Benjamin Harrison Collection: Letters, memorabilia of Benjamin Harrison and his wife, Caroline Scott Harrison. Benjamin Harrison, grandson of the ninth President (William Henry Harrison, elected in 1840), graduated from Miami University in 1852, served in the Civil War as a Union officer, and was elected to the United States Senate from Indiana in 1881. As Senator, Harrison defended the interests of homesteaders and Native Americans against the railroads, supported generous pensions for ex-soldiers, and fought for civil-service reform and a moderately protective tariff. He served one term as the 23rd President of the United States (1889-1893), a moderate Republican who won an electoral majority while losing the popular vote by more than 95,000 to Democrat Grover Cleveland.
George Seeley Collection: The collection includes correspondence sent by George Seeley to his parents, his future wife, Peg Fisher, and other family members during his World War II service, especially with the 105th General Hospital in Australia and New Guinea.
Gilbert-Richards Collection: This collection features the correspondence of the families of Giles Richards, pioneer textile manufacturer, and Colonel Alfred West Gilbert, a citizen and public official of the city of Cincinnati. It includes a series of Civil War letters written by Colonel Gilbert to his wife during his period of service in the Union army as an officer of the 39th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. These letters led to a correspondence with Adolph Gilbert, a son of Colonel Gilbert.
John Hough James Collection: This collection features the diaries of John H. James beginning in 1821 and concluding in 1881 and correspondence sent and received by members of the John H. James family from 1814-1863. The John H. James Correspondence Collections include correspondence sent and received by John H. James, his business associates, friends, acquaintances, and clients. The John H. James Collection: Business and Family Papers features correspondence, account books, photographs, and financial and legal documents belonging to John H. James and various James family members.
Manuscript Diaries Collection: This collection includes diaries written from 1835-1892, focusing on life at Miami University and the Civil War. Authors include: Joe Bogue, Nanncy Mae Coppock, David Spence, Edward Morrow, Nelson Wiley Evans, Thomas B. Marshall, Joseph Cannan Smith, Jerome B. Falconer, and Joel Buttles.
Miscellanea Collection: This collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, photographs and printed material by or about notable individuals in literature, the arts, and history. Several documents provide insight into the history of Miami University and many Ohio communities.
Murat Halstead Collection: This collection includes clippings of Murat Halstead’s newspaper articles, presumably from the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, together with some newspaper articles about Halstead and one piece of correspondence from Halstead.
Richey Collection of the Southern Confederacy: This collection includes over 500 pieces of correspondence relating to Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, and Confederate generals, including G.T. Beauregard, Braxton Bragg, Samuel Cooper, Joseph E. Johnson, Robert E. Lee, James A. Seddon, E. Kirby Smith, Richard Taylor, and William H. Thomas, among other noted figures of the Civil War and the mid- to late-19th century. Correspondence of Varina Davis, Mary Randolph Custis Lee, and Mary Custis Lee, together with some photographs and other pieces of ephemera, can also be found in the collection.
Robert B. Stanton Collection: This collection includes photographs, diaries/journals, and correspondence of Robert Stanton (1846-1922), civil engineer and Miami alumnus. It provides an account of his participation in a surveying expedition to determine the feasibility of constructing a railroad through the Grand Canyon, 1889-1890. The survey is one of the fullest primary records ever made of the Colorado River from Grand Junction, Colorado, to the Gulf of California. Meticulously, Stanton recorded with pen and camera the day-by-day progress of the exploration survey.
Samuel Fulton Covington Collection: Samuel Fulton Covington (1819-1889) was a business, civic, and political leader in late 19th century Cincinnati whose personal collection of books and pamphlets on the Old Northwest Territory and the Ohio River Valley now constitutes a significant collection and subject strength in the Walter Havighurst Special Collections.
William Holmes McGuffey and the McGuffey Readers: 120 manuscript letters, contracts + four volumes of an unpublished manuscript believed to be by William Holmes McGuffey on moral philosophy (one volume believed to be completely in McGuffey’s hand). These papers cover the time period 1814-1955, the bulk between 1826-1874, in three archival boxes + more than 300 editions of the McGuffey readers and spellers.
