Box 4265.001

This file contains a two-page untitled poem that was "composed on the death of Bebeuah(?) Stevens, who died June 27th, 1816." The poem mourns a woman who died at age nineteen and reflects on the eternal life of her soul from a Christian perspective.

This file contains a notebook full of handwritten poems with attributions to various people. The front inside cover is inscribed: "Elizabeth R. Shaw, Chillcothe, Dec. 20th, 1840." The file also includes two typewritten copies of a poem from the notebook, "All for the Best," with attributions to Elizabeth Shaw in Chillicothe, Ohio (December 20, 1840), and George P. J. Stober of Louisville, Kentucky (November 24, 1960).

This file contains a six-page poem, "Reveries," written by T. Y. K. in Chicago. The poem is about a "batchelor" who, while trying to write on the eve of Valentine's Day, falls asleep and dreams of a June day in the countryside.

This file contains an unitled two-page love poem written on stationery with the heading "Laconia, Indiana, 189--."

This file contains a handwritten version of the 1896 folk song "In the Baggage Coach Ahead." The song, by African American songwriter Gussie Davis, is about a man riding a train with his infant child who tells the other passengers that his wife "is dead in the coach ahead." There are five verses of the song included here.

This file contains a handwritten version of the lyrics to the American folk song "Little Mohe," about a sailor who meets a native woman while he is visiting her country.

This file contains a poem written by Frank Burrell addressed to people young and old, stating that it is the "twenty-fourth day of December" and calling on listeners to have a merry Christmas. The top of the paper bears the heading: "Opening Address." The file also includes an envelope addressed to Miss Crissie Burrell, Rocky Fork, Ohio, postmarked March 7, 1891.

This file contains a handwritten copy of the lyrics to the 1894 Christian song "The Great Judgment Morning," originally written by Bert Shadduck.

This file contains a handwritten poem titled "The Cowel Letter," by an unknown author, in which a woman plans to tell a man who had been courting her that "he is free" after she hears he has been courting another woman named Dora Lee. The poem is dedicated to "M. E. C."

This file contains part of a poem equating flowers with human virtues by an unknown author.

This file contains one page of heavy paper or card stock with handwritten music and lyrics to the Christian hymn "I Have Found a Hiding Place," which was originally written by American evangelist Charles Weigle in 1942. The verses are intact, but the bottom right-hand portion of the page is missing, along with some of the words to the song's chorus.

This file contains a handwritten two-page poem by an unknown author, "The Country Physician," which traces the challenging and thankless life of a country doctor.

One postcard to author and historian Hendrick W. van Loon, Esq, at the Netherlands Club, New York, from R. E. Mae Kungir(?) in a US Troop camp in England. The writer addresses van Loon as "Old Friend" and says, "even if you couldn't keep me awake with graphic word pictures of Erasmus and his illegitimate Satiyrsguruua you could make me remember always the professor and teacher who was scholarly without being pedantic ..."

Poet Paul Laurence Dunbar writes from Dayton, Ohio, to Mr. Earl N. Hale, in Dayton, Ohio, in response to Hale's request for an autograph. Dunbar writes of a recent illness but expresses much pleasure at recovery and the opportunity to provide the autograph to Hale.

This file contains one handwritten poem by an unknown author recounting a French Christmas story about a "little shepherd-maiden" who wishes to bring a gift to the newborn baby Jesus and is visited by an angel, after which roses bloom from the frozen ground.

This file contains one letter written from Fred R. Prusha, Fayette County chairman of the Iowa Poetry Day Association (IPDA), to Ortha Green, vice president of the IPDA. The letter is written from Hawkeye, Iowa, to Promise City, Iowa. Prusha lists many newspapers that have "given publicity," as well as newspapers that he expects to do so in the near future, and offers congratulations on a writing award Green won the previous spring.

This file contains one page with handwritten words and music by Anne Allen Crockett. The title of the song is written in Greek, and the lyrics are in English, with notes indicating that words and music were written at different times during 1954 and 1955.

This file contains two poems by Alabama Poet Laureate Bert Henderson that he submitted in 1962 to Judge Jones for possible publication in theAlabama Bible Society Quarterly, with related correspondence.

This file contains a two-page handwritten poem about the birth of Jesus Christ, by an unknown author.

This file contains two handwritten pages by an unknown author with a pun on the word "ate" using the number "8" to explain how many apples were eaten by Adam and Eve.

This file contains one typewritten letter from R. Howard of Bernard Quaritch, Limited, in London, England, to R. C. Riebel of Louisville, Kentucky. Howard is offering to sell a somewhat damaged 1623 copy of Shakespeare: Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies for 17,000 pounds ($47,600).

The collection contains letters to Harrison Hayford of Evanston, Illinois, from international book publishers/sellers. One letter is from Mario Casalini Ltd. in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the other is from Daijo-Shukutoku-Gakuen in Tokyo, Japan.

