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FINDING AIDS

The Special Collections Library has begun mounting selected finding aids on the Web, representing only a small portion of the processed collections. These Special Collections Library finding aids were tagged in Encoded Archival Description (SGML) and exported in XML-compliant HTML versions.

This site lists the collections alphabetically; a subject list is also available.

Access the University of Texas at Austin's WATCH File (Writers, Artists, and Their Copyright Holders) for information about literary copyrights.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

~A~

~B~

~C~

~D~

~E~

~F~

~G~

~H~

  • Charlotte Hanes Harding Autographs Collection, 1744-1928 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Engraved portraits, letters, and autographic documents by notable American and French politicians, presidents, and military leaders.

  • Harmony Society Collection, 1838-1935 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    The collection includes letters, photographs, and newspaper and magazine clippings, mainly about the utopian society after its move to Economy, Pennsylvania.

  • Heinz K. and Bridget A. Henisch Collection of the History of Photography, 1842-1995 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Includes virtually every type of photograph ever made: albumen prints, ambrotypes, cabinet cards, cartes-de-visite, daguerreotypes (going back to 1842), gelatin silver prints, ivorytypes, opalotypes, panotypes (on leather), prints on canvas and silk, salted paper prints, stereo cards, and tintypes.

  • Joan Huber Papers, 1961-2001 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Publications, research and reference files, and correspondence pertaining to the administration of professional sociological associations (American Sociological Association and Sociologists for Women in Society), general correspondence, and personal academic files.

    • ~I~

  • George C. Izenour Architectural Drawings, 1960-1978 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Drafts, final drawings, blueprints, and sepia prints on paper, mylar, and architectural vellum for theaters and performing arts centers designed by Izenour for communities and universities in Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Venezuela.

  • Izenour Drawings of the Theater, 1938-1988 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Architectural drawings for three of Izenour's books, and exhibition drawings and negatives.

  • George C. Izenour WPA Projection Slides Charcoal Drawings, 1932-1938 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Original drawings by George Izenour, mostly charcoal, but also including pen and ink, crayon, and watercolor, to be used as projection slides for theatrical backdrops for popular and classical plays produced at the WPA Federal Theatre Project in Los Angeles, California.

    • ~Return to top~

    ~J~

  • A.P. Jacobs Carpentry and Sawmill Account Book (Bradford County, Pa.), 1839-1855 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Account book from Bradford County, Pennsylvania, containing a list of names, transactions, and account balances of customers for carpentry and sawmill services.

  • T.C.H. Jacobs Literary Papers, 1907-1974 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Documents the writing life of a twentieth-century pulp fiction writer. The collection includes Jacobs' childhood writings, authorial commonplace books, research clippings, typescripts, publications, an authorial record book, and correspondence.

  • Gertrude Jekyll Wall and Water Gardens Manuscripts and Photographs, 1903-1913 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Galleys, page proofs, and proofs for illustrations for Gertrude Jekyll's book.

  • T. R. Johns Papers, 1853-1948 (bulk 1919-1940) [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Documents the life and career of the General Manager and Vice-President of the Bethlehem Mines/Industrial Collieries Corporation, the mining subsidiary of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.

    • ~K~

  • Leon Russell Kneebone Papers, 1941-1987 [PSUA]
    Printable PDF document
    Documents Dr. Kneebone's academic development through the doctorate and his service to the Pennsylvania State University, the mushroom industry of Pennsylvania and afar, and the scientific investigation of the growth and development of mushrooms.

    • ~L~

  • Esther C. Lawton Papers, 1935-1996 (bulk 1971-1978) [PSUA]
    Printable PDF document
    U.S. Treasury Department employee and George Washington University professor active in women's rights and the Equal Rights Amendment.

  • Library Journal First Novelists Collection, 1957-1969 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Essays by more than 900 authors discussing their first novels, accompanied by biographical questionnaires, correspondence, photographs, and printed matter.

  • Jean Lipman-Blumen Collection on Jessie Bernard, 1939-2001 (bulk 1979-2001) [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Overview of the career of the pioneering feminist scholar Jessie Bernard.

  • Christopher Logue Papers, 1939-1993 (bulk 1950-1993) [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Manuscripts of British poet Logue's essays, plays, poems, short stories, and screenplays; reviews of his books; newspaper clippings; poster-poems; research files; videocassettes of his film performances; and voluminous correspondence (1949-1993).

