Manuscripts and Archives is a reading room that is organizationally part of the Beinecke Library, but located in the wing of Sterling Memorial Library (SML) that is adjacent to Wall St. across from the Yale Law School. Manuscripts and Archives houses the records of Yale University, Yale publications, and personal and organizational records relating to American diplomacy, medicine and health policy, and LGBTQ life and culture among other subjects. The entrance to the reference center and reading room is just opposite the SML Lecture Hall and Memorabilia Room. You’ll find the Manuscripts and Archives reading room hours here. If you haven’t created a special collections account yet, you can save yourself some time on your first visit by taking a few minutes to do that here (follow the link in the “Register Online” box and use the “Login with NetID” option) before you visit. One account is good for all special collections reading rooms, including Beinecke and Manuscripts and Archives. Remember to bring your Yale ID with you the first time you come in if you haven’t already used one of the Yale Library’s special collections.
Archives at Yale is a finding aid database for over 8,000 collections held in Yale’s special collections. A finding aid, if you aren’t familiar with them, is a guide to an archival collection and is an essential tool for a researcher using archival collections. It provides overview information about the creator(s) and contents of a collection, and a container-by-container inventory of what you can expect to find in the collection. Your first step for this assignment will be to decide which collection(s) is of interest to you and explore the contents of the box(es) on hold for your use. In the list of collections below there is a link for each box on hold for this assignment that will take you to the spot in the finding aid where the contents listed are described. Some boxes list specific folders that you should focus on, so pay attention to that information.
You don’t need to request anything for this assignment.
All the boxes listed below are on hold for HIST 128/AMST 228/GLBL 201 – Professor Engerman in the Manuscripts and Archives reading room. Just review the list of collections and boxes below, and make a note of the collection number(s) and box number(s) you want to explore. When you arrive in the reading room, let the staff at the service counter know which collections/boxes you’d like to see, one box at a time.
You can bring a laptop, camera, and pencil with you into the reading room, but your other belongings will have to be secured in lockers in the Manuscripts and Archives reference center. If you need notetaking paper while in the reading room, we will supply it (we also have a large supply of pencils). We encourage you to take photographs of documents that pique your interest for this assignment, so you can consult those documents even when the reading room isn't open. Be sure to carefully record the collection number, box number, and folder number for documents you photograph; you'll need this critical information in order to cite documents you reference or quote from. See the "Citing Your Sources" tab on this guide for assistance, if needed.
If you have questions or need assistance with getting started with this assignment, you can drop by our reference center any time we’re open – there is always a staff member on duty to assist you. You can also email Bill Landis (bill.landis@yale.edu) or Josh Cochran (joshua.cochran@yale.edu) for help.
Important Note: Collection materials on hold for this assignment will be reshelved the beginning of the week following the due date for your paper (that is, on October 2nd). If you need something held for your consultation in the reading room after September 29th, please be sure to make arrangements with a staff member at the service desk.
Elisha Spencer Benton Diary (Collection Number MS 2026)
Overview: The diary of Elisha Spencer Benton, which he kept during his service with the U.S. Army Seventh Artillery in Puerto Rico during the Spanish American War. Entries concern his unit's movements, the supply situation, and measures to fight the spread of yellow fever among the soldiers. Benton also includes observations on the countryside, settlements, and people of Puerto Rico. Much of the journal concerns the period after the short American military campaign in Puerto Rico ended August 15, 1898.
► Box 1, Folder 1: Diary, circa 1892-1899.
Bidwell Family Papers (Collection Number: MS 79)
Overview: Correspondence, writings, legal and financial documents, and other papers of six generations of Bidwell family members. Principal figures include Barnabas Bidwell (1763-1833), lawyer and politician in Massachusetts and Kingston, Ontario; and his son, Marshall Spring Bidwell (1799-1872), lawyer and politician in Kingston and New York City.
► Series II, Box 3, Folder 131: Correspondence from Samuel Wells Williams to Marshall Spring Bidwell re: life in China and visits to Japan with Commodore Matthew Perry’s expedition, 1853-1854.
Bingham Family Papers (Collection Number: MS 81)
Overview: Correspondence, diaries, journals, manuscripts, notebooks, sermons, writings, two books with manuscript notes, legal and financial records, photographs, printed material and miscellanea documenting the personal lives and professional careers of four generations of the Bingham family. The papers include material documenting the missionary work (1820-1840) in the Sandwich Islands (now Hawai’i) of Hiram Bingham I (1789-1869) and Sybil Moseley Bingham (1792-1848).
► Series I, Box 1, entire box: Correspondence and writings of Hiram and Sybil Bingham, 1819-1860.
► Series I, Box 2, entire box: Writings of Hiram and Sybil Bingham and printed matter relating to the Binghams and the Sandwich Islands mission, 1811-1895.
Louise Bryant Papers (Collection Number: MS 1840)
Overview: Correspondence, writings, books, visual artwork, photographs, printed matter, and other material created and collected during the last twenty years of her life by Louise Bryant (1885-1936), an American journalist and writer best known for her Marxist and anarchist beliefs and her essays on radical political and feminist themes. Bryant worked as a foreign correspondent in Russia during the revolution, and in Turkey, France, Latvia, and Uzbekistan between 1917 and 1923. Perhaps her best-known work, Six Red Months in Russia, was first published in 1918.
