, disbound account book pages, deeds and titles, certificates, medical reports and forms, and more. The bills and receipts provide details about Nannie and Ida's lives in Colorado and California, detailing their spending on fabric and sewing goods, room rent, furniture, piano lessons, and more. The disbound account book pages are undated, but they include details of client details relating to dressmaking for "Cripple Creek Ladies," suggesting they relate to Nannie Newman's seamstress work in Colorado in the 1890s. Several items pertain to Jack S. and Ida Palmer, such as an abstract of title to a lode in the Cripple Creek Mining District (1902), deeds and inventories of furniture, certificates for Jack Palmer's standing in the Titusville Council, and the sale of his interest in a patent to his sister Virginia Altamont Davies (1909). Two items relate to health matters, including an Institut Venu Carnis refund guarantee "for the development of the bust" and a typed Iritis Report.

The Writings Series consists of fourteen undated manuscript copies of poems or song lyrics; a manuscript "Endless Prayer Chain" to be copied and sent to nine people to ensure the writer receives "some great joy;" and a seven-page, unsigned manuscript memoir detailing experiences at a camp at the Balfour Mines in Colorado. The memoir describes the town, religious services, efforts to build a church, and reflections on gold and nature. The writer mused that there was "not a single woman in that first meeting… and I have been trying to figure out whether man when turned loose and put back almost into the wild, is such a bad animal after all – or whether the most of us rough fellows were not thinking of some good woman somewhere else."

The Address Book is a blank notebook distributed circa 1894 as advertising by Knight & Atmore of Denver, Colorado, specializing in "Artistic Tailoring, Superb Clothing, Exquisite Furnishings." While unsigned and undated, it was likely kept by Nannie S. Newman or Ida C. Palmer in the mid-1890s. It contains various addresses of men, women, and businesses primarily in Denver, Colorado, but with a number of Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, and other states. At least one address, that of Maggie Larillard (elsewhere spelled Loullard) in Detroit, Michigan, is of a formerly incarcerated woman.

The Diary was kept by Jack S. Palmer in 1903 while he was living in Cripple Creek, Colorado. It is a pre-printed pocket diary distributed by Gross' Buffet of St. Louis, Missouri. Entries detail correspondence, travel, hours worked and other business information, and finances. Content relating to his personal life includes mentions of Ida Palmer's health and travel, social events, births and deaths. Several mentions of "Muddie" (Nannie S. Newman), primarily indicate her arrivals and departure. In addition to brief diary entries, the volume includes various notes and memoranda, including many addresses and other contact information. Printed maps of Cuba, the United States, and the "East Coast of China and Philippine Is." are present.

The Memoranda Book is a pocket-sized blank book that is undated but appears to have been kept by Jack S. Palmer. It contains notes about names, addresses, financial details, and matters seemingly related to business. Several entries refer to a Palmer camp stool. The Wallet is made of leather, embossed with a floral design and inscribed on the inside " J. S. Palmer Cañon City Colo."

The Printed Items Series includes various newspaper and magazine clippings, printed postcards, greeting cards, announcements, and advertising ephemera. Several items relate to Nannie S. Newman's business operations, including an advertising broadside for Miss S. N. Herold, of Denver, Colorado, suggesting she may have begun her cosmetic work in Colorado. It advertises "Facial Massage. The New Art. Beauty Developed and Preserved. Keeps the Face Youthful, Plump and Rosy. Only Successful Treatment Known for Wrinkles." One of her business cards from San Francisco is present for her business in "Facial Massage and Face Treatments, Shampooing and Scalp Treatments." Five bottle labels for Newman Face Bleach, Newman Egg Shampoo, and Zymocide Hair Tonic and Dandruff Remedy indicate the types of products Newman was selling.

The Photographs Series consists of twelve cabinet card photographic studio portraits of unidentified men, women, and families; four card photographs of various sizes of unidentified men, women, and children; two real photo postcards of a building exterior and a man with his young son; a 1932 handmade Christmas card featuring three photos of a home interior; and thirteen snapshots of men, women, and groups of people, several depict a cattle ranch and the only identified figure is Minnie L. Mitchell who is shown standing with one leg and crutches. Several photos include a pencil inscription of "Newman?" on the verso suggesting they may be of Nannie S. Newman, but further research is required. This series also contains an empty Photomaton envelope from Ocean Park Pier, California.

The Miscellaneous Series includes fifteen mailing addresses written or printed on various scraps of paper, ephemera, and notes ranging in date from 1895 to 1980. The notes include definitions of card game hands; an idea for an "instant cocktail" in a gelatin capsule (May 1, 1980); travel directions; and culinary and medicinal recipes. Ephemeral items include gift and luggage tags and a library card holder.

