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The Stevens family papers consist of correspondence, photographs, and newspaper clippings related to the courtship of Frederic W. Stevens and Edith de Gueldry Twining and to their son Neil's experiences as a medical volunteer in France during the First World War.

The Stevens family papers (1 linear foot) consist of correspondence, photographs, and newspaper clippings related to Frederic W. Stevens and Edith de Gueldry Twining and to their son Neil, who was a medical volunteer in France during the First World War.

The 5 earliest letters in the Correspondence series (around 152 items total), written in November 1884, are addressed to Julia Twining and express condolences about her father's recent death. These are followed by a lengthy series of letters from Frederic W. Stevens to his fiancée, Edith de Gueldry Twining, prior to their wedding. He wrote daily from July to September 1903, giving his future wife updates on his daily life and on mutual friend, and his later letters include a series written in the summer and early autumn of 1906, while Edith lived at her family's summer home in Clinton, New York. These letters focus on domestic affairs and on the state of the couple's household in Morristown, New Jersey.

Neil Campbell Stevens wrote 5 letters from Europe during the World War I era, including 4 concerning his service in French hospitals during the opening and closing months of the war. In a letter postmarked 1914, he related his experiences treating French and German patients while working as a medical aide at the Val-de-Grâce military hospital.

Other items include a letter by a British soldier about military protocol affecting "this Ulster business," which was rioting centered around the Irish Home Rule controversy (April 20, 1914); a letter of thanks from Paul Salembier, a soldier with the 145th French Infantry who received a care package from the Stevens family (March 28, 1916); and a printed letter to Edith Stevens concerning the relocation of her house (November 22, 1928). The series also has 3 letters in French.

The Postcards series (33 items) contains both blank cards and cards with short messages. The majority of the items depict scenes from France, including painted landscapes as well as photographs related to World War I. French general Joseph Joffre is the subject of several photographic postcards, and some show damage done to Senlis, France, and other scenes from the western front.

A large number of Photographs (c. 120, plus 1 photograph album) portray France during World War I, and also family vacations to Niagara Falls and other lakeside destinations. Several of the war-era photographs show members of the ambulance corps, 3 showcase a bullet-strewn Model T, and others present camouflaged military installations, guns, soldiers, and scenery from the western front. Other peacetime material consists of unlabeled portraits, a picture of Barbara Stevens on a tennis court, and a photograph album containing pictures of a family vacation near a lake.

The Identity Papers series consists of 2 items. One is Neil C. Stevens's passport, and the other is his identity paper for the Hôpital Militaire du Val-de-Grâce. Both include photographs of Stevens.

The Newspaper Clippings series contains 53 clippings from The New York Times and The New York Tribune, which document several aspects of World War I. Topics include the outbreak of war, the official declaration of war by the United States, food prices on the home front, submarine attacks on American shipping, and maps of suspected military movements in both the western and eastern fronts. Other items are a political cartoon showing Napoleon chastising the Germans for their plans to invade Eastern Europe, and a report on the return of Neil Stevens from his first three months in France. Two clippings, dated April 18 and 20, 1914, relate to "The Plot Against Ulster" and the controversy over Irish Home Rule.

The Receipts series (3 items) includes a letter concerning the payment of $7 for an article printed in The Independent (March 2, 1895), a receipt for a case of tobacco shipped to Neil Stevens during his time in France (November 21, 1914), and a receipt for a donation from Barbara and Alice Stevens to the Charité Maternelle de Paris (March 5, 1917).

Among the items in the Ephemera series (11 items) are 3 calling cards, 1 invitation, a solicitation for donations to the War Children's Relief Fund, a pamphlet about Yosemite National Park, and a broadside advertising the Morristown Committee Third Liberty Loan.

Notes and Genealogy (7 items) include notes on the history of the Twining family and a typed biographical sketch of Sutherland Douglas Twining (1835-1918) with manuscript notes.

The United States Presidents collection contains materials authored by, signed by, or related to presidents of the United States of America.

