James Lowell Gibbs collection of African-American documents, 1865-1918.
Collection Number: 4506
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
James Lowell Gibbs collection of African-American documents, 1865-1918.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Collection Number:
4506
Abstract:
Letters from prominent individuals, some of whom were African Americans, and other
related materials.
Creator:
Gibbs, James Lowell
Langston, John Mercer, 1829-1897.
Bemis, Edward Webster, 1860-1930.
Anderson, Charles N.
Still, William, 1821-1902.
Bruce, Wallace, 1844-1914.
Rainey, J. W.
Johnson, Fenton, 1888-1958.
Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963.
Miller, Kelly, 1863-1939.
Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915.
Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel, 1875-1912.
Quanitities:
22 items.
Language:
Collection material in English
Includes a letter and clippings to Judge W.E. Ambler from John Langston of the House
of Representatives, 1890 (copy); letter, photograph, and clipping from W. Willis Menard,
African-American member of the House of Representatives, 1892; letter from Edward
W. Bemis, School of History and Economics, Vanderbilt University, 1892; letter, with
enclosures from Rev. J.C. Price, founder and first president of Livingstone College,
1892; and typed letter from Charles Chesnutt, 1918. Letters to Charles Chesnutt include
a handwritten letter (copy) from W.E.B. DuBois in which he discusses his intention
to found a magazine, 1903; letter from Kelly Miller, 1903; typed letter from Charles
N. Anderson of the Coney Island Jockey Club, 1902; and printed card with an excerpt
from his The Marrow of Tradition, signed by Chesnutt (copy). Other letters include a post card and note from Blanche
K. Bruce, 1871; letter from William Still to Karl Kotz, 1883; note from Wallace Bruce
(U.S. Consul in Edinburgh) to Mr. and Mrs. Angus, 1893; letter from J.W. Rainey, first
African-American Congressman, to the President recommending a Henry Noah for the position
of Collector of Customs in Charleston, 1887.
Also, a letter from Gerard Ralston, Consul General of Liberia to [Stalerman], 1865
(copy); a letter from black poet Fenton Johnson to Stanley K. Faye, 1915. Also, undated
clipping describing a visit to Oberlin of delegates to an NAACP convention in Cleveland;
clipping and autograph of black British composer Samuel Taylor-Coleridge; engraving
and autograph of Booker T. Washington (copy).
HISTORY OF OWNERSHIP
Collection was formed around a core of materials probably originally collected by
Judge W.E. Ambler of Cleveland, who solicited letters or documents from prominent
individuals, some of whom were African Americans. Apparently, at a later date, the
black writer Charles Chesnutt became involved in the project and also solicited such
letters from African-Americans. Eventually, the collection came into the possession
of James Lowell Gibbs, whose children donated it to Cornell University in his memory.
Copied items were returned to donors.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
James Lowell Gibbs Collection of African-American documents, #4506. Division of Rare
and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
Collection was formed around a core of materials probably originally collected by
Judge W.E. Ambler of Cleveland, who solicited letters or documents from prominent
individuals, some of whom were African Americans. Apparently, at a later date, the
black writer Charles Chesnutt became involved in the project and also solicited such
letters from African-Americans. Eventually, the collection came into the possession
of James Lowell Gibbs, whose children donated it to Cornell University in his memory.
Copied items were returned to donors.
Names:
Ambler, W. E.
Chesnutt, Charles Waddell (Date of work: 1858-1932..)
Menard, John Willis, 1838-1893.
Price, Joseph St. Clair, 1888-1975.
Bruce, Blanche Kelso, 1841-1898.
Scott, I. B.
Ralston, Gerard.
Livingstone College
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Oberlin College
Places:
Liberia.
Subjects:
African Americans -- History -- 1877-1964.
African American legislators.
African American authors.
CONTAINER LIST
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
Series I. Documents about Chesnutt
|
|||
Box 1 | 1 |
Typed letter dated Dec. 3, 1902 to Chesnutt from Charles N. Anderson of the Coney
Island Jockey Club (New York City). Letter praises Chesnutt's books.
|
Dec. 3, 1902 |
Box 1 | 2 |
Typed letter dated June 10, 1918 from Chesnutt to W. E. Ambler. Routine business letter
telling Ambler that he can pick up the things he has requested.
|
June 10, 1918 |
Box 1 | 3 |
Printed placard (needs restoration) of an excerpt, "When We Turn to God," from Chesnutt's
In the Marrow of Tradition. Signed by Chesnutt. (Original returned to donor Aug. 10, 1995.)
|
|
Series II. Letters to Ambler
|
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Box 1 | 4 |
Handwritten letter dated Dec. 5, 1890 to Ambler (at Pentwater, Michigan) from John
Langston of the House of Representatives. Enclosure: two newspaper clippings of unknown
date or provenance on Langston. One is titled "Virginia's Colored Representative"
and the other, a profile more of Langston's wife, has no heading.
|
Dec. 5, 1890 |
Box 1 | 5 |
Letter dated Feb. 13, 1892 to Ambler from J. Willis Menard, House of Representatives.
