Found 15 collections related to United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives

William Henry Jackson was an American photographer, artist and writer best known for his landscapes of the American West. He acted as photographer for the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories in 1870-1879, producing some of the earliest photographs of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming wilderness areas. The collection consists of diaries, letters, photographs, sketchbooks, notebooks, and ephemera. Jackson's diaries, diary transcripts and narratives cover his years as a Union soldier, 1862-1863; his travels through Nebraska, Utah, and California, 1866-1867; his years as a photographer in Omaha and as a photographer with the U.S. Geological Surveys, 1870-1878; his world tour with the World's Transportation Commission, 1894-1896; a short period of his work for the Detroit Publishing Company and his later years as an independent photographer and painter, 1925-1942. Jackson's letters to his wife and a few photographs date from the time of the World's Transportation Commission tour, 1894-1896. less

William Walter Frothingham (1830-1885) was a surgeon serving with the 44th Regiment of the New York Volunteers during the U.S. Civil War. He practiced medicine in the Washington Heights section of New York City before and after the war. Collection consists of family correspondence during Frothingham's Civil War service with George B. McClellan's and John Pope's armies in Virginia during the Peninsular Campaign and at the second Battle of Bull Run, describing battles, hardships of camp life, and medical aid on the battlefields and in hospitals; commissions, sick reports, and other military papers; and miscellaneous notes relating to the Frothingham family. Also, a 1935 typewritten volume entitled "Genealogy of the Frothingham Family and Its Connections" by John P. Frothingham. less

Elizabeth L. Van Lew (1818-1900) was an American abolitionist and federal agent during the U.S. Civil War. She aided the Union cause by providing intelligence reports from Richmond, Virginia, where she lived. She helped Union prisoners escape from their captors and also was involved in the "underground railroad". After the war, President Grant appointed her Postmaster of Richmond; then in 1877 she went to Washington, D.C. to work in the U.S. Post Office Department. She returned to Richmond during the Cleveland administration and spent her remaining years working for women's rights. Collection consists of correspondence, Van Lew's personal narrative, notes, photographs, artifacts, and clippings. Correspondence, 1862-1901, contains letters to and from Van Lew as well as letters relating to her activities. Bulk of the collection is her personal narrative of the war in Richmond. Also, notes on her ancestry and spying; photographs; artifacts, such as rings and studs carved by federal prisoners and given to her in gratitude for her services in their behalf; the cipher she used to send messages to Union commanders; and newsclippings concerning her death. less

John Shaw Billings (1838-1913) was an American surgeon, hospital planner and librarian. He served as a U.S. Army surgeon and was responsible for creating the nation's foremost medical library, now the National Library of Medicine. He served as special advisor to the trustees of Johns Hopkins Hospital in planning and organizing that institution. After retiring from the Army in 1895, Billings was named the first Director of the New York Public Library. He helped create the NYPL by combining the Astor and Lenox Libraries into a public research library and building a branch library system for three of the boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx). He also planned and oversaw the construction of the Central Library building which was opened to the public in 1911. Collection consists of correspondence and papers relating to Billings' work with the United States Army Medical Department, 1861-1895; Johns Hopkins Hospital (especially building plans), 1873-1890; National Board of Health, 1879-1881; the 10th and 11th censuses, University of Pennsylvania Hospital and Laboratory of Hygiene, 1890-1895; The New York Public Library, 1895-1913; Committee of Fifty on the Liquor Problem, 1893-1904; Carnegie Institute, 1902-1913; National Academy of Science, 1875-1911; and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Other papers are family correspondence, including letters from Billings to his wife regarding his Civil War experiences; texts of lectures and addresses; notes; and miscellaneous papers. Also, scrapbooks about the Civil War, National Board of Health and health issues, 1861-1903; diaries; photographs and travel notebooks; and material about infectious diseases and epidemics. Correspondents include Alexander Agassiz, Alexander G. Bell, John Bigelow, Henry P. Bowditch, Henry C. Burdett, John L. Cadwalader, Andrew Carnegie, Melvil Dewey, Robert Fletcher, Francis Galton, Daniel C. Gilman, Silas W. Mitchell, William Pepper, Stephen Smith, and George Sternberg. less

The primary subject of this collection of family papers is the life of Edwin Booth, one of the most famous American actors of the 19th century. However, it has not been titled the Edwin Booth Papers because the bulk of the collection would more accurately be described as the papers of his daughter and biographer, Edwina Booth Grossman. There is also a small amount of material on other family members including Booth's father, the actor Junius Brutus Booth, his brother, the notorious John Wilkes Booth, and other relatives with less impact on history. less

Members of the Crane family included Colonel Alexander Baxter Crane (1833-1930), soldier, lawyer and businessman of Indiana and New York; his wife, Laura Mitchell Crane; and their children, Elizabeth, Caroline, Helen, Aurelia, Laura, and Alexander. Colonel Crane served in the U.S. Army during the Civil War, had a prominent law practice in New York City, and was active in Westchester County, N.Y., affairs. Collection consists of correspondence, journals, military records, legal papers, accounts, writings, photographs, and printed matter. Materials include correspondence of Colonel Crane and his wife with their children, relatives and friends; Civil War records of Alexander Crane; and miscellaneous legal papers, accounts and writings. Also correspondence, 1877-1933, of Elizabeth Crane and drafts of her literary works; correspondence, 1819-1852, of the Mitchell and Green families; correspondence, 1847-1884, 1889, of Caroline Crane Marsh and her husband, George P. Marsh, scholar and United States Minister to Italy; photographs and news clippings pertaining to the Crane family; and diaries, 1861-1864, and 1878-1879, of Caroline Marsh and others. less