Engraved Metal Signature Plates: Sarah N. Whitman, Bernard Whitman, undated

The Whitman Family Papers contain correspondence, photographs, clippings, books, diaries, and memorabilia related to this prominent New England family, particularly the branch associated with Unitarian minister Jason Whitman (1799-1848). Approximately twelve files of correspondence, travel diaries, and notes document the activities of Jason’s son Bernard and his wife Minnie Hamilton Whitman, who lived in Brazil and Colombia in the 1870s and 1880s. Minnie Whitman wrote numerous letters from Pernambuco, Brazil, as well as a few from Rio de Janiero, describing her experience of Brazilian life to her mother, Mary Chase Hamilton, and other recipients. Some of the other travel materials in the collection recount observations of India. The photographs primarily depict people around the Boston, Massachusetts, area in the latter half of the nineteenth century, including members of the Whitman and Hamilton families. A few images represent individuals in South America or important family-related locations in New England.

The collection contains a patient symptom book that belonged to Dr. Martha F. Whitman, who received a medical degree in Boston in 1884. There are also Christian books and pamphlets by Jason and his brother Bernard Whitman (1796-1834); as well as memorabilia, financial documents, and genealogical materials related to the Whitman family in Massachusetts.