Collection

Naomi Long Madgett and the Lotus Press Papers, 1937-2004 (majority within 1970-2003)

14 boxes and one oversize box (approximately 16 linear feet) — Photographs in box 14 and scattered throughout the collection (see contents list). — Visual material in box 13. — Audio material in box 13. — Books by Naomi Long Magdett and Lotus Press, and books from Madgett's personal library, have been catalogued separately. Some chapbooks appear in the General Correspondence series, where such material were enclosed with a letter to Madgett. See the Writings and Author Files series for materials from the production of some Lotus Press books.

Naomi Long Madgett is a prominent poet, educator, and editor, recognized for her significant contribution to African-American letters. Since 1972 she has run, single-handedly, Lotus Press, which publishes poetry by African-Americans and others. The collection documents Madgett's career and the operation of Lotus Press, through correspondence, manuscripts (both by Madgett and by authors published by Lotus Press), ephemera, audiovisual material, and photographs.

The Naomi Long Madgett Papers document the prominent career of Ms. Madgett as a poet and a teacher, and her operation of Lotus Press, which Madgett has run single-handedly for more than 30 years. Thus, the collection makes a good source of insight both into Madgett's own writing and aesthetic sensibility, and into the cultures of lyric poetry and African-American letters in the latter decades of the 20th Century. The bulk of the material covers the 1980s, the 1990s, and the first few years of the 21st century, with Madgett's activities in the 1970s being fairly well represented as well. From the correspondence collected here a vivid picture emerges of Madgett's relationships with some of the authors whose work she published--such as James Emanuel and Gayl Jones--as well as with other authors, such as Gwendolyn Brooks. In addition, correspondence and ephemera evidence the growth of Madgett's own reputation, documenting her many professional activities, awards, and honors over the years. While manuscripts by Madgett herself do not comprise a large part of the collection, the fortunes of one of her most famous poems, "Midway," are documented in detail, and an unpublished autobiography ( Pilgrim Journey) provides an extensive synthesis by the author of her own influences and career (a section of which has been published by Gale's Contemporary Authors' Autobiography Series). Finally, the collection provides a close look at the daily operation, from its inception, of a small literary press.

The Naomi Long Madgett papers have been arranged into nine series: Personal, Writings, General Correspondence, Workshops and Events, Author Files, Business Records, Ephemera, Photographs, and Audiovisual. Books published by Lotus Press, as well as other books and periodicals from Madgett's library, have been catalogued individually and are shelved by call number in the Special Collections Library. Within the collection, however, much material is available from the production of certain Lotus Press books; see below Writings and Author Files.

Collection

Stinchfield family papers, 1837-1999

6.25 linear feet

The Stinchfield family papers contain the correspondence, business records, financial and legal documents, photographs, and genealogical papers of the Stinchfield family, founders of a successful lumber business in Michigan in the mid-19th century. The collection also includes materials related to social and family events in Grosse Pointe and Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, through the mid-20th century.

The Stinchfield family papers consist of the correspondence, business records, financial and legal documents, photographs, and genealogical papers of Jacob W. Stinchfield, his wife Maria Hammond Stinchfield, and their descendants. The collection's correspondence and documents are organized by generation, reflecting their original order. The earliest items in the collection (Generation I series) include real estate transactions involving Jacob Stinchfield of Lincoln, Maine, dating from 1837. Beginning in the 1860s, after the family’s move to Michigan, the records include correspondence, accounts, and other financial records relating to the lumber business, begun by Jacob and continued by his son Charles Stinchfield. The materials provide information respecting the management of men in lumber camps, logging in winter weather conditions, methods of transportation, the challenges of rafting logs downriver, and other lumber business operations in volatile market conditions. Jacob and Charles Stinchfield’s partner, and frequent correspondent, was David Whitney, Jr., a wealthy Detroit businessman.

The Stinchfields expanded their company to include railroads (to facilitate their logging operations) and mineral mines. Many documents in the Generation II series, including manuscript and printed maps, concern land development in Michigan, where the family owned a farm in Bloomfield Hills, and in the West, especially Wyoming. The family traveled extensively and corresponded about their experiences in Europe, Asia, and the western United States. The Civil War is represented with small but significant holdings -- among them, a September 21, 1864, note written and signed by President Abraham Lincoln, requesting a fair hearing for a furlough (probably for George Stinchfield), and a February 14, 1863, letter from Vice President Hannibal Hamlin to Jacob W. Stinchfield, assuring him that George McClellan would not be ordered back to the command of the army.

