Collections

The records consist of student, subject, course, and seminar files documenting the activities and operations of the Yale Department of the History of Science and Medicine. Included are files of department chairmen Derek de Solla Price and Asger Aaboe.

The Richard Aaron Collection of Ira Cohen contains correspondence, writings, artwork, photographs, production files, and other papers by, to, or relating to Ira Cohen's life and work.

Poems written in response to the war and collected by Aaron.

The Edwin Hale Abbot Family papers contain correspondence, letterpress copybooks, legal and financial documents, diaries, maps, blueprints, and photographs, the bulk of which documents the personal life, law and business careers of Edwin Hale Abbot.

Papers and photographs relating to the Ensign, Woodruff, Kenney, and Abbot families, including Jane Teressa Kenney Abbot, Abigail Ensign Woodruff Kenney, Caroline Elizabeth Meyers, William Michael Meyers, Carrie Jane Abbot Meyers, and Grace Langdon Meyers Erikson.

The George Jacob Abbot Papers consist mainly of correspondence, drafts of speeches, unfinished drafts of U.S. State Department papers, newspaper clippings and other materials related to Abbot's employment as secretary to Daniel Webster and to his diplomatic service. There are some Abbot family materials among the papers as well.

The almanacs in this collection were issued annually by American and a few Canadian companies to promote the sale of their proprietary remedies. The remedies were secret rather than actually patented, and exaggerated claims were made for what they could cure. Almanacs were distributed free to customers by drug stores. Typically the back cover of the almanac carried an advertisement for an individual pharmacy. Often the almanacs had a hole at the top left, through which a string was tied so that they could be hung on a nail on the wall. Two almanacs are in miniature format.

The materials consist of sound recordings and edited transcripts of oral history interviews conducted by Florence Minnis with women faculty, administrators, and staff affiliated with Yale University. The edited transcripts, produced for readability, do not closely match the audiorecordings. Dates were taken from the original interview date.

This collection documents the life and work of Bradford E. Ableson, distinguished Yale Divinity School alumnus and prominent U.S. military chaplain. First a Presbyterian minister and later an Episcopal priest, Ableson was decorated for his service during the Persian Gulf War and served as Command Chaplain aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, one of the largest warships in the world. From 1996 to 1999 Ableson served as chaplain at Camp David during the Clinton administration, providing pastoral care to the President, his family, and support staff at the Maryland retreat. Correspondence, writings, sermons, and subject files provide detailed documentation of Ableson's thought, leadership skills, and dedication to his work. From early on in his career as a Navy chaplain, Ableson recognized the profound disconnect between Christians from the West and citizens in the Muslim world, and in the 1980s he emerged as an expert on preparing service members with knowledge and understanding that would make them respectful visitors in Muslim countries. Ableson's journal written during operation Desert Storm (1991) provides valuable documentation about the work of a chaplain in a combat setting.

The Argus Book Shop Correspondence consists of the shop's "author correspondence" files holding letters between Ben Abramson and his staff and more than four hundred writers, artists, printers, critics, and illustrators; the remainder of the shop's records were destroyed following instructions he had written into his will. While some of the folders hold single or just a few letters, Abramson had more extensive relationships with many writers and artists, including John Austen, Faith Baldwin, March Cost, Frederic Dannay, Norman Davey, Rhys Davies, August Derleth, Robin Douglas, Joan Marshall Grant, W.G. Hardy, Claude Houghton, William McFee, Henry Miller, Frank Cheyne Papé, Louis Paul, Frederic Prokosch, William Saroyan, Harold Sinclair, and John Steinbeck. Hundreds of Abramson's typed carbon replies are present in the files, and discuss business and literary concerns, along with his philosophies and opinions on a wide range of topics. To many of the writers with whom he became close, Abramson freely dispensed personal advice. On the business end, his letters show that he regularly recommended and shipped literature to Argus patrons, including Alfred Kinsey and other scholars and authors, as well as searched for and obtained from other vendors books specifically requested by patrons. Contracts in the folders for John Anthony Carr and Stanley Marks reveal the existence of the Argus Agency: A Service for Writers, wherein Abramson acted "as a personal representative for authors and as an agent for any and all literary, dramatic, motion picture or other such material produced by them." The largest group of letters present is those between Abramson and the writer Henry Miller (1900-1968), which cover in detail many aspects of Miller's career, finances, and travels between 1937 and 1955. Abramson published some of Miller's writings and sold most of his publications, as well as providing a mail-order service for sending Miller (and Miller's friends, on Miller's account) his own works and new titles by other authors. With the Miller correspondence is a folder holding Connecticut Anthroposophical Society membership lists and redacted letters from people across the country who were attempting to purchase Miller's Tropic of Cancer (1938). In addition to publishing and retailing books, Abramson handled the sale of literary manuscripts for authors such as W. Somerset Maugham, whose file contains a price list of works available for purchase at Argus.

