Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America
Archives related to: Straight, Willard Dickerman, 1880-1918
| title | Willard Dickerman Straight papers, 1825-1925. | repository | Cornell University Libraries |
| description | Microfilmed papers of Willard D. Straight consist of personal and official correspondence, both original and typescript copies, and reports chiefly concerning his association with the Chinese Imperial Customs Service (1902-04). Documented is his employment with Reuters during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05); with the United States Department of State in Korea and Manchuria (1904-09); and with Edward H. Harriman, Jacob H. Schiff, and J.P. Morgan and Company (1904-09). Letters and reports address in particular the interest of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft in the Harriman-Schiff-Morgan proposals for investments in China from 1907-09; and concern Japanese diplomacy and finance, 1909-10; Straight's interest in THE NEW REPUBLIC and the American Asiatic Association; his role in the "preparedness" campaign in New York through the Mayor's Committee on National Defense (1915-17); his connection with the American International Corporation (1916-18); his conduct of joint purchasing operations for the French and British governments through J.P. Morgan (1915-16); his efforts to establish the merit system in the State Department career service; and his administration of the War Risk Insurance Bureau and the establishment of its headquarters overseas (1918). In addition, there are many letters to his wife, with comments on the Red Cross, U.S. Army promotional policies, Pershing as a commander, and the American Expeditionary Force. The collection also includes his diaries (1901-18), with transcriptions, reports, and other papers about the development of railroads, waterways, and coal mines in China and Manchuria, currency reform in China, the proposed international loan to China (1909-11), and the Far Eastern situation in general. There are also books of clippings on the Russo-Japanese War and other events in the Orient, and on the World War I work of Mr. and Mrs. Straight. Also many letters of condolence, memorials and memoirs written at the time of Straight's death, and correspondence and reports about the building of Willard Straight Hall at Cornell (1919-22). Non-microfilmed papers include documents on his parents and genealogy; Bordentown Military Institute; military training; Cornell; George Collingwood Bennett, Straight's valet, including photographs and memorabilia; tributes, publications, drafts, inventories and seances following Straight's death; correspondence; and a diary. Also included are photographs and photograph albums, postcards, and commercial views; published and unpublished watercolors; pen, pencil, and crayon sketches; and charcoals by Willard Straight. This includes student work such as architectural drawings, watercolors, life drawings, and sketches for the CORNELLIAN and the WIDOW, two Cornell newspapers. Also, artwork collected by the Straights, certificates, and maps. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE Willard D. Straight was born on January 31, 1880 in Oswego, New York. His father died in 1886; the next year Straight and his family moved to Japan. In 1890 his mother died and he returned to Oswego. He attended Bordentown Military Institute in New Jersey, 1896-97, and majored in architecture at Cornell University, 1897-1901. In November 1901 he was appointed to a position with the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service, and from 1902-04 he was personal secretary to Sir Robert Hart, Inspector General of the Service in Peking. Also in 1902, he illustrated VERSE AND WORSE for J.O.P. Bland. In June 1905 he was appointed Vice-Consul under Edwin V. Morgan in Seoul, Korea. In June 1906 he was appointed Consul-General at Mukden, Manchuria. In 1909 he illustrated HOUSEBOAT DAYS IN CHINA, again for Bland. That June he left the consular service to represent J.P. Morgan and Company and other banks and investors, the American Group. In 1911, he married Dorothy Payne Whitney. They left China in 1912 when revolution broke out, returning to the United States. Straight continued to encourage investment in China through the American Asiatic Association, of which he became president in 1913. In 1914, the Straights began publication of THE NEW REPUBLIC. In 1915 Straight resigned from J.P. Morgan and was appointed third vice president of American International Corporation. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917. In 1918, while arranging for the arrival of the American Peace Mission in Paris, Straight contracted pneumonia, and he died on December 1, 1918. Cite As: Willard Dickerman Straight Papers, #1260. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library. Location: Kroch Library Rare & Manuscripts (Non-Circulating) Call Number: Archives 1260 |
| extent | 28 cubic ft. |
| formats | Microfilm Correspondence Photographs Diaries Manuscript |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record link | http://resolver.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/EADresolver?id=RMM01260 |