He refers to himself as "the Congressional pioneer of my race" (although he, evidently,
was not the first black congressman).
|
Feb. 13, 1892 |
Box 1 | 6 |
Packet postmarked Feb. 14, 1892 to Ambler from Menard which contains a signed photograph
of him and a newspaper clipping about him as "the First Colored Congressman," from
the Baltimore American. The date of the paper is not clear. Note that this packet contains a pencilled transcription
of item number 5. Is the transcription in Ambler's hand?
|
Feb. 14, 1892 |
Box 1 | 7 |
Handwritten letter dated June 16, 1992 to Ambler from Edward W. Bemis, School of History
and Economics at Vanderbilt. (Bemis apparently was about to become Associate Professor
at the University of Chicago.)
|
June 16, 1992 |
Box 1 | 8 |
Handwritten letter dated July 18, 1892 to Ambler from Rev. J. C. Price, founder and
first president of Livingston College. He promises to send something for the autograph
gallery.
|
July 18, 1892 |
Box 1 | 8a |
Enclosure: Handwritten cover note dated Sept. 22, 1892 saying that he hopes the other
enclosures are what Ambler wants.
|
Sept. 22, 1892 |
Box 1 | 8b |
Enclosure: Handwritten comment on "The Southern Problem." On the same Livingstone
College note-sized letterhead, but without a salutation.
|
|
Box 1 | 8c |
Enclosure: Same letterhead, same date. Handwritten note to a Mr. Farley of the Richmond
Photograph Company, instructing him to send a photograph to Ambler.
|
|
Box 1 | 8d |
Enclosure: Newspaper or magazine clipping of unknown date or provenance, a brief biographical
sketch of Price.
|
|
Series III. Letters to persons other than Ambler or Chesnutt (probably obtained by
Ambler under his early autograph gallery effort)
|
|||
Box 1 | 9 |
Handwritten postal card (no year indicated, but postmarked Mar. 1) from Blanche K.
Bruce to J. D. Dafree, Government Printer. Provides the latter with an address correction.
(Bruce was the first black to be a Senator.) Attached is a picture of Bruce clipped
from a contemporary magazine.)
|
|
Box 1 | 10 |
Handwritten note dated July 20, 1871 (76?) from Blanche K. Bruce to the Superintendent
of Documents instructing the latter to deliver a copy of the medical history of the
(civil) war to a Mr. Collins.
|
July 20, 1871 (76?) |
Box 1 | 11 |
Handwritten letter dated Nov. 7, 1883 from William Still to Karl Knotz in which Still
promises to send the latter a copy of the newly revised edition of Underground Railway.
|
Nov. 7, 1883 |
Box 1 | 12 |
Handwritten note dated July 20, 1893 from Wallace Bruce (U. S. Consul in Edinburgh)
to a Mr. and Mrs. Angus.
|
July 20, 1893 |
Box 1 | 13 |
Handwritten letter dated Dec. 8, 1887 from J. W. Rainey, first black Congressman,
to the President, recommending a Henry Noah for the position of Collector of Customs
in Charleston. Evidently Rainey was ex-Congressman at the time he wrote.
|
Dec. 8, 1887 |
Box 1 | 14 |
Letter dated May 22, 1915 from Fenton Johnson (black poet) to Stanley K. Faye, Literary
Editor of the Chicago Daily News, concerning an appraisal of one of Johnson's books.
|
May 22, 1915 |
Box 1 | 15 |
Handwritten letter of Aug. 31, 1865 (from London) from Gerard Ralston, Consul General
of Liberia to an unverifiable person. (Original returned to donor, Aug. 10, 1995.)
|
Aug. 31, 1865 |
Series IV. Letters to Chesnutt
|
|||
Box 1 | 16 |
Handwritten letter dated July 16, 1903 to Chesnutt from W. E. B. DuBois in which he
discusses his intention to found a magazine (which he later did, the Crisis). (Returned to donor, Aug. 10, 1995).
|
July 16, 1903 |
Box 1 | 17 |
Handwritten letter dated Oct. 5, 1903 to Chesnutt from Kelly Miller.
|
Oct. 5, 1903 |
Box 1 | 18 |
Typed letter, dated Oct. 26, 1903 to Chesnutt from Booker T. Washington (with brief
handwritten postscript).
|
Oct. 26, 1903 |
Series V. Other materials--not addressed to anyone in particular
|
|||
Box 1 | 19 |
Undated clipping from unidentified paper describing visit to Oberlin of delegates
to an NAACP convention in Cleveland.
|
|
Box 1 | 20 |
Undated signature on a card by the black British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
Has attached photograph clipped from a contemporary magazine.
|
|
Box 1 | 21 |
Engraving of a young Booker T. Washington with an attached card with autograph, dated
Mar. 3, 1903 . (Is the date in the same hand as the signature?) (Original returned
to donor, Aug. 10, 1995)
|
Mar. 3, 1903 |
Box 1 | 22 |
Two photographs from contemporary magazines of Bishop I. B. Scott. One of the photos
includes autobiographical information. There also is a sheet with a brief inscription
and autograph.
|