Official Programme of the Niagara Falls Park Opening Celebration, 1885

Niagara Falls State Park is the oldest state park in the United States. It is also referred to as the State Reservation (this title appears on page 2 of the program). Frederick Olmstead was the landscape architect of the park and he also designed Central Park in New York City. In July 1885, the state of New York passed laws to issue bonds for the establishment of the Niagara Reservation. This park is a National Historic Landmark and covers over 400 acres. Close to 140 acres of that land is under water. In attendance at the opening were: the Governor of the State of New York, the officers of the State, members of the Niagara Falls Association of New York City and civil and military personnel. The commissioners at the time of the opening were: William Dorsheimer, Andrew H. Green, Martin B. Anderson, T. Hampden Robb and Sherman S. Rogers.

La genèse de The Souls of Black Folk : le chapitre initial de la vie intellectuelle de W. E. B. Du Bois, 1885-1903

En 1903, paraît le magnum opus de William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk. Ce dernier écrit cet ouvrage en poursuivant trois objectifs. Primo, il souhaite démontrer que Booker T. Washington et ses supporters font fausse route en défendant l’idée selon laquelle les Afro-américains pourront accéder à un avenir meilleur en échangeant leurs droits politiques contre des opportunités économiques. Secundo, Du Bois cherche à faire la lumière sur les talents distinctifs et les grandes réalisations de son peuple afin de convaincre les Blancs que les Noirs ne leur sont pas biologiquement ou moralement inférieurs et, par conséquent, que l’égalité raciale doit être totale et immédiate. Tertio, il veut persuader les Américains de devenir de meilleurs citoyens, en renouant avec les idéaux de leur République et en vivant en fonction de principes moraux élevés. L’écriture de Souls marque un tournant majeur dans la vie intellectuelle de son auteur, car il renonce à cette époque au discours conciliatoire qu’il avait tenu dans sa jeunesse. Les idées qu’il défend dans son livre ont germé quelques années plus tôt, au contact de certains de ses professeurs de l’Université de Berlin, d’Alexander Crummell et surtout, en effectuant une étude de terrain sur la communauté noire de Philadelphie. Du Bois réalise alors l’ampleur des injustices dont sont victimes les Noirs et contre lesquelles la bonne volonté et le travail acharné ne peuvent rien.

The nature-printed British sea-weeds : a history, accompanied by figures and dissections of the Algae of the British Isles / By William Grosart Johnstone and Alexander Croall. Nature printed by Henry Bradbury.

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The nature-printed British sea-weeds : a history, accompanied by figures and dissections of the Algae of the British Isles / By William Grosart Johnstone and Alexander Croall. Nature printed by Henry Bradbury.

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C. Tax bills, 1785-1805

This subseries contains ten printed tax bills filled out in manuscript for William Croswell between 1785 and 1805.

D. Bank note, 1805

One bank note for the Bank of England, dated March 29, 1805.

Student mathematical notebook of William Tudor, 1795

Notebook containing the handwritten mathematical exercises of William Tudor, kept in 1795 while he was an undergraduate at Harvard College. The volume contains rules, definitions, problems, drawings, and tables on geometry, trigonometry, surveying, calculating distances, sailing, and dialing. Some of the exercises are illustrated with hand-drawn diagrams. The Menusration of Heights and Distances section contains color drawings of buildings and trees, and some have been altered with notes in different hands and with humorous additions. For instance, a drawing of a tower was drawn into a figure titled “Egyptian Mummy.” Some of the images are identified: “A rude sketch of the Middlesex canal,” Genl Warren’s monument on Bunker Hill,” “Noddles Island,” “the fields of Elysium,” and the “Roxbury Canal.” The annotations and additional drawings are unattributed.

Letters from William Tudor to his family,

Five letters written from St. Pierre, Martinique, include updates on Tudor’s attempts to secure exclusive commercial rights to import ice to the island, as well as his ideas for storing ice and methods of storing cargo onboard a ship.

Letters from William Tudor to his family,

Four letters written from St. Thomas, St. Croix, and Santo Domingo, in which he indicates his petitions for privilege to import ice have been successful except at St. Croix with the Danish government. He also decribes the architecture and cultural diversity of St. Thomas, which had been rebuilt after a fire in 1805.

Letters from William Tudor to his brother, Frederic Tudor,

Three letters written while Tudor was in the West Indies attempting to gain exclusive rights to import ice.

Letters from Penelope Sedgwick to William Tudor,

Three letters in which Sedgwick writes about education, the arts, and various social interactions.

Letters from Degen, Purviance & Co. to William Tudor,

Three letters attached to price circulars.

Letters from Strobel & Martini to William Tudor,

Four letters regarding market demand for items like sugar and coffee, and prices current. Two letters include duplicate correspondence from Gothard Martini and John A. Morton, whose firm Martini joined after Strobel & Martini apparently dissolved.

Letters from Thomas Dickason & Co. to William Tudor,

Two letters regarding bills outstanding.

Letters from Thomas & Henry Lynch & Co. to William Tudor,

Four letters regarding a shipment of fish, and market for flour and wheat. Includes one duplicate letter, and two bills of lading.