The American literature mss., 1789-2000, consists of individual items acquired from time to time either as a gift or purchased from a variety of sources. Additions continue to be made.

Note on Indexing Term - "Antislavery movements": Of particular note are documents written by Lydia Maria Childs, antislavery writer, and John Greenleaf Whittier's 1881 letter to Moses Parker Hanson in regard to the end of slavery.

Note on Indexing Term - "Art": Of particular interest are an 1887 series of illustrated letters by Eugene Field; a 1946 pencil sketch of Theodore Dreiser; colored pencil drawings by Maud and Miska Petersham and a pen and ink drawing by James Whitcomb Riley.

Note on Indexing Term - "Boston Tea Party, Boston, Mass., 1773": Of particular interest is Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1873 essay on the Boston Tea Party that was read on the Centennial anniversary in Faneuil Hall.

Note on Indexing Term - "Emancipation Proclamation": Of interest is Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1862 essay on the Emancipation Proclamation and the "John Brown Album Emancipation Evening 1863."

Note on Indexing Term - "Illustration of books--19th century": Of interest is a letter from John Pendleton Kennedy to George Palrmer Putnam pertaining to the illustration of Kennedy's book, Swallow Barn.

Note on Indexing Term - "North America--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775": Of particular interest is "Concord Fight, written by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Generally known as "Concord Hymn", this poem describes the battle of Concord and Lexington.

Note on Indexing Term - "Politics, society and culture in Turkey": Of particular note is James Noble Tyner's 1882 account of Lewis Wallace's appointment by President Garfield to Turkey.

Note on Indexing Term - "Popular music--Writing and Publishing": Of interest is John Howard Payne's transcrip of his song, "Home Sweet Home."

Note on Indexing Term - "Riley, James Whitcomb, 1849-1916": Of particular interest is a Sept. 21, 1897 letter from James Whitcomb Riley to William Webster Ellsworth in which Riley remarks that he has "...not seen proof slip of "Doc's" proem [sic]...." This letter is bound in with the "Proem of the Rubiytt of Doc Siefers." Also included are the following undated Riley items: "The Flying Islands of the Night," a pen and ink drawing of two sailboats, a letter from Riley to George C. Shaw and "A Waste of Genius at Zeksbury."

Note on Indexing Term - "Radio": Of interest are two 1947 radio scripts written by Ernest Hemingway for the English section of the series Radioteatro de America.

Note on Indexing Term - "Travel": Of interest is Without My Gloves: I Find America, an account written by Maie E. Clements Perley, who traveled from Great Britain to the United States in 1940.

Note on Indexing Term - "Women": Many manuscripts authored by women are included in this collection. Some prominent names include Willa Cather, Louisa May Alcott, and Maie E. (Clements) Perley.