Collections

The Adam mss., 1863-1930, consists of the letters and papers of French writer, literary review editor, and salon hostess Juliette (Lambert) Adam, 1836-1936.

The Adomeit mss., 2000 BCE - 1995 CE, consists of miniature manuscripts collected by Ruth Elizabeth Adomeit, 1910-1996.

The Alexander mss., 1895-1943, consists of the letters and papers of Indiana University librarian William Albert Alexander, 1875-1943.

The Allen mss., 800-1972, consists of manuscript pieces collected by William Edward David Allen, 1901-1973, foreign service officer, businessman, and author, and his own writings about Georgian history.

The American literature mss., 1789-2000, consists of an ongoing collection of individual items related to American literature.

Many Germans immigrated to the United States following the failure of an 1848 revolution designed to introduce democratic reforms into the governments of the German states. Among these immigrants were members of the Turners, an athletic and political organization founded in Germany during the second decade of the nineteenth century. Turners quickly established societies (known as Turnverein or Turngemeinde) in the American cities in which they settled. These societies served as athletic, political, and social centers for German communities in the United States. The Turners' most important contribution to American life in their communities has been their advocacy of physical education and fitness. Turners successfully lobbied local school boards in many cities for the inclusion of physical education classes in the curriculum, and Turner instructors served as the directors of physical education programs in many school systems in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Immigrants to the United States in the nineteenth century founded organizations that served as social centers, maintained cultural identity, and promoted the ideals and the interests of the immigrants and their American-born descendants. The American Turners is an example of such an organization. Established by German immigrants in 1850, the American Turners advocated a liberal political philosophy and fought to protect both the political rights and the German heritage of the immigrants. The Turners encouraged the practice of exercise and physical fitness, and they convinced school boards in many cities to make physical education a part of the educational curriculum. The American Turner records include annual reports, minutes and correspondence relating to the national officers, correspondence with local societies, national convention minutes and materials, financial and membership records, national committee records, records and materials from national sporting events sponsored by the American Turners, records of the Turner Pioneers and the Women's Auxiliary, Turner publications, and materials from the German Turner movement and other organizations related to the American Turners.

The Ames mss., 1840-1983 consist of the papers, correspondence, photographs, memorabilia and collected items of the Sally Mundy, 1886-1963, her son Richard Ames 1905-1984, and her second husband, author Talbot Mundy 1879-1940.

The Amfiteatrov mss., 1890-1948, consists of the correspondence and writings of journalist and playwright Aleksandr Valentinovich Amfiteatrov, 1862-1938.