The collection's twentieth-century materials (Generation III and Generation IV series) consist largely of the personal correspondence of Jacob Stinchfield’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The life of Charles Stinchfield, Jr., is well documented, from his schooling at St. John’s Military Institute in Manlius, N.Y., and a brief time at Cornell University, through his roles in the family business, his marriage, and the raising of his three children. Interactions between Charles Stinchfield, Jr., and his father, Charles Stinchfield, a demanding and energetic businessman, are also well represented in the collection. The materials reveal relationships between family members and their servants, and spiritualists' attempts to contact Charles Stinchfield III, who died of appendicitis in 1933 at the age of 15. Later papers provide descriptions of the social life of a wealthy family in the early and mid-20th century, at their residence in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and at their country home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

The Genealogy series, compiled largely by Diane Stinchfield Klingenstein, contains extensive background research on family members, copies of Ira and George Stinchfield’s Civil War records, transcriptions of letters written by Charles Stinchfield on a journey west in 1871 (not otherwise represented in the collection), and a typewritten draft of Diane Klingenstein’s family history, "One bough from a branch of the tree: a Stinchfield variation."

In addition to materials organized by generation, the collection includes photographs, scrapbooks, pastels, realia, and books. Many of the photographs are individual and group portraits (both studio and candid) from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The images include many exterior views of the land and buildings of the family’s country home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (Stonycroft Farm, ca. 1910), and of the Stinchfield residence in Grosse Pointe, Michigan (ca. 1940s). Early 20th-century lumber camps and railroads in Oregon and mining camps in Nevada are represented in photographs and photograph albums. The collection contains photos from trips to Japan (ca. 1907), the American West, and Europe. The collection's scrapbooks include newspaper clippings, invitations, and photographs, mainly concerning the life of Diane Klingenstein in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, during the 1930s and 1940s.

The Stinchfield family papers contain three pastel portraits of unknown subjects. The Realia series includes a bone ring likely made by George Stinchfield when he was a prisoner on Belle Isle, Virginia; a ring bearing Ira Stinchfield's name and regiment, in case he died during the Civil War; hospital identification and five baby pins for Diane W. Stinchfield (1925); a variety of additional Stinchfield family jewelry; and several wooden, crotched rafting pins, apparently from Saginaw, Michigan.

The Books series includes a copy of The Pictorial Bible, given to Charles and Mary from Father Fish, June 12, 1879, and a selection of 9 additional publications, which are cataloged individually. A comprehensive list of these books may be found by searching the University's online catalog for "Klingenstein."

Collection

William Pote family papers, 1769-1997 (majority within 1788-1900)

0.75 linear feet and 4 volumes

This collection contains correspondence, documents, and genealogical information related to Captain William Pote, Jr., of Marblehead, Massachusetts; his sons Greenfield and Samuel; his grandson William; and other descendants. Many items reflect the Pote family's involvement in shipping. One series concerns the family's claim for compensation after French privateers seized a ship's cargo. Later material pertains to efforts of the Dennison and King families to trace their ancestors, who included members of the Pote family.

This collection contains correspondence, documents, and genealogical information related to Captain William Pote, Jr., of Marblehead, Massachusetts; his sons Greenfield and Samuel; his grandson William; and other descendants. Many items reflect the Pote's involvement in shipping, and one series of items concerns the family's claim for compensation after French privateers seized a ship and its cargo. Later material pertains to efforts of the Dennison and King families to trace their ancestors, who included the Pote family.

The Pote Family Correspondence and Documents series (59 items) contains material related to the descendants of William Pote, dated between 1769 and 1853. Two early letters, including one between Samuel Pote and John Poat, the latter an English sea captain (November 11, 1769), and another copied from Jos. Poat about a family marriage in the year 1334 (March 1776), reveal the family's early interest in their genealogy. The series also holds business correspondence, such as 6 letters between Samuel Pote and Jedediah Pebble related to a payment dispute over the sale of the Nero (October 1781-March 1783). The financial documents are records concerning Greenfield Pote, his son William, and Samuel Pote, including agreements, a deed, receipts, and estate papers.

The Dennison Family Correspondence and Documents series (25 items) is comprised of correspondence and documents related to several generations of the Dennison and King families (1747-1997). Among the items are letters exchanged by Samuel and Horatio Dennison, wills for George and Samuel Dennison, and a document granting Samuel Dennison United States citizenship (January 27, 1839).

