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. Note that the Manuscripts and Archives reading room is open late, until 6:45 PM, each Wednesday during Fall term 2023.
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 November 20th). If you need something held for your consultation in the reading room after November 17th, please be sure to make arrangements with a staff member at the service desk.
Army Specialized Training Division, Yale University, Records (Collection Number: RU 89)
Overview: Correspondence, transcripts, photographs, instructional materials, and administrative files documenting the Army Specialized Training Division at Yale, particularly the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) and the Civil Affairs Specialists Training School.
► Accession 19ND-A-172, Box 1, Folder 15: Report, "The Aspect of War and the Japanese Political Situation," June 27, 1945.
Gregory Breit Papers (MS 1465)
Overview: Personal and professional correspondence, diaries, reports, data files, writings, printed material, and topical files relating to Breit's research and teaching career as a physicist.
► Series I, Box 19, Folder 732: Correspondence with Robert F. Oppenheimer, 1934-1963.
William Sloane Coffin, Jr. Papers (Collection Number: MS 1665)
Overview: Correspondence, topical files, writings, personal papers, audio recordings, videotapes, and other materials documenting the life and career of Coffin, who served as Yale's chaplain (1957-1975) and senior minister at the Riverside Church in New York City (1977-1987). The papers document the role Coffin played in social and political movements including civil rights, Vietnam War protests, amnesty for draft resisters, disarmament, and international relief work.
► Series I, Box 4, Folder 107: Correspondence: Lowenstein, Allard, 1964-1971.
► Series II, Box 17, Folders 6-10: Americans for Reappraisal of Far Eastern Policy, 1965-1966.
► Series II, Box 19, Folders 37-46: Clergy and Laity Concerned about Vietnam (CALCAV), 1965-1974.
► Series II, Box 24, Folders 147-154: Operation Crossroads Africa, 1959-1965.
► Series II, Box 29, Folders 239-244: Vietnam Summer, 1967.
Department of Economics, Yale University, Records (Collection Number: RU 422)
Overview: Reports, correspondence, minutes, and memoranda documenting faculty appointments, committees, budgets, and students in the Yale Department of Economics and the Economic Growth Center.
► Accession 1989-A-095, Box 1A, Folders 1-3: Founding of the Economic Growth Center, 1958-1976.
Carolyn Davidson Hill Diary and Family Papers (Collection Number: MS 2122)
Overview: Diary, photographs, and related material document the experiences of Hill, her husband Horace "Hod" Hill, and other workers at the Caltex Oil Terminal outside of Shanghai as the Nationalist and Communist forces engaged in intense fighting during the Battle of Shanghai in 1949.
► Series I, Box 1, Folder 1: Battle for Shanghai diary, original typescript with annotations by Carolyn Davidson Hill, February-August 1949.
Duncan Chaplin Lee and John Lee Papers (Collection Number: MS 2062)
Overview: Duncan Chaplin Lee’s correspondence, writings, photographs, and biographical material document his personal and work life, including his evolving interest in Marxism-Leninism in the 1930s, his military service, and the events that surfaced after he was accused of espionage in 1948. John Lee's correspondence and research materials are related to Duncan Chaplin Lee and the controversy surrounding his life and legacy.
► Series I, Box 4, Folder 7: Writings, "The Elizabeth Bentley Matter," 1983.
Charles A. Lindbergh Papers (Collection Number: MS 325)
Overview: Correspondence; diaries; writings; childhood, school and college materials; financial, legal, and housekeeping records; reports; memoranda; drawings; maps; publications; artifacts; and memorabilia documenting the life and interests of Charles Lindbergh. The papers document his work as a pilot, developer of commercial aviation and rocketry, bio-engineer, air force officer and consultant, pioneer environmentalist, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and public figure.
► Series I, Box 1, Folders 27-29: America First Committee, National Headquarters, January-May 1941.
► Series I, Box 2, Folders 30-38: America First Committee, National Headquarters, June 1941-1942.
► Series I, Box 3, Folder 47-48: America First Committee, Circular letters, 1941 and undated.
► Series V, Box 201, Folder 348: "America and European Wars," radio speech, September 15, 1939.
► Series V, Box 202, Folders 358-359: New Haven speech, October 30, 1940.
► Series V, Box 204, Folders 377-378: "Who are the War Agitators?," Des Moines speech, September 11, 1941.
► Series V, Box 206, Folders 401-406: Various statements regarding the war to the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, the U.S. Congress, and the America First Committee, 1940-1941.
► Series XIV, Box 478, Folders 1-12: Political pamphlets, 1934-1949.
Walter Lippmann Papers (Collection Number: MS 326)
Overview: Correspondence with an international array of scholars, journalists, heads of state, government officials, and friends; manuscripts and drafts of his books, columns, and speeches; diaries and engagement books; and photographs documenting the career of reporter, author, and political commentator Walter Lippmann.
► Series III, Box 52, Folders 104-105: Correspondence with Hamilton Fish Armstrong, 1931-1937.
► Series III, Box 59, Folder 327: Correspondence with McGeorge Bundy, 1948-1971.