The United States Presidents collection consists of single items authored by, signed by, or related to presidents of the United States of America. Including personal correspondence, land deeds, official appointments, and various manuscript and printed documents, the United States Presidents collection touches broadly on presidential politics, social activity, and national affairs from 1784 to 1992.

• A manuscript description of an exchange between a Revolutionary War soldier and Andrew Jackson in 1832, in which Jackson was presented with a candle originally used to commemorate General Charles Cornwallis's defeat, intending that he should now use it to honor the victory at the Battle of New Orleans
• A handwritten eulogy for President Benjamin Henry Harrison, describing his life, career, and character
• Three letters by William Howard Taft, documenting the legal dispute over whiskey production in 1909
• Nine letters written by Herbert Hoover to Wilson W. Mills between 1923 and 1952, relating to Michigan banks, and state and national politics
• Eight Associated Press teletypes reporting on the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963

The United States Presidents collection contains a diverse array of materials that reflects broadly on personal, presidential, and national affairs. See the Detailed Box and Folder Listing for more information about each item.

This collection is made up of 51 items related to Private Victor J. Harles, who served in France with the United States Army's 350th Infantry Regiment during World War I. Harles sent 47 letters and postcards to his parents and sister in Clayton, Missouri, while in training at Fort Dodge, Iowa, and while serving in France and Germany between August 1918 and May 1919. He described his training exercises, aspects of military life, and the towns he visited in France during and after the war. Also included are 2 pre-enlistment letters and 2 pieces of ephemera.

This collection is made up of 51 items related to Private Victor J. Harles, who served in France with the United States Army's 350th Infantry Regiment during World War I. Harles sent 47 letters and postcards to his parents and sister in Clayton, Missouri, while in training at Fort Dodge, Iowa, and while serving in France and Germany between August 1918 and May 1919. He described his training exercises, aspects of military life, and towns he visited in France during and after the war. Also included are 2 pre-enlistment letters and 2 pieces of ephemera.

Harles wrote 13 letters from Camp Dodge, Iowa, between May and August 1918, and 2 while awaiting deployment from Camp Upton, New York, in early August. He discussed many aspects of military life, such as the food; leisure activities; his influenza inoculation (with a small drawing of the mark it left on his arm, June 16, 1918, and June 19, 1918); and training exercises, including rifle practice and anti-gas maneuvers (July 3, 1918). On July 7, 1918, he mentioned having seen three African American men hanged for an assault on a young woman. Once he received his assignment to the signal corps, Harles took classes in telegraphic systems and described the work of the corps. He also encouraged his family to look after his fiancée, "Lil," while he served abroad, and composed 1 letter while en route to Europe.

Victor Harles sent 17 letters, 13 postcards, and 1 Christmas card from France and Germany to his family in Missouri, writing primarily about his surroundings and war news. He reported seeing foreign allied soldiers and German prisoners of war, drew maps for his regiment's signal corps, and commented on the small French villages in which the 350th Regiment stayed during most of its active service. Harles had some knowledge of the French language, attained through his immigrant grandmother, and could interact with the locals. He described local customs and gave his impressions of the town's buildings. Although he arrived in Europe shortly before the armistice, he reported that his unit had participated in battle. His letters also include a brief comparison between occupied Germany and wartime France (May 5, 1919) and signal his intent to break off his engagement (May 17, 1919).

After the war, Harles traveled around France and to Coblenz, Germany, as a theater painter with the 88th Division "Show Troupe." He spent some additional time in Paris before returning to the United States onboard the Pocahontas in late May 1919. Three printed and partially printed postcards provided his family with news of his arrival in France, a new mailing address, and news of his return to the United States on June 1, 1919.

The collection's visual materials include printed postcards, an illustrated Christmas card, and 3 photographs of Victor Harles. Two photographs are enclosed in his letter of February 25, 1919, and the third is attached to his passport, also present in the collection. The postcards depict scenes from Paris, other French cities, and Coblenz, Germany. Additional material includes 2 early letters Victor wrote about life as an artist in Norway, Maine (June 13 and 30, 1916), and a metal identification tag for "M. J. Schreibert." One postcard postmarked 1908 depicts a Papago Native American woman filling a pot.