Rare Book & Manuscript Library
 

Allan Nevins papers, 1912-1992

Summary Information

At a Glance

Call No.: Ms Coll\Nevins,Ms Coll/Nevins, A
Bib ID 4079154 View CLIO record
Creator(s) Nevins, Allan, 1890-1971
Title Allan Nevins papers, 1912-1992
Physical Description 104 linear feet (205 boxes; ca.40700 items in oversize items; 207 record storage cartons of books)
Language(s) English .
Access You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

This collection has no restrictions.

The following boxes are located off-site: 8-17, 32-205. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

Arrangement

Arrangement

Selected materials cataloged; remainder arranged. Cataloged correspondence, A-Z: Boxes 1-6; Cataloged professional correspondence, A-Z: Boxes 18-31; Cataloged manuscripts: Box 7; Brand Whitlock diaries, etc.: Boxes 8, 9& 16; Uncataloged materials arranged by topic: Boxes 10-15, 17, 32-205; Books, Boxes 1-6.

Description

Scope and Content

Approximately 12,000 letters to Allan Nevins from various correspondents including James Truslow Adams, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Willa Cather, Frances Folsom Cleveland, Van Wyck Brooks, Robert Frost, Newton D. Baker, Archibald MacLeish, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Carl Sandburg, and Henry Wallace; notes and typescripts for Nevins' books including Emergence of Lincoln, The Ordeal of Democracy, Rockefeller, and History and Historians, with notes by editor Ray A. Billington; miscellaneous transcripts, clippings, newspapers, and photographs. Also, autograph letters and manuscripts by presidents, Civil War figures, financiers, politicians, and authors. There are also the Brand Whitlock World War I Diaries and letters to him by such people as Herbert Hoover, Gen. John J. Pershing, and others.

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

This collection has no restrictions.

The following boxes are located off-site: 8-17, 32-205. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Allan Nevins Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Related Materials

Additional papers relating to ORDEAL OF THE UNION are at the Henry Huntington Library

Research files and manuscripts relating to his biography of Herbert H. Lehman are in the Lehman Papers, 406 International Affairs

Additional papers relating to Ordeal of the Union are at the Henry Huntington Library.

Research files and manuscripts relating to his biography of Herbert H. Lehman are in the Lehman Papers.

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Alternate Form Available

Lord Bryce letters are on: microfilm.

Willa Cather letters are on: microfilm.

Royal Cortissoz letters are on: microfilm.

Elizabeth Benton Fremont diary is on: microfilm.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source of acquisition--Nevins, Allan. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1953. Accession number--M-53.

Papers: Source of acquisition--Mayer, Meredith Nevins. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--12/04/1992. Accession number--M-92-12-04.

Gift of Allan Nevins, 1953 & 1954.

Bequest of Alan Nevins, 1971.

Gift of Anne Nevins Loftis & Meredith Nevins Mayer, 1982.

Gift of Meredith Nevins Mayer, 1992.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

The books from Prof. Nevins' own library, which were formerly shelved with these papers, have been moved to offsite storage.

Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 08/--/1989.

Papers Processed HR 10/05/1992.

Processed by Henry Rowen 3/2000.

Revision Description

2010-02-18 Legacy finding aid created from Pro Cite.

2014-03-19 XML document instance created by Catherine C. Ricciardi

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form

Heading "CUL Archives:"
"Portal"
"CUL Collections:"
"CLIO"
"Nat'l / Int'l Archives:"
"ArchivedGRID"
Autographs (manuscripts) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Awards Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Certificates Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Clippings (Information Artifacts) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Diaries Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Dissertations Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Essays Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Lectures Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Lists (document genres) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Manuscripts (documents) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Memorabilia Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Notes (documents) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Photographs Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
diplomas Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID

Subject

Heading "CUL Archives:"
"Portal"
"CUL Collections:"
"CLIO"
"Nat'l / Int'l Archives:"
"ArchivedGRID"
Adams, James Truslow, 1878-1949 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Authors, American Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Baker, Newton Diehl, 1871-1937 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Billington, Ray Allen, 1903-1981 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Brooks, Van Wyck, 1886-1963 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Bryce, James Bryce, Viscount, 1838-1922 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Capitalists and financiers Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Cather, Willa, 1873-1947 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Cleveland, Frances Folsom, 1864-1947 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
College teachers Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Commager, Henry Steele, 1902-1998 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Cortissoz, Royal, 1869-1948 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Fish, Hamilton, 1808-1893 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Ford, Henry, 1863-1947 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Frémont, John Charles, 1813-1890 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Frost, Robert, 1874-1963 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Hewitt, Abram S (Abram Stevens), 1822-1903 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Historians Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Hone, Philip, 1780-1851 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
MacLeish, Archibald, 1892-1982 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Poets, American Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Politicians Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Presidents -- United States Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Rockefeller, John D., Jr (John Davison), 1874-1960 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Roosevelt, Franklin D (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Rowse, A. L (Alfred Leslie), 1903-1997 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Sandburg, Carl, 1878-1967 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Scrapbooks Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Standard Oil Company Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Wallace, Henry A (Henry Agard), 1888-1965 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Whitlock, Brand, 1869-1934 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Women authors Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Women authors, American Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

American historian and editor.

Nevins, Joseph Allan May 20 1890 Mar. 5 1971 historian and educator. He attended the University of Illinois wher he earned a B. A. 1912 and an M. A. in English 1913 Nevins moved to New York to work as a journalist in 1913. While working as a journalist Nevins found time to write books on history.

In 1928 Nevins accepted a position teaching history at Columbia University. In 1931 he was appointed Dewitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University. Nevins was the Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford University in 1940 1941 and 1964 1965

Nevins was a quite prolific writer producing more than 50 books and scores of srticles. He produced biographies of Henry White, Grover Cleveland, Abram Hewitt, Hamilton Fish, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and and Herbert Lehman.