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The Henry Wight Diman collection is made up of correspondence, school essays, personal reading lists, and photographs related to Diman, a graduate of Brown University who later became United States Consul to Portugal.

The Henry Wight Diman collection is made up of correspondence (58 items), a diary, school essays (39 items), personal reading lists (7 items), and photographs (4 items) related to Diman, a graduate of Brown University who later became United States Consul to Portugal.

The Correspondence series (58 items) contains incoming and outgoing letters related to Henry Wight Diman, including many that he wrote and received while attending Brown University in the early 1850s. His most frequent correspondents were his brother, J. Lewis Diman, and his father, Byron Diman, who wrote from Newport and Bristol, Rhode Island. Henry Diman wrote about his college experiences and his leisure activities in Providence. Other correspondence includes letters to Henry Wight Diman from his cousin, Georgia Alden, a letter that he wrote to his father about his travels on the "Great Western Road" (April 21, 1856), and letters that he wrote while living and traveling in Portugal (August 1, 1864) and Morocco (April 10, 1865). In one undated letter, Henry's cousin Fannie commented on her anticipation of the end of the Civil War and her work at a military hospital.

The Diary belonged to Henry Wight Diman's mother, Abby Alden Wight Diman, who wrote daily entries between January 1, 1843-March 27, 1843. She discussed her social life, family news, church attendance, and other daily activities, such as the family's attendance at medical lectures from January 2-4.

The Essays series (39 items) contains academic essays that Henry Wight Diman composed while attending school in Bristol, Rhode Island, and Brown University. The early writings, written in the mid-1840s, are primarily descriptive. Diman's later compositions, particularly those from his collegiate studies, concern literature, Roman history, German history, British history, death, and the plays of William Shakespeare. Diman wrote a satirical piece entitled "The Cow Convention" for the [Bristol?] Phoenix (undated). The series includes a list of essay subjects for the 1854 spring term at Brown University.

The Book Lists series (7 items) concerns suggested readings in science, history, religion, travelogues, and biography. Others concern poetry, drama, and novels. One item is a list of books that Henry Wight Diman owned in 1840.

The Photographs series is comprised of 4 cartes-de-visite taken in Porto, Portugal, in the mid-1860s. Two portray Henry Wight Dimon in 1864 and 1865, and 2 depict Portuguese women.

Lila Moran kept this notebook while a student in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1889. The bulk of the volume consists of compositions relating to British history and vocabulary terms and their definitions. Other content includes two drawings of women, a partial tracing of a hand, and directions for two supernatural rituals or games relating to predicting the future.

Lila Moran kept this notebook while a student in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1889. The bulk of the volume consists of compositions relating to British history and vocabulary terms and their definitions. Other content includes two drawings of women, a partial tracing of a hand, and directions for two supernatural rituals or games relating to predicting the future. They read:

"Start from bed and walk to the door reading 3rd. verse 3rd. chapter amor when you reach the door walk backwards to the bed still reading get in to bed backwards put the book under your pillow wish blow out the lamp without getting out of bed and go to sleep, you must sleep alone you will dream of your future husband"

"Put three saucers in a row put dirt in one a ring in another and watter in the other blindfold any body who wants to try it change the saucers round then lead the person up turn her round three times and stand her before the saucers which must be in a row then let her put her finger in one if she puts it in the one with watter in it she will take a voyag on the watter before a year if she puts it in the one with a ring in it she will be married before a year if she puts it in one with the dirt in it she will die before a year."

Two receipts and one bank notice for Samuel Moran of Norwich, Connecticut, dated between 1883 and 1905, are laid into the volume.