Overview
Papers of American antislavery leader, state legislator and paper manufacturer Francis William Bird, largely concerning the anti-slavery movement.
Dates
- Creation: 1826-1924
- Creation: Majority of material found in 1847-1889
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Extent
2 linear feet (4 boxes)The bulk of the collection is letters to Bird from his political colleagues in the Free-Soil and antislavery movements, about two thirds of them written before or during the Civil War. Also contains a few letters and manuscripts by Bird; a few letters to and manuscripts by his relatives; some correspondence between third parties; miscellaneous manuscripts; and printed material. Includes 65 letters to Bird from Daniel Alvord.
Biographical / Historical
Bird was an antislavery leader, state legislator, and paper manufacturer of East Walpole, Mass.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- I. Letters by Francis William Bird
- II. Letters to Francis William Bird
- III. Other letters
- IV. Manuscripts
- V. Manuscripts by unidentified authors
- VI. Miscellaneous
Physical Location
b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
67M-175. Gift of Charles Sumner Bird; received: 1958.
- Title
- Bird, F. W. (Francis William), 1809-1894. F. W. Bird papers, 1826-1924: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou01325
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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