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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Am 1851

F. W. Bird papers

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:

  1. I. Letters by Francis William Bird
  2. II. Letters to Francis William Bird
  3. III. Other letters
  4. IV. Manuscripts
  5. V. Manuscripts by unidentified authors
  6. 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.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
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