  • Lumber Rafting Oral History Collection, 1873-1975 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Documents the timber industry in North Central Pennsylvania, focusing on the work patterns of the lumber industry, including detailed descriptions of building and maneuvering log rafts on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River to the end of the run in Williamsport or Lock Haven.

    • ~M~

  • Alma Mahler's Birthday Book, 1949 [RB&M]
    Bound volume contains seventy-seven letters from significant representatives of European and American cultural and intellectual history honoring the musician.

  • Julia L. Maietta Papers, 1937-1981 (bulk 1964-1980) [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Documents the career of Julia Luigia Maietta as a labor organizer, union representative, Democratic Party activist and candidate in Pennsylvania, and national labor and women's advocate.

  • George Maloney, Jr.'s Coopers' Union Local 15 Collection, 1938-1961 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Chronicles the mindset and actions of leading labor union members who represented Coopers' International Union of North America, Local Union Number Fifteen of Chicago, Illinois.

  • Meinhart Grünbaum Maur Papers, 1888-1968 (bulk 1909-1955) [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Over 400 photographs, programs, posters, reviews, newspaper clippings, and several scripts used, and written, by Maur documenting the Hungarian actor's career in Germany and England.

  • Harold J. McWhinnie Collection on Art and Art Education, 1901-2000 (bulk 1959-2000) [PSUA]
    Printable PDF document
    University of Maryland professor's research papers on art, art education, and art theory.

  • George Moore Letter to the Editor of The Daily Chronicle, 1915 January 8 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Irish author's letter about impeding German propaganda in Ireland.

  • George Moore Letters, Page and Galley Proofs, and Photocopy of Suppressed Chapter, 1890-1969 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Irish author's 11 letters about his plays, and two manuscripts: "An imaginary conversation" between Moore and Edmund Gosse, and photocopies of the suppressed chapter of Moore's Memoirs of My Dead Life.

  • Rayfield Mooty Oral History Interview by James B. Stewart, circa 1990 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    VHS video recording (and DVD access copy) of an oral history interview with Rayfield Mooty, USWA Organizer and co-founder of the Committee of Black Steel Workers.

  • Lady Sydney Morgan Letters, 1806-1843 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Irish author's five letters about her work.

  • Mortlake Collection of English Life and Letters, 1591-1963 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Over 1350 items, chiefly from the 19th century, including correspondence, documents, literary manuscripts, drawings, photographs, and other materials. Over 600 English authors are represented, along with several musicians and artists, and some prominent literary and cultural figures from other countries.

    • ~N~

  • National Art Education Association Records, 1893-2000 [PSUA]
    Printable PDF document
    Professional organization of art educators in the United States covering the development of art education and theory, organizational development and growth, and the general history of American education.

  • Yves Navarre Literary Manuscripts and Letters, 1959-1982 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    French novelist and playwright.

  • James Nelson Papers, 1915-1984 (bulk 1934-1955) [HCLA]
     Printable PDF document
    The collection includes manuscripts and subject files for a book on the formation of District 50 of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) in the early 1930s and an unpublished manuscript devoted to the union career of labor leader John Brophy.

  • New Jazz Poets Collection, 1962-1970 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Correspondence files of Walter Lowenfels and his wife Lillian with poets, publishers, and the Broadside record label for New Jazz Poets; manuscript poems, contracts, and biographical materials; setting copy, galleys, page mock-ups, and page proofs; and the album New Jazz Poets.

  • Edward J. Nichols Papers, 1932-1965 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Proofs, typescripts, notes, and related correspondence for his doctoral dissertation and books he wrote while an English literature professor at Penn State, as well as other correspondence with friends, colleagues, and publishers.

  • Jacob Nofsker Account Ledger and Civil War Letter, 1833-1873 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    The account book includes entries for labor, sundries, farm supplies, food stuffs, and liquor made out to men and women. The Civil War letter from William Noffsker to Jacob Noffsker was written from Campbell Hospital, Washington D.C., on 7 June 1864. It describes his injuries, identifies soldiers from his unit who were also wounded, and requests money to return home on an anticipated furlough.

  • North American Society for Sport History Records, 1966-1998 [PSUA]
    Printable PDF document
    Business records of the professional organization that promotes and preserves the historical tradition of sports in North America.

    • ~O~

  • Frank O'Connor Letters to Robert Greacen, circa 1946 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Irish author's business letters in an informal tone on the subject of short stories by O'Connor that Greacen may have been interested in publishing.