This file contains a presentation card displaying a commemorative stamp issued in 1998 honoring American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972), with an accompanying gold copy of the stamp.

This file contains a letter from William S. Weatherstone of Toronto, Canada, to the Pentucket Stamp Company in Haverhill, Massachusetts, about collecting and dealing in stamps and his own stamp and postcard collections primarily consisting of Revolutionary postage.

John L. Kent of Garnerville, New York, wrote to Lewis Ottenberg about stamp collecting. The letter is on common paper, but the elaborate letterhead appears to be hand drawn in black with green and yellow accents.

This collection contains one letter from Lieutenant Colonel Harvey E. Sheppard at the Muscle Shoals Project in Sheffield, Alabama, to Colonel John Pohl in Newport News, Virginia. The two had met at the Confederate Stamp Alliance convention in Richmond. In the letter, Sheppard mentions "sending along a used set of the Peace Issue, British Solomon Islands" and asks that Pohl forward any information he finds regarding Virginia Confederate postmarks.

This file contains contains three letters and notes sent between Roy Blomberg in Berwyn, Illinois, and people in France and Michigan concerning stamp collecting and exchanging.

This collection contains five letters to James Johnson of Anderson and Freeport, Illinois, about stamp collecting and a donation made for relief in the Philippines.

This file contains six air mail letters to Frank H. Bray, secretary of the Oceanic Exchange Club in Frankton, New Zealand. There are requests for stamps, pen pals, and applications for membership in the club. The letters come from writers in Belgium, Burma, Kenya, India, Pakistan, and Mauritius.

The collection contains letters to and from John Moohr of Chicago, Illinois, a stamp collector and dealer, about collection prices, specifically Ethiopian stamps.

The collection contains a letter from Charles Johnson of Grand Rapids, Michigan, to John about stamp collecting. He will be attending collection shows as both dealer and buyer.

Stanley Adams, president of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) writes from New York, New York, to Mr. Joe Moshay, a member of the ASCAP, in Beverly Hills, California. The Stanley Adams Letter was sent to provide the ASCAP member with a first-day cover bearing the commemorative $0.06 (six-cent) stamp issued by the United States Post Office in tribute to American composer and musician (and ASCAP member) W. C. Handy (1873-1958), known as "Father of the Blues."

This file contains a baseball card depicting Rudolph "Rudy" York, who played minor league baseball with the Shreveport Sports in 1933 and then moved into the major league in 1937 with the Detroit Tigers. In his career, he played for the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and Philadelphia Athletics, primarily as a first baseman. The card, no. 260 of a series 288 baseball stars, indicates that he had played catcher for the Tigers for two years at the time of printing (1939).

This file contains two cloth bookmarks. One is a ribbon dominated by an embroidered rectangle that reads: "J. P. Barnes, W. E. Holmes, 1854." The other is made from three ribbons sewn together and embroidered with the text: "Feb. 14th 1893."

The collection contains an invitation and admission card for the Governor's Derby Breakfast on the Capitol grounds in Frankfort, Kentucky, on 3 May 1986, prior to the 1986 running of the Kentucky Derby.

This file contains a color print of "Winter in the Country: The Old Grist Mill," a lithograph originally issued by American printmaking company Currier and Ives in 1864. The image of a snowy mill scene is taken from a painting by G. R. Durrie.

Written from "Opossum Station, A.Z., A.D. 1920," this anonymous letter expresses concern for Jeff's height, referring to the comic strip Mutt and Jeff, which was in syndication from 1907 to 1982.

This file contains an undated letter from Mary Pickford to Douglas Fairbanks Sr. She refers to him as "the very brave turkey hunter" and signs it as "Your funny friend."

The Stepin Fetchit Postcard depicts a scene from the movie The County Chairman, wherein Fetchit interacts with Will Rogers in an outdoor setting. The postcard features a reproduction of Fetchit's signature as well as an actual autograph by Fetchit.

This file contains five sketches and drawings in pencil, pen, and watercolor. Two are signed "Doug." Another, a cartoon of a woman holding a picture, includes the dialogue, "Gee, I hope Doug will give me this--I gotta hole in my plaster to cover."

A playbill for a production of Moss Hart's Winged Victory, performed in the Opera House on Wacker Drive at Madison in Chicago, Illinois, in January, 1945. According to the playbill, the company of Winged Victory consisted entirely of Army Air Forces personnel - 319 service personnel (cast, orchestra, choral group, and production staff) and thirty-nine civilians (cast and production staff).

This collection contains one program from the Montgomery Concert Courses presentation of Lauritz Melchior, tenor, with the Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, New York. The concert was given at the Sidney Lanier Auditorium in Montgomery, Alabama, on Monday, February 27.