Library of Congress. Manuscript Division

Variant names
Dates:
Establishment 1897
Active 1930
Active 1948
Americans
English

History notes:

The Manuscript Division was one of several "departments" established in 1897 when the Library of Congress moved from the United States Capitol to a separate building nearby. Its staff of four assumed custody of a collection of twenty-five thousand manuscripts which had accumulated throughout the nineteenth century, chiefly through the purchase in 1867 of Peter Force's collection of Americana, the gift in 1882 of Joseph M. Toner's collection relating to George Washington and American medical history, and several small transfers from the Smithsonian Institution. In 1903, by an act of Congress and an executive order, the State Department began transferring historical papers, including several presidential collections, which had been acquired by the federal government.

Despite its early concentration upon acquiring original manuscripts for political, military, and diplomatic history, the division soon broadened its acquisition interests, especially after World War II, to include cultural history, history of science, and the archives of nongovernmental organizations. Its current holdings, nearly seventy million items contained in twelve thousand separate collections, include some of the greatest manuscript treasures of American history and culture. Among these are Jefferson's rough draft of the Declaration of Independence, James Madison's notes on the Federal Convention, George Washington's first inaugural address, the paper tape of the first telegraphic message--"What hath God wrought?", Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and second inaugural address, and Alexander Graham Bell's first drawing of the telephone.

Links to collections

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Information

Permalink:
http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6107sr5
SNAC ID:

Subjects:

  • Slavery
  • Lincoln
  • Mormons

Occupations:

not available for this record

Places:

  • DC, US
  • United States (as recorded)
  • Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (as recorded)

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Sponsors

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Institute of Museum and Library Services
National Endowment for the Humanities

Hosts

University of Virginia Library
National Archives and Records Administration