John Punnett Peters Papers (Collection Number: MS 897)
Overview: Correspondence, reports, writings, and personal papers primarily documenting Peters' crusade for national health insurance, his support for progressive causes, and a 1950s disloyalty charge leveled against him.
► Series I, Box 4, Folder 122: Loyalty case, correspondence with Arnold Thurman and related materials, 1954-1955.
► Series I, Box 5, Folders 138-140: Loyalty case, scrapbook, 1953-1955.
Harry W. Selden Right Wing Materials Collection (Collection Number: MS 2069)
Overview: Pamphlet, newsletters, and other materials collected by Selden and concerning conservative and right-wing politics and activism from the 1950s to the 1980s. Materials include newsletters, pamphlets, mass mailings, flyers, press clippings and photocopies, correspondence, and other printed and published materials. The material covers a wide range of topics, including the United Nations, disarmament, anti-communism, and Republican and conservative politics, and represents a large number of right-wing organizations.
► Series II, Box 2, Folders 1-3: Disarmament, 1962-1966, and Foreign aid, 1958-1969.
Charles Seymour, President of Yale University, Records (Collection Number: RU 23)
Overview: Correspondence, subject files, reports, memoranda, planning records, minutes of meetings, speeches, and biographical clippings documenting all aspects of Charles Seymour's activities as president of Yale University.
► Series I, Box 88, Folders 760-763: Institute of International Studies: Anglo-American relations in the post-war world, 1942-1944.
► Series II, Box 182, Folders 1-9: War emergency planning records, 1938-1947.
► Series II, Box 183, Folders 10-21: War emergency planning records, 1938-1947.
► Series II, Box 184, Folders 22-32: War emergency planning records, 1938-1947.
► Series II, Box 188, Folders 68-78: War emergency planning records, 1938-1947.
► Series II, Box 190, Folders 90-103: War emergency planning records, 1938-1947.
Henry Ernest Sigerist Papers (Collection Number: MS 788)
Overview: Correspondence, notes, writings, lectures, photographs, and miscellanea documenting the personal life and medical career of Sigerist. His student and teaching activities, writings on the history of medicine, concern for public health policies in the United States and Asia, cold war political interests, and other professional and personal concerns are documented in the papers.
► Series II, Box 31, Folder 1: Fourth United States Civil Service Region, Investigations Division: "Report of Partial Interview and Special Hearing," November 15, 1943.
Henry Lewis Stimson Papers (Collection Number: MS 465)
Overview: Correspondence, letter books, speeches, articles, letters to the editor, statements prepared for presentation to Congress and substantial subject files with clippings, printed matter, reports, memoranda and photographs related to Stimson's various executive-branch offices (as Secretary of War under President Taft, Secretary of State under President Hoover, and as Secretary of War in the cabinets of Presidents Roosevelt and Truman). Official records of Stimson's tenure in these offices are in the National Archives.
► Series II, Box 172, Folders 17-20: Stimson's notes, transcripts, and meeting minutes on end of the War, May-September 1945. Topics include S-1 (atomic bomb) progress and use; postwar rebuilding of Europe; postwar famine in Europe; notes from July 1945 trip to Europe, and emerging tension with the USSR at the Potsdam Conference.
Harry Weinberger Papers (Collection Number: MS 553)
Overview: Correspondence, legal papers, notes, and other materials documenting Weinberger's career as a lawyer who specialized in civil liberties cases and, later in his career, copyright law. Case files include legal briefs, writs, and memoranda prepared by Weinberger and his staff, and similar material prepared by opposing attorneys. Correspondence files include letters with clients and individuals interested in a specific case.
► Original accession, Box 29, Folders 1-10: Correspondence with Emma Goldman, 1920-1939.
Yale-China Association Records (Collection Number: RU 232)
Overview: The records document the activities of the Yale-China Association in mainland China (1901-1951), Hong Kong (1951-present), and the United States (1901-present). They consist of administrative and policy files produced by the home office in New Haven, correspondence and memoranda written by staff members while serving in China, and administrative files and correspondence produced by the New Asia office in Hong Kong.
► Series II, Box 51, Folders 537-540 & 542: United Board for Christian Colleges in China, annual reports and correspondence, 1948-1953, and United China Relief publications, 1942-1950.
► Series III, Box 62, Folders 132-138: Correspondence of Dr. Louise Farnam, 1920-1956. Farnam was one of the first 3 women to graduate from the Yale School of Medicine. Folders include correspondence from Farnam to family members while being evacuated from Changsha during the Communist takeover of the city.
► Series III, Box 92, Folders 673-674: Correspondence of Winifred Rugh, 1945-1951. Correspondence primarily documents Rugh's contacts regarding her husband, who was serving at the Yale-China Mission during the Chinese revolution and under the Communist regime after the Fall of 1949.
► Series III, Box 94, Folder 698: Correspondence of Frances E. Schlosser, 1948. Schlosser was a nurse at the Yale-China Hospital in Changsha. Her correspondence documents the uncertainties and challenges of life there during the fighting in China's Communist revolution.
► Series VIII, Box 149: Three scrapbooks of clippings: Sino-Japanese War, 1944-1945; Yale-in-China activities, 1941-1950; and Chinese political events, 1948-1950.
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