  • Seán O'Faoláin Letter to Jon Carroll and Typescript Foreword, 1946-1964[RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Irish author's letter about writers writing, and unpublished foreword by O'Faoláin for Anthony Trollope's The Warden.

  • John O'Hara Papers, 1923-1995 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Personal and professional papers of Pennsylvania author.

  • John O'Hara Letters to H.N. Swanson, 1955-1970 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Letters and contract documents between the author and his Hollywood, California, literary agent, H.N. Swanson.

  • Random House Files of John O'Hara, 1927-1977[RB&M]
     Printable PDF document
    Correspondence files; manuscripts of his lectures, speeches, novellas, novels, plays, and short stories (published and unpublished); clippings, culled from his publisher's files.

  • Order of Railway Conductors of America Local 160 Records, 1884-1927 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Railroad union records.

    • ~P~

  • Cruizing Under the "Stars and Stripes"; Being the Private Journal of Richard LeRoy Parker, 1841-1861 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    The accounts describe the American Civil War sailor's tours of duty, life on board ship, and the places he saw.

  • Fred Lewis Pattee Papers, 1821-1954 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Correspondence, family papers, diaries, travel journals, original works, publications, newspaper clippings, lecture notes, lectures, research, scrapbooks, and photographs of the first professor of American literature, Penn State.

  • Penn State in China Records, 1910-1983 [PSUA]
    Printable PDF document
    Correspondence, finance, meeting minutes, and reports documenting Penn State's agricultural missions to China under Christian auspices.

  • Pennsylvania State University. Agricultural Extension Service. Pennsylvania Agricultural Cooperative Extension Records, 1912-1988 [PSUA]
    The bulk of this collection contains the county extension agents' narrative and statistical annual reports of their activities, 1912-1988. Also included in the collection, but available only in the repository, are financial records, 1917-1950; plans of work for the extension service; USDA publications; correspondence; photographs; Neighborhood Youth Corps records, 1965-1970; Extension bulletins; and compiled historical information about the program.

  • Pennsylvania Bridges Collection, 1884-1915 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Photographs and lantern slides of railroad bridges in Pennsylvania, mostly in the Pittsburgh area, and photographs of technical drawings depicting structural details and complete designs of modern railroad bridges.

  • Pennsylvania Cartes-de-visite Collection, circa 1860[HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    The bulk of the subjects are unidentified individuals of European ancestry photographed by central Pennsylvania photograph studios.

  • List of Pennsylvania County Atlases and Histories [RBM]

  • Pennsylvania German Broadsides and Fraktur Collection [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Manuscript and printed Pennsylvania German Fraktur (drawings on paper made with pen, ink, and watercolor, using fancy penmanship and illustrations such as birds, hearts, flowers, and angels), broadsides (sheets of paper printed on one side only, such as commentaries on religious texts and political events), and German-language newspapers.

  • Pennsylvania State University Workforce Education and Development Program Records, 1920-1999 [PSUA]
    Printable PDF document
    Records of Penn State's vocational education program.

  • Philadelphia (Pa.). Overseers of the Poor Assessment Ledger - Chesnut Ward, 1772 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    The Philadelphia Overseers of the Poor levied a poor tax and distributed alms in Philadelphia since 1705. This is an assessment ledger for the Chestnut Ward.

  • H. Beam Piper Science Fiction Manuscripts, 1955-1984 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Setting copies and typescripts of the Pennsylvania science fiction writer's short story collection books and his novels.

  • Fiona Pitt-Kethley Literary Papers, 1982-1993 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Manuscripts and drafts of her books and poems, and personal and business correspondence with her agent, Giles Gordon of Sheil Land Associates, and publishers Chatto & Windus, Peter Owen, and Sinclair-Stevenson, MacDonald & Co., among others.

  • Pomegranate Press Archives, 1972-1981 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Correspondence concerning poems submitted for printing; manuscript copies of poems; autographed, numbered, limited edition broadside poems.

  • Porter Family Papers, 1890-1943 (bulk 1891-1909)[HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Primarily concerns Albert L. Porter, newspaper reporter and editor, and his entry into the newspaper business in western Pennsylvania.

  • Joseph Priestley Papers, 1777-1835 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    English clergyman, political theorist, and physical scientist's correspondence, two drafts of his memoirs, review of his memoirs, a play, sermon, his will, account book, and financial papers.