The French Spoliation Documents series (57 items) consists of 43 letters, 1 postcard, 2 petitions, 4 pages of hand copied records, 2 pages from an account book, 3 newspaper clippings, and 2 government publications, all related to a financial claims resulting from French capture of American merchant ships in the late 18th century. William Pote (1766-1847) owned the Freeport, a ship seized by a French privateer in 1796. The series traces the Pote family's attempts to gain financial compensation from the United States government. Many letters were exchanged between family members and lawyers.

Two printed volumes are in the series:
  • French Spoliations. Report of the Secretary of State... Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1886 (324 pages)
  • Statement Showing the Payments of Awards of the Commissioners Appointed Under the Conventions Between the United States and France, Concluded April 30, 1803, and July 4, 1831, and Between the United States and Spain, Concluded February 22, 1819... Washington: Government Printing Office, 1886.

The Account Books and Daybook series contains 4 items.

William Pote's daybook and account book consists of 196 pages of ledger entries kept between 1788 and 1844, as well as the following loose items: 19 letters (1793-1835), 4 pages from an account book (1776), and 5 additional documents. The financial records concern agricultural products, manufactured goods, labor, personal notes, and seamen's wages, as well as different goods produced and sold by the Pote family, such as fish, eels, clams, corn, potatoes, butter, meat, rum, sugar, molasses, tea, and salt. Roughly 225 people, 19 ships' captains, 10-15 seamen, and 17 unique vessels are covered. In addition to family finances, the daybook documents several trips William Pote made to the West Indies between 1789 and 1790, and to Europe in 1792 and in unidentified years. A group of records dated between March and July 1802 pertain to the Portland Mineral Company's expenses.

William Pote, Jr., kept an account book (145 pages) between 1825 and 1830. The volume also contains laundry records (1849) and Bessie F. H. Jackson's school notes (1889). Pote's records pertain to the sale of food and supplies to 9 schooners (Adeline, Desiah, Galens, Julia Ann, Leopard, Lincoln, Pelican, William H. Crawford, and William), repairs made to the Leopard (p. 48), and cargo carried onboard the Lincoln during an 1830 trip to Honduras and on the Adeline during an journey to Belize and Honduras (p. 140). Pote also noted the names and earnings of 13 men who participated in mackerel fishing expeditions.

A smaller blue volume (38 pages) contains three main sections: William Gardiner's expenses of the Leopard's mackerel fishing voyages (1833-1834); William Pote's farm accounts between 1835 and 1836; and Pote's 2 accounts concerning payments made to his married daughters Eliza and Sophia (undated). Receipts are also laid into the volume.

An anonymous author also maintained an account book and log book for the Allegator (212 pages), which contains records of the ship's mackerel fishing expeditions between May 1828 and November 1831. Log entries record the weather, daily catch size, the ship's location, and other information. The volume also holds additional accounts William Pote (1766-1847) kept between 1831 and 1847, documenting the fishing voyages of the Allegator and Leopard.

The Ephemera series (13 items) is comprised of the following items: 2 negatives of silhouettes of William (1766-1847) and Dorcus Pote (1772-1842); 2 prints made from those negatives; 8 poems composed by Eliza Pote Dennison; and a pamphlet entitled "The Home Formulary: The Latest and Most Valuable Toilet and Miscellaneous Formulas for Home Use," by William Hobury.

Eliza Dennison King, William Pote's granddaughter, compiled the material within the Genealogy series (96 items) while researching the history of the Pote, Dennison, and allied families. The series includes King's correspondence with distant cousins and drafts of family trees.

Finally, the collection includes a ledger-sized Pote Family Notebook of copied letters and documents, plus additional genealogical materials. The volume includes early 1880s copies of three American Revolutionary War era letters by Joseph and Samuel Pote (March 1776-March 6, 1785; 7 pages); copies of French spoliation claim-related documents and records (1793-1832, copied 1882-1885; 9 pages); and genealogical and biographical notes on members of the family (17 pages).

Collection

Women, Gender, and Family collection, 1678-1996 (majority within 1800-1906)

0.5 linear feet

The Women, Gender, and Family collection contains miscellaneous individual items relating to women, gender, and family primarily in America, between 1678 and 1996.

The Women, Gender, and Family collection contains miscellaneous items relating to women, gender, and family between 1678 and 1996. The bulk of the collection ranges in from 1800 to the early 20th century and is geographically focused on the United States of America. Topics include marriage and divorce, childrearing and motherhood, household management, and consensual and coerced sex. Other areas of interest cover women’s various forms of labor, legal restitution for paternity suits and financial support, and education for women and children. While not as heavily represented, multiple items detail women's engagement in politics, slavery and abolition, and women's rights.