Collection ID: LMC 2312
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Williams, Kenneth P. (Kenneth Powers), 1887-1958
Abstract:
The Williams, K.P. mss., 1820-1958, consists of letters and papers of Kenneth Powers Williams, 1887-1958, professor of mathematics at Indiana University and author of Lincoln Finds a General.
Extent:
12 Boxes (11 standard, 1 custom)
Language:
Materials are in English .
Preferred citation:

Williams, K.P. mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

Career: born, August 25, 1887, Urbana, Ohio; son of John H. and Eva Augusta (Powers) Williams; A.B., Indiana University, 1908, A.M., 1909; PhD., Princeton University, 1913; married Mrs. Ellen (Laughlin) Scott, August 20, 1920; member of the faculty of the Department of Mathematics, Indiana University, 1909-1958; first lieutenant, Indiana National Guard, Mexican border, 1916; captain, Field Artillery, U.S. Army, with American Expeditionary Force, 1917-1919; officer, Field Artillery, Indiana National Guard, 1921-1931; colonel and chief of staff, 38th division, National Guard, 1931-1939; Colonel, Quartermaster corps, commanding 113th Quartermaster Regiment, and Quartermaster, 38th division in national service, 1941; died, September 25, 1958.

Scope and Content:

The Williams, K.P. mss., 1820-1958, consists of letters and papers of Kenneth Powers Williams, 1887-1958, professor of mathematics at Indiana University and author of Lincoln Finds a General. This collection consists of correspondence, 1926-1958, of Kenneth Powers Williams; drafts, illustrations, maps, notes, galley and page proofs, and a scrapbook of reviews of Williams' Lincoln Finds A General, volumes I-IV, 1949-1956; mathematics notes and problems, including worked out problems from courses taken at Indiana University and Princeton University and notes of early lecture courses given by him at Indiana University; and reprints of articles, 1910-1954, on mathematical, military and historical subjects written by Williams and published in periodicals.

The correspondence is concerned mainly with Lincoln Finds A General. Other subjects dealt with include the relation of Anna Ella Carroll, 1815-1893, to the Tennessee River Campaign in the Civil war and Williams' controversy with Sydney Greenbie, 1889-1960, and his wife, Mrs. Marjorie Latta (Barstow) Greenbie, 1891- , arising from Williams' article "The Tennessee River Campaign and Anna Ella Carroll," which appeared in the Indiana Magazine of History, XLVI: 221-248, September 1950; the Ku Klux Klan; the history of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad, the Illinois Central Railroad, and the Virginia Central Railroad during and after the Civil War; cartridges for loading arms before and after the Civil War; problems in astronomy and mathematics in colleges; the European situation in 1938; and the discharge of Jewish professors in Vienna and Prague in 1939.

Correspondence with Edwin W. Atwood, 1879- , mayor of Flint, Michigan, relates to his collection of Civil War materials and includes copies of letters of Ulysses Simpson Grant, Abraham Lincoln, William Tecumseh Sherman, and others, 1845-1882, which were sent to Williams by Atwood.

In addition to correspondence and the Lincoln Finds A General materials the collection contains a survey on the certification of teachers, 1944 papers on the history and teaching of mathematics at Indiana University, 1938, 1944; a mathematical manuscript textbook by Milo G. Williams, 1820; and an autographed copy of the mimeographed "Introduction to Plane Algebraic Geometry" by Václav Hlavatý.

Williams, Kenneth Powers, 1887-1958, professor. Lincoln Finds A General: A Military Study of the Civil War, with Maps by Clark Ray. A.&T.D. [9193] p. 13-28cm. Comprises vol. I-IV of work by same title, published, New York, Macmillan, 1949-1959.

Acquisition information:
Acquired 1950, 1958, 1959, 1960.
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into two series: Correspondence and Writings.

Physical location:
ALF (Auxiliary Library Facility)

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research.

Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form.

PREFERRED CITATION:

Williams, K.P. mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
1200 East Seventh Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
(812) 855-2452
liblilly@indiana.edu