The Bernhard Knollenberg Collection comprises original and copied manuscripts of American historical interest which were collected by the former Yale University Librarian in connection with his historical studies and presented to the Yale University Library in 31 accessions since 1939. Covering the entire span of American history, the collection is of major importance for the Colonial, Early National and Ante-Bellum Periods and is frequently consulted by the leading scholars of these periods. The typed and photostatic copies of manuscripts were obtained from many libraries and historical societies and from private collections.

Bernhard Knollenberg (b. 1892) was University Librarian from 1938 to 1945 and Lecturer on the Law of Taxation during the academic year 1941-1942. A student of law and history, he held the following government posts: senior deputy administrator, Lend Lease Administration, 1943-1944; division deputy, Office of Strategic Services, 1944-1945; and, United States Commissioner for the North-West Atlantic Fisheries, 1950-1958. Mr. Knollenberg was the recipient of five academic degrees: B.A. Earlham, 1912; M.A. Harvard, 1914; LL.B. Harvard, 1916; Honorary M.A. Yale, 1939; and LL.D. Earlham, 1944. The following books by Mr. Knollenberg as well as a number of journal articles were based in whole or in part on the manuscripts in the collection: Washington and the Revolution: A Reappraisal, 1940; Whitewater Valley, 1946; Samuel Ward, 1952; Origin of the American Revolution, 1960; and George Washington: The Virginia Period, 1964.

The manuscripts and copies are arranged in chronological order in 1220 folders (15 document boxes) and are individually foldered and described. Most of the items are individually catalogued in the Union and Departmental Manuscript Catalogues. The collection was established with the gift of the Alvah Hunt Papers in 1939. Over 100 letters written during the period 1838-1855 to Alvah Hunt of Greene, Chenango County, New York describe the political issues of the time, especially Whig politics. The principal correspondents include Hamilton Fish, Horace Greeley, William H. Seward, and Thurlow Weed. Other groups of papers of interest are listed below:

1. The Leffingwell Collection of manuscripts at the New Haven Colony Historical Society. Gift, 1942. Photostats.

2. The George Panton Papers which were presented to the Reverend Dr. Chorley by the Bishop and the Synod of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney in 1934 and given to the Library in 1940. The letters are from Anglican ministers who were Loyalists and who escaped to England during the Revolution. A few are from men who were never in America, but were deeply interested in the Church of England in America. The two principal correspondents are Daniel Batwell and Thomas Bradbury Chandler. Chandler graduated from Yale in 1745 (see Dexter's Yale Biographies and Annals , 1701-1745), moved to England in 1775 and returned to America in 1785. He was an important figure in the Anglican Church in America. George Panton, according to Sabine's American Loyalists, was in New York in 1783 and was one of the 55 Loyalists who petitioned for lands in Nova Scotia at that time.

3. Homer Sackett Curtiss Papers, consisting of 171 letters written to members of the Curtiss Family during his Civil War service in the 2nd Connecticut Volunteer Regiment, Heavy Artillery. Gift, 1939.

4. Nathanel Greene Papers, including 35 original letters and documents by and relating to General Greene, 1779-1804. Gifts, 1943, 1944.