Search

The Letters, Documents, and Other Manuscripts of the Duane Norman Diedrich Collection is a selection of individual items compiled by manuscript collector Duane Norman Diedrich (1935-2018) and the William L. Clements Library. The content of these materials reflect the life and interests of D. N. Diedrich, most prominently subjects pertinent to intellectual, artistic, and social history, education, speech and elocution, the securing of speakers for events, advice from elders to younger persons, and many others.

The Letters, Documents, and Other Manuscripts of the Duane Norman Diedrich Collection is a selection of individual items compiled by manuscript collector Duane Norman Diedrich (1935-2018) and the William L. Clements Library. The content of these materials reflect the life and interests of D. N. Diedrich, most prominently subjects pertinent to intellectual, artistic, and social history, education, speech and elocution, the securing of speakers for events, advice from elders to younger persons, and many others.

For an item-level description of the collection, with information about each manuscript, please see the box and folder listing below.

Union College graduate Samuel A. Fitch owned this photograph album, which contains portraits of faculty members and fellow students in the Class of 1860, as well as views of campus buildings and grounds.

This class book (34cm x 27cm) belonged to Samuel A. Fitch, who earned a bachelor's degree from Union College in 1860. The volume's cover, bound in a coarse cloth, has a plate with the title "Sam. A. Fitch. 60. Union College" stamped in gold. Each of the 42 pages has an oval coated salted paper print portrait of a faculty member (11 items) or student (31 items), including Union College President Eliphalet Nott, Professor Laurens Perseus Hickok, and student (and future United States ambassador to the Netherlands) Samuel Richard Thayer. With the sole exception of Nott, each man pictured provided an autograph signature; some also wrote brief messages. Professors' photographs often include subjects taught, degree, and the university or school from which he graduated. Students' photographs often include a note about a student's hometown and his career. The remaining ten coated salted paper print photographs (most around 14.5cm x 20cm), comprised of a portrait of Nott and nine views of campus buildings and grounds, are mounted onto large pages (27cm x 35cm), housed separately from the album.