Scope and arrangement
The Albert Shaw Papers contain correspondence (professional and personal); files concerning the books, articles, and speeches Shaw authored, administrative records and articles from the Review of Reviews; and many records of Shaw's personal life, including financial records, scrapbooks, photographs, ephemera, and his notes on the Shaw family's genealogy, as well as Shaw's personal memoirs. Materials range in date from 1827 to 1953, with the majority of the records falling between 1890 and 1947.
The Albert Shaw papers are arranged in thirteen series:
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1827-195395 boxes 45 volumes
This series, comprised of both incoming and outgoing correspondence, reflects Shaw's professional activities (primarily his work with the Review of Reviews), as well as his personal life and the lives of several of his family members. Correspondence is generally arranged either chronologically or by topic (variations occur from one subseries to another), and since Shaw did not keep a sharp distinction between his professional and personal activities, there is a general intermingling of both types of the correspondence.
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1893-194721 boxes
This series contains files on organizations that Shaw was either a member of, or which he followed the activities of. Types of materials in the files for these organizations include correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, and printed information about the organization.
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1849-194841 boxes
The Books series contains Shaw notes, research, manuscripts, and other files for the numerous topics he researched and likely intended to publish on. Titles including Icaria, Photographic History of the Civil War, and International Bearings on American Policy were published, while many of the other manuscripts found in this series were not.
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1887-193814 boxes
The Articles and Speeches series contains transcripts and copies of articles authored by Shaw, as well as address he presented. Shaw's preparatory notes and research accompany some of these files.
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1841-194815 boxes
The Personal Records series is comprised of four subseries (Diaries, Family, Academics, and General) which document Shaw's life outside of his professional interests, including his academic career and his efforts to record his family's history and his own memoirs.
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1892-193013 boxes
The Review of Reviews and Golden Book series contains records on the administrative oversight and operation of the publications, as well as copies of some of the articles printed within.
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1883-19309 boxes
The scrapbooks in this series are comprised primarily of clippings, chronicling Shaw's professional activities, as well as selected areas of his research interests (state and municipal government, foreign affairs, and education).
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1898-19479 boxes
This series contains records from Shaw's activities in the stock and bonds market, as well as tax, automotive, and real estate records. Among the real estate records are numerous blueprints for the design (and later renovations) of Shaw's primary residence.
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1909-19307 boxes
The Sterling Farms records contain correspondence and other operating files from Shaw's farm in Virginia.
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6 boxes
Ephemera in this series is comprised of menus, tickets, calling cards, programs, and other assorted souvenirs from Shaw's travels throughout Europe and America.
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8 boxes
This series is comprised of a variety of types of printed matter related to topics of Shaw's personal and professional interests.
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1864-1939 (bulk 1913-193523 boxes
This series is comprised of two groups of photographs; Publication Files and Family.
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1 box
The maps in this series depict primarily European and American cities.