► Series I, Box 4, Folders 50-51 & Folder 56: Correspondence with the International News Service, 1921-1923, and with Moses Koenigsberg of the King Features Syndicate, 1920-1928.
► Series I, Box 6, Folder 83 & Folders 87-91: Correspondence with the Philadelphia Public Ledger, 1918, and with John Reed (Bryant’s second husband), 1910-1921.
► Series I, Box 7, Folder 104: Letter from Leon Trotsky, 1923.
► Series II, Box 14, entire box: International News Service cables, 1920-1923, and research materials and drafts of writings relating to Russia and the revolution, circa 1921-1923.
► Series II, Box 15, Folders 98-100: Journals and notebooks, Russia, October 1917-January 1918.
► Series II, Box 16, Folders 101-104: Journals and notebooks, Russia, August-December 1920.
William C Bullitt Papers (Collection Number: MS 112)
Overview: Correspondence, government documents, writings, speeches, photographs, research files, printed matter, motion picture film, and other material which document the career of William C. Bullitt (1891-1967) as a diplomat and journalist, and his personal and family life. Bullitt served as Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1933-1936), Ambassador to France (1936-1940), Ambassador-at-large (1941-1942), Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy (1942-1943), and two stints as Special Assistant to the Secretary of State (1917-1919 and 1933).
► Series II, Box 107, Folders 329-334: Public and diplomatic papers: World War I and Paris Peace Conference: Russia mission, 1917-1919.
► Series II, Box 108, Folders 335-344: Public and diplomatic papers: World War I and Paris Peace Conference: Russia mission, 1918-1919.
Edward M. House Papers (Collection Number: MS 466)
Overview: Correspondence, diaries, memoirs, writings, photographs, memorabilia, and other papers documenting Edward M. House's personal life and political career. House, a Texas politician who became an early backer of Woodrow Wilson’s presidential bid in 1912, served as Wilson's chief advisor on European politics and diplomacy during World War II (1914-1918) and at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. The diary provides detailed political observations (1912-1924). Materials relating to the Paris Peace Conference include minutes of meetings of the Supreme Council and memoranda from various countries presenting claims.
► Series III, Box 185, Folders 250-254 & Folders 255-265: Cables from the American Embassy in Paris to the Secretary of State, February-October 1918, and notes on conversations with world leaders conducted by House, 1915-1917.
► Series III, Box 186, Folders 16-46: Conventions, correspondence, memoranda, and drafts relating to the Armistice ending the hostilities between the Allies and Germany and preparations for peace treaty negotiations, 1918-1919.
► Series III, Box 187, Folders 60-76: U.S. Department of State, Daily Report on the Central Powers, October 31-November 21, 1918.
► Series II, Box 296, Folders 5-6 and Folders 7-8: Diary, typescript, Volume 3, 1915; and diary, typescript, volume 4, December 26, 1915-1916.
► Series II, Box 297, Folders 1-2, Folders 3-4, and Folder 5: Diary, typescript, Volume 5, 1917; diary, typescript, Volume 6, 1918; and diary, typescript, Volume 7, January-June 1919.
Walter Lippmann Papers (Collection Number: MS 326)
Overview: Walter Lippmann was born in New York City on September 23, 1889. Following graduation from Harvard College in 1910, he began his career as a reporter, author, and political commentator. Lippman died in 1974. The papers consist of correspondence with an international array of scholars, journalists, heads of state, government officials, and friends. Also included are manuscripts and drafts of his books, columns, and speeches. In addition there are diaries and engagement books, photographs of Walter Lippmann with family and friends, requests to speak or write, honors, and film and audio tapes.
► Series III, Box 52, Folders 104-105: Correspondence between Lippmann and Hamilton Fish Armstrong, the editor of Foreign Affairs journal, 1931-1937.
Yale-China Association Records (Collection Number: RU 232)
Overview: Records document the Yale-China Association's activities in mainland China (1901-1951), Hong Kong (1951 to the present), and the United States (1901 to the present). Records include administrative and policy records produced by the Association's home office in New Haven; correspondence and memoranda written by Association staff members while serving in China; and administrative files and correspondence produced by the Association's office at New Asia College in Hong Kong. The bulk of the records created by the various components of Yale-China during the mainland period of its history (Yali Union Middle School, The Yale-in-China College of Arts and Sciences, and the Hsiang-Ya hospital, medical school, and nursing school) were apparently destroyed during the Second World War.
► Series III, Box 65, Folders 181-191: Brownell Gage (Yali College Dean, Yale Foreign Missionary Society Treasurer, and Trustee), correspondence 1903-1919.
► Series III, Box 66, Folders 204-205: Nina Gage (Nursing staff), correspondence, 1904-1922.
► Series III, Box 86, Folders 567-570: Edward Bliss Reed (Executive Secretary and Trustee), correspondence, 1900-1904.
► Series VIII, Box 151, Folders 1-3: Published articles regarding Yale-in-China, 1901-1919.
► Series IX, Box 155, Folders 21-22: Campus life: classes, daily routine, and study activity, 1901-1951.
► Series XIV, Box 197, Folders 114-116: Publicity brochures, 1901-1977 (focus on the early years).
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