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
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- 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.
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.
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Series I: Historical Correspondence
In Boxes 1-6 of the collection
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Series II: Professional Correspondence
In Boxes 18-31 of the collection
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Correspondence, manuscripts, notes, photographs, obituaries, memorials, and scrapbooks. Included are three letters from Van Wyck brooks and one letter from Willa Cather.
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.
- Series I: Historical Correspondence
- Series II: Professional Correspondence
- Series III: Manuscripts, Diaries etc.
- Series IV: 1982 Gift
- Series V: Oversize Material
Using the Collection
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
Reproductions 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.
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.
Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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