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The papers consist of correspondence, writings, subject files, memorabilia, photographs, financial records, and other papers detailing the professional career and personal life of Anson Phelps Stokes and family members, including Olivia, Caroline and Helen Stokes. Papers relating to Anson Phelps Stokes document his work with prominent educators, reformers, religious leaders, businessmen, and politicians. Stokes's work on behalf of black education, social issues, and the Phelps-Stokes Fund are detailed. His religious activities, Yale University work, and family interests are also represented, as are Stokes's work on behalf of the Portsmouth Treaty of 1905 and the Yale-China Association. Papers relating to Helen Phelps Stokes include material relating to the Socialist Party and the National Civil Liberties Bureau.

Correspondence, writings, speeches, diaries, clippings, printed matter, sermons, and other papers of two centuries of Beecher family members. The papers relate principally to Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), popular 19th century clergyman and orator, and members of his family. Among those represented are his father, the Reverend Lyman Beecher (1775-1863), clergyman; his brothers, Edward Beecher (1803-1895), educator and antislavery leader, and Thomas Kinnicut Beecher (1824-1900) and Charles Beecher (1815-1900), both clergyman and antislavery activist; and his sisters, Harriett Elizabeth (Beecher) Stowe (1811-1896), author, Catherine Esther Beecher (1800-1878), pioneer educator and writer on 'domestic economy,' and Isabella Homes (Beecher) Hooker (1822-1907), well-known suffragist. Also included are papers relating to the Scoville family (mainly Annie Beecher Scoville, 1866-1953, teacher and lecturer), as well as other related families. The papers cover an extremely wide range of cultural, political, social, and religious issues and topics of 19th and early 20th century America and include correspondence from a large number of well-known men and women. The papers were previously known as the Beecher-Scoville Family Papers.

The papers consist of correspondence, pamphlets, printed material, scrapbooks, sermons, and other papers relating to members of the Carrington family. Henry Beebee Carrington (1824-1912) and his grandfather, David Lewis Beebe (1763-1803), are two central figures in the papers. Material relating to David Lewis Beebe, including essays and sermons, documents his religious duties in Connecticut and family concerns in Ohio. Henry Beebee Carrington material includes correspondence, a diary, a letterbook, maps, pamphlets, scrapbooks, and other items documenting his experiences as a student at Yale University, as a lawyer practicing in Ohio, and as a commanding officer for Union forces during the Civil War. Carrington's role in military campaigns and treaty negotiations with Indians of the American West is also documented. His design of Fort Philip Kearney, the site of a famous massacre, and treaty negotiations with the Flathead Indians of Montana are detailed in pamphlets, scrapbooks and other papers.

Correspondence, memoranda, speeches, press releases, clippings, printed matter, photographs, and memorabilia documenting Hilles' activities as secretary to President Taft (1911-1913), as chairman and committeeman to the Republican National Committee (1912-1937) and as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (1909-1911). His correspondence as Taft's secretary is of special importance as being originally part of the President's office files. His work as administrator of the Ohio Industrial School (1892-1902) and the New York Juvenile Asylum (1902-1909) is also documented in the correspondence. Family correspondence is particularly rich for the fall of 1911 when Hilles was touring the country with President Taft, and for 1912 just before his appointment as chairman of the Republican National Committee. Correspondents of note include Charles Francis Adams, William Jennings Bryan, Nicholas Murray Butler, Andrew Carnegie, Josephus Daniels, Charles G. Dawes, Theodore Dreiser, Henry W. Farnam, Irving Fisher, Arthur T. Hadley, Warren G. Harding, Charles Evans Hughes, Frank B. Kellogg, Henry Cabot Lodge, Gifford Pinchot, Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Root, Henry L. Stimson, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Booker T. Washington and George Westinghouse.

The Ella Barksdale Brown Papers consist of correspondence, writings, financial papers, newspapers and other materials that document her work as an educator, anti-lynching activist, suffragist, and journalist. The bulk of the papers provide evidence of Brown's activism and involvement with numerous schools, youth groups, war relief, civil rights and community organizations.

Correspondence, diaries, letterbooks, financial papers, writings, scrapbooks, and memorabilia of the Farnam family of New Haven, Connecticut, 1721-1929. The papers of Henry Farnam (1803-1883), and two of his sons, Henry Walcott Farnam (1853-1933) and William Whitman Farnam (1844-1929) form this collection. The papers of Henry Farnam include personal and professional correspondence concerning his family, life in New Haven, and the building of several canals and railroads in Connecticut and the Midwest. Materials documenting the New Haven and Northampton Company, Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, Mississippi and Missouri Valley Railroad, Northern Indiana Railroad, and Peoria and Bureau Valley Railroad is arranged here. The papers of Henry Walcott Farnam include personal and professional correspondence, financial papers, writings, subject files and scrapbooks relating to his family, life in New Haven, student and teaching experiences at Yale, membership in local, state, and national academic and reform organizations, and philanthropic activities on behalf of educational and charitable institutions. The papers of William Whitman Farnam include correspondence and topical files relating to family matters, Yale University, and New Haven Park Commission activities.

The early papers relate to Walcott's business concerns and his game preserve. The bulk of the collection covers the period from 1915-1919 when Walcott was with the Rockefeller Foundation War Relief Commission and the U.S. Food Administration. Beginning with 1929 there is some correspondence from his career as Republican Senator from Connecticut. The remainder of the collection relates to Walcott's work in Polish relief (1939-1940) and his interest in conservation. Other persons represented include William Henry Welch (1850-1934); Herbert Hoover, with whom Walcott worked regarding Belgian relief, the Food Administration, and later as Senator; William Howard Taft; and many leaders of the American business community.

Single manuscripts and small groups of manuscripts, including literary manuscripts, letters, and other documents. Materials are grouped under headings by author or corporate name.

The James Weldon Johnson and Grace Nail Johnson Papers provide evidence of the personal and professional lives of James Weldon Johnson, Grace Nail Johnson, and to a lesser degree, the Johnson and Nail families, spanning the years 1850 to 2005, with the bulk of material dating between 1900 and 1976. The papers chronicle Johnson's writing career and involvement in education, politics, and cultural affairs and consist of a variety of documents, including correspondence, writings, personal papers, scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, objects, and audiovisual materials. Johnson was involved in a number of significant movements and organizations during his lifetime, and, as a result, the Papers also provide insight into broader topics in American and African-American history during the twentieth century.

Chiefly correspondence and diaries of James Wesley Cooper documenting his career as a Congregational minister, and his service as a Fellow of Yale University (1886-1916). The only personal correspondence are forty-four letters from Cooper to his fiancée in 1865 and fourteen additional letters (1877-1905). The diaries (1869-1914) provide a daily record of his work as a minister and of his visits to churches and schools in the South supported by the American Missionary Association. He was an officer of the Association between 1903 and 1914. Also in the papers are a letter from Richard Ely to Elizur May, 1787 Jun 3, a resolution of the Hartford South Association, 1819 Jun 1 and minutes taken by Noah Porter of an ecclesiastical council meeting, 1837 Nov 13.