The records consist of minutes of meetings, membership lists, correspondence, constitutions and bylaws, scrapbooks, library records, financial and business records, programs and invitations, certificates, articles and news clippings, reports, songbooks, notices, newsletters, and related materials documenting the organization, activities, and operations of various student, faculty, and staff organizations, and other Yale community groups.

Preliminary work and research materials of David Acheson, a staff member of the University Development Office until 1980. Includes draft of "Treatment of Yale's Previous Campaign and Development Activities," a history of Yale University's development efforts.

The Dean Acheson Papers are a rich source of information on the policies, thoughts, and accomplishments of the secretary of state who guided American foreign policy from 1948 to 1953. The papers, which span the period from 1898 to 1989, are especially full for the period after Acheson left public office in 1953 until his death in 1971. Included in the correspondence, speech and lecture files, manuscripts of books and articles, and memoranda, which compose the papers, are examinations of such major topics of U.S. foreign policy as Korea; NATO; post-war relations with the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Germany; tensions in the Middle East; the war in Vietnam; and the U.S. posture towards Rhodesia and South Africa. Evaluations of the Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations figure prominently in the papers, and Acheson's role as a member of the Yale Corporation is thoroughly documented. Major correspondents include personal friends and professional colleagues.

The records consist of correspondence, transcripts, and other papers relating to the Dean Acheson Conference held at Yale on April 24, 1982 and the gant proposal, meeting agendas, notes, and minutes, correspondence, report drafts, and background materials assembled by the Independent Working Group on the Future of the United Nations, 1993-1995.

The Isidor Achron Papers document the careers of Achron and his wife, singer Lea Karina. The Papers hold sketches, manuscript music, and printed editions of Achron's musical compositions, as well as songs which other composers wrote specifically for Karina. The Papers also include correspondence, photographs, programs, clippings, biographical materials, and miscellaneous materials relating to both Jascha Heifetz and Achron's pupil, popular singer Hildegarde.

Autograph manuscript letters, signed, of Janet Achurch and Charles Charrington and their correspondents. Letters concern: casting of theatrical productions; investing in theatrical projects; Charrington's involvement in the Fabian Society; and other professional and domestic topics. Correspondents include George Henry Boughton, Stopford Augustus Brooke, Charles H. E. Brookfield, Harley Granville-Barker, St. John Emile Clavering Hankin, Henry Holiday, Gertrude Kingston, May Morris, Felix Moscheles, William Poel, Charles Rock, Kate Santley, Clement Scott, William Sharp, Arthur Streeton, Julian Sturgis, Fred Terry, John Todhunter, Hermann Vezin, Mrs. Humphry Ward, and Sir Frederick Wedmore, and unidentified. Also included is a booking sheet for the Vaudeville Theatre, London, circa 1880.

The Peter Ackroyd Papers primarily contain research files, manuscripts, drafts, and page proofs for many of his novels, biographies, and historical studies, as well as related correspondence and screenplays. Also present are his appointment books, some personal papers and photographs, and papers related to his partner Brian Michael Kuhn.

This collection comprises 53 items, including 42 letters from John Ruskin to John Henry Le Keux, 1 letter from John James Ruskin to John Henry Le Keux, 7 stand-alone sketches related to Le Keux's engraving work for Ruskin, annotated printed proofs made by Le Keux for Ruskin and 1 letter from Henry W. Acland to John Ruskin which pertains to Le Keux's work on the frontispiece for Acland and Ruskin's The Oxford Museum. While the majority of the items are undated, the letters appear to have been authored between 1854 and 1860, with dated items ranging from 1855 to 1860. The items primarily pertain to Le Keux's engraving work for illustrations for Volumes 3-4 of Modern Painters and for The Oxford Museum. The letters reflect a cordial professional relationship between Ruskin and Le Keux and a close collaboration between critic and engraver on a variety of works and subject matters. In one letter, Ruskin describes Le Keux's etchings as "superb." (John Ruskin letter to John Henry Le Keux, page 39.)

This collection consists of the records and publications of the Acorn Club. The collection includes general organization records including bylaws, constitutions, and histories of the club, as well as meeting minutes, correspondence, and the records of Judith Schiff, who was elected the first female president of the club in 2004. The collection also contains financial records, membership records including membership lists and biographies of members and banquet invitations and menus, and publication records including proofs and printing blocks. The final series of the collection consists of archival copies of Acorn Club publications, consisting of a complete run of every publication the club has published between 1899 and 2018.