  • Joseph Priestley Collection, 1874-1996 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Publications about the scientist, Centennial of Chemistry, Bicentennial of Chemistry, and Priestley house/museum in Northumberland, Pennsylvania.

    • ~R~

  • Jack Rabin Collection on Alabama Civil Rights and Southern Activists, 1941-2004 (bulk 1956-1974) [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Multi-layered compilation of documents, sound recordings, and visual images documenting: the activities of the Montgomery Improvement Association; photographs and surveillance tapes of sit-ins, the Selma March, and the Poor People's Campaign; oral histories of the white activists; and films of African-American activists.

  • Conrad Richter Papers, 1849-1995 (bulk 1903-1968) [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Pennsylvania author's book manuscripts and some correspondence.

  • Jay Ruby Collection on the Photographic Representation of Death, 1840-1993 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Photographs and memorabilia primarily collected by Temple University professor of anthropology to trace the history of how people use photographic images of loved ones to alleviate or hasten the grieving process.

    • ~Return to top~

    ~S~

  • Gilbert Colville Shadwell Masonic Collection, 1923-1952 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    The master mason was the Historian of the Spartan Lodge No. 956, Freeport, N.Y. during the 1940s, and co-chairman of the Educational Committee. As historian, he wrote most of the material found in this collection.

  • Bernard Shaw Letters and Papers, 1892-1969 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    22 items by or about the Irish author.

  • George Bernard Shaw Letters and Manuscripts, 1906-1940 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Irish author's eleven letters and cards about his plays, and views on politics and Germany, and unaired, proposed 1940 radio broadcast with unorthodox views on Adolf Hitler, Germany, Britain, and World War II.

  • Henry Shoemaker Papers, 1873-1952 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Correspondence, ephemera, publications, photographs, and scrapbooks concerning the life of author, civil servant, diplomat, newspaper publisher, folklorist, and conservationist, as well as his interest in promoting and protecting historical sites and traditions in Pennsylvania.

  • Slavery Documents Collection, 1836-1876 (bulk 1839-1854)[HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Receipts for the sale of slaves, apprentice indentures, certificates of authentication, receipt against a deed of trust, receipt for the sale of land, and one partial, illegible receipt (perhaps an indenture for separation) from the Gatlin/Conley family of Tennessee.

  • Stuart Family Papers, 1676-1994 (bulk 1861-1976) [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    Documents the history of five generations of a Pennsylvania family based in Boalsburg and Pittsburgh, especially during the American Civil War and the establishment of Memorial Day.

    • ~T~

  • Don Taylor Movie Scripts and Photos, 1967-1988 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    The collection contains shooting scripts for films and television movies that Don Taylor produced and/or directed, and publicity and candid photographs from some of the films.

    • ~U~

  • Christian Urich Farming and Milling Account Book (Dauphin County, Pa.), 1824-1840 [HCLA]
    Printable PDF document
    This early nineteenth-century account book from Halifax Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, contains a list of names, transactions, and account balances of customers for milling, shoemaking, dry-goods, school books, and farm rentals.

    • ~V~

  • Vivian Virtue Papers, 1938-2000 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Correspondence, original works, publications, translations, broadcasts, newspaper clippings, research, and photographs of the Jamaican poet, translator, and broadcaster, and son-in-law of black poet Claude McKay.

    • ~W~

  • Hugo Weisgall Music Sketchbooks, 1941-1952 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Photographic reproductions (and 3x5 negatives) of five holograph manuscript music sketchbooks that Weisgall used, 1941-1952, to write draft ideas and pieces of his musical compositions.

  • Jonathan W. White Jr. Papers, 1890-2000 [PSUA]
    Printable PDF document
    Documents the sixty-year career in honey research for the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) at its Eastern Regional Research Laboratory (Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania).

    • ~Y~

  • Jack B. Yeats Letter a cara [to my friend], 1930 January [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Irish artist's letter containing personal news.

  • William Butler Yeats Letters and Memorandum, 1891-1933 [RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Irish author's five short letters concerning a translation, invitation, a meeting, and a memorandum about plans for the money he received for the Irish Academy of Letters.

  • Philip Young Papers, 1930-2000[RB&M]
    Printable PDF document
    Working papers, chiefly his notes, drafts, research notes, reviews, and other items connected with the Penn State professor of American literature's books and essays on Ernest Hemingway, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and other figures in American literature and history.

    • Page last updated 9/11/2007

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