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The Manuscripts collection contains information covering numerous aspects and periods of Lyme history.

Andre Schenker was born in 1897 and received his education at the Connecticut Agricultural College (UConn) and Yale University. He was a professor of history at UConn from 1928 - 1965.

The materials in this collection relate to town governance, residents, local churches, schools, and businesses in Lyme, Connecticut, from the early nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Topics covered include how the Town supported itself and its responsibilities to the citizens: taxes, justice, welfare, road and bridge infrastructure, education and schools, legal and property affairs.

Elizebeth Bull Plimpton (1921-1994), Lyme town historian and a descendant of first settlers, collected an encyclopedic range of historical material about Lyme and Old Lyme, CT, strongest for the 19th to mid-20th century — artists, authors, businesses, churches, community organizations, fishing, ferries, geography, historic properties and houses, military and maritime subjects, schools and much more. There are original documents, transcriptions, research notes, manuscripts, journals and ledgers, photographs, and print materials.

A collection of newspaper supplements on Lyme published by the Main Street News of Essex, Conn.

Chamberlain Ferry (1907-1998) spent his retirement in Lyme in the area of the Ely landing area on the Connecticut River. The bulk of the collection deals with the history of the Ely's Ferry area, and includes significant coverage relating to local environmental preservation and open spaces.

The Stephen Parker Sterling collection is composed of papers relating to Stephen Parker Sterling, his immediate family, and their home at 46 Sterling Hill Road, known as Sterling Heights.

The Charles G. Hall Papers contain correspondence, diaries, family papers, scrapbooks, photographs, publications, and other papers, relating to Hall's personal life, student days at Connecticut Agricultural College, activities as doorkeeper of Connecticut House of Representatives, state politics, events at University of Connecticut, and family affairs.

Elizabeth Huey Putnam and her mother Dora Warner collected extensive news clippings about Lyme and Hadlyme from regional newspapers (Deep River New Era, New London Day, Pictorial Gazette) spanning the 20th century. They had a special interest in artists, authors, musicians, and other notable figures who lived in Lyme, local association and organization events, churches, ferries, fishing, historic houses, mills, steamships, stores, World War I and II, and a large collection of obituaries.

Gertrude "Trudy" Harding Emerson (1921-2013) lived her entire life on Bill Hill, Lyme, Conn., and collected many unpublished manuscripts and news articles about the area.