| record source | http://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=4439565&DB=local |
| finding aid | Published guide to microfilm: THE WILLARD STRAIGHT PAPERS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY. Folder-level index to microfilm. Unpublished guide to non-microfilmed documents. Unpublished guide to artwork: VISUAL DOCUMENTATION IN THE WILLARD D. STRAIGHT PAPERS. |
| updated | 03/16/2023 10:30:01 |
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| title | Peirce-Nichols Family of Salem, Massachusetts Papers, 1702-1967 | repository | Peabody Essex Museum |
| description | This collection contains the papers of five generations of the Peirce and Nichols families of Salem, Massachusetts. It has been organized into seven series. Series I. First Generation Papers contain the business and personal papers of Jerathmiel Peirce and Ichabod Nichols and twelve other family members. Subseries A. Jerathmiel Peirce (1747-1827) includes business and personal letters, an inventory of his house, and a membership certificate. Subseries B. Ichabod Nichols (1749-1839) includes shipping papers, accounts, correspondence, a journal, and his will. Subseries C. Other Family Members contains the papers of various people of this generation who may be related to the Nichols family. Series II. Second Generation Papers is comprised of business and personal papers, journals, obituaries, accounts, deeds, receipts, and genealogical research of 16 members of the Peirce and Nichols families, as well as nine other relatives. It has been organized into 17 subseries, one for each family member plus a subseries for other relatives. Series III. Third Generation Papers contain the business and personal papers of 19 family members and has been organized into 19 subseries, one for each family member. Series IV. Fourth Generation Papers is comprised of correspondence, legal documents, genealogy, diaries, tintypes, and other papers of 14 family members. It has been organized into 14 subseries, one for each family member. Series V. Fifth Generation Papers contain the papers of three family members. Subseries A. George Nichols (1878-1953) contains a letter, the transcript of a diary of a voyage to Hawaii in 1900-1901, and a report to a yacht club. Subseries B. John W. T. Nichols (1884-1977) contains a letter and the transcript of a diary of a voyage to Hawaii in 1900-1901. Subseries C. Susan N. Pulsifer (1892-1967) contains material about the Nichols family reunion in 1967 and an article about Susan’s brother’s trip to Hawaii in 1900-1901. Series VI. Other Papers and Ephemera contain correspondence and other documents which did not belong to any family member in any of the series above. It contains correspondence, written pieces, account books, receipts, printed items, and ephemera. |
| extent | 17.5 linear ft. |
| access | Contact repository for further details. |
| record link | http://www.pem.org/library/finding_aids/MSS468_PeirceNicholsFamilyPapers.pdf |
| record source | http://www.pem.org/library/finding_aids/MSS468_PeirceNicholsFamilyPapers.pdf |
| finding aid | Available on the repository's website. |
| acquisition information | This material was acquired from a variety of sources. In 1892, John H. Nichols donated “a quantity of old papers” to the Essex Institute and in 1893 he donated “350 deeds and old papers.” The papers of Benjamin R. Nichols were a gift ofMary P. Nichols on October 2, 1911. The papers of Benjamin W. Nichols were a gift from Charles P. Bowditch on October 26, 1911. The sale of stock by John H. Nichols in 1849 was a gift of Mrs. Wallis H. Ropes on February 12, 1917. The John Nichols letter and accounts book (formerly Fam. Mss. 665) and the greeting cards to Charlotte and Augusta Nichols were a gift of the estate of Charlotte Nichols on December 2, 1938. Many documents were donated by Mrs. Harold T. Pulsifer on May 13, 1949. The George Nichols letter to John Nichols dated 1796 was a gift of Mrs. David Pulsifer on July 6, 1949. The Stephen Nichols estate inventory dated 1847 was a gift of M. A. Battis on September 27, 1949 (acc# 20,843). Money due the estate of Joseph Southwick, dated 1791, and “Meeting minutes of the Women’s Aid Association for the Relief of Colored Freemen” held May 14, 1864, were a gift of Mrs. Frank C. Munroe on August 22, 1952. Some material was donated by George Nichols and some material was donated by Susan N. Pulsifer in 1966 and 1971 (previously arranged as Fam. Mss. 668 and 669). The Nichols Family Bible was donated by William I. Nichols on May 20, 1969. Five letters of Harry Peirce Nichols were a gift from Mrs. Clarence Hardenbergh on February 15, 1974. Martha Nichols’ passport, two photographs dated 1881, and a 1921 postcard were a gift of John Sarnacki on January 30, 2000 (acc# 2002.002). This collection includes material previously arranged as MH 170, MSS 98, Acc 87009, Fam. Mss. 660, Fam. Mss. 661, Fam. Mss. 662, Fam. Mss. 663, Fam. Mss. 664, Fam. Mss. 665, and Fam. Mss. 737. |
| updated | 06/26/2015 13:58:03 |
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