Coverage

• Allston, Washington - Materials 1868-1955
• Appleton Family - Papers 1752-1962
• Dana Collected Correspondence Collection 1808-1938
• Dana Family - Papers 1661-1960
• Dana, Elizabeth Ellery - Personal Papers 1829-1940
• Dana, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Papers1744-1971
• Dana, Richard Henry III - Papers 1797-1947
• Longfellow, Alexander Wadsworth - Family Papers 1795-1945
• Longfellow, Alice Mary - Papers 1850-1965
• Longfellow, Charles - Papers 1845-1909
• Longfellow, Frances Elizabeth Appleton - Papers 1825-1961
• Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth Family - Papers 1815-1971
• Longfellow House Trust - Papers 1852-1973
• Longfellow, Rev. Samuel - Papers 1845-1890
• Pratt, Frederick Haven and Pratt, Stephen D. - Papers 1783-1996
• Pratt, Patricia - Papers 1759-1994
• Wadsworth Longfellow Family - Papers 1610-1971

Washington Allston Papers Finding Aid

Washington Allston Materials as Compiled by H.W.L. Dana, 1868-1955  
18.8 linear feet

This collection consists primarily of materials collected or produced by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana that deal with the life and works of Washington Allston (1779-1843), considered America’s first Romantic artist.   A small portion of the papers are notes and correspondence of Harry Dana’s father, Richard Henry Dana III, and of his aunt, Elizabeth Ellery Dana, which Harry incorporated into his own Washington Allston research papers.   Also included are approximately 50 books from Washington Allston’s own library and many photographs of Allston’s works.

Appleton Family Papers Finding Aid

Appleton Family Papers, 1752-1962          
3.4 linear feet

This collection consists of personal materials, correspondence, official and legal documents of twenty-six members of the Appleton family, beginning with the papers of Nathan Appleton (1779-1861).   Nathan Appleton was a prominent businessman and politician associated with the development of the textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, and father of Frances Appleton Longfellow, the wife of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.   Also included is a section of research material compiled by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana on his Appleton relatives, including genealogies.

Dana Collected Correspondence Collection, 1808 -1938      
43 linear feet

Letters of primarily women members of the Dana family.   The letters document adolescent life in antebellum New England, including insights into boarding school life.   Civil War-era letters record the poignant thoughts of young women experiencing the war through losses of friends and privations at home.   A sizable portion of the collection includes correspondence generated by Elizabeth Ellery Dana (1846-1939), the sister-in-law of Edith Longfellow (Longfellow’s second daughter).   She was a prolific writer and historian who published a British officer’s 1770s diary, and wrote extensively on Revolutionary War history and the Dana family.

Dana Family Papers, 1661-1960           
67 linear feet

Includes collected manuscripts, genealogies and research material of over five generations of the Dana Family, including some correspondence of Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (1815-1882), author of Two Years Before the Mast, and legal consultant in the litigation surrounding the Fugitive Slave Law.   The collection also includes some papers of Francis Dana (1743-1811), appointed minister to the court of Catherine the Great in 1781, and Chief Justice of Massachusetts from 1791-1806.

Elizabeth Ellery Dana Personal Papers, 1829-1940              
8.6 linear feet

Elizabeth Ellery Dana (1846-1939) was one of the daughters of Richard Henry Dana, Jr. and Sarah Watson Dana.   A lifelong resident of Boston and Cambridge, her papers reflect the life of a middle class woman from a well-known family during the second half of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.   An interest in genealogy and family history, sparked when she was nineteen years old, continued her whole life as she gathered data for The Dana Family in America, which was not published until after her death.   Most of her research and writing for this book is contained in the Dana Family Papers (see above), although her correspondence also reflects this interest.   She collected the correspondence of her immediate family and it is believed she was responsible for the Dana Collected Correspondence Collection (see above).   This collection contains correspondence, notes, journals, legal records and photographs.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana Papers, 1744-1971    
100 linear feet

The papers of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana (1881-1950), grandson of both H.W. Longfellow and Richard Henry Dana, Jr., reflect the diversity of his personal interests and prolific literary output.   Harry Dana acted at the Longfellow House’s first curator, and did extensive research and writing about Revolutionary-era Cambridge, Longfellow’s life and works and the history of the Dana and Longfellow families.   Dana believed strongly in workers’ education and helped found the Boston Trade Union College, as well as lecturing at other workers’ schools.   A socialist and pacifist, Harry traveled extensively in the Soviet Union and became an expert on Russian Theater.

Richard Henry Dana III Papers, 1797-1947                    
32.3 linear feet

The papers of Richard Henry Dana III reveal a life of public service.   The childhood friend of the Longfellow children and husband of Edith Longfellow, Richard H. Dana III (1851-1931) was a lawyer who worked for the reform of the ballot system to make elections more democratic and reform of civil service to make democracy efficient.   He was president of the New England Conservatory of Music, the Boston YMCA, and worked tirelessly on behalf of the Episcopal Theological Seminary.   His papers include some of the records of his law practice, personal and business correspondence and much material related to civil service reform, including correspondence with his colleague and friend, Theodore Roosevelt.

Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Family Papers, c. 1795-1945      
est. 25.5 linear feet

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s brother Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Sr. (1814-1901) worked for the U.S. Coast Survey and his papers record much information about that work and the scandals in the organization.   Also included are a journal and letters documenting his trip to South America as secretary to his uncle, Captain (later Commodore) Alexander Scammell Wadsworth in 1833-1834.   Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. (1854-1934) was a noted Colonial Revival architect and partner in the firm of Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, one of the founders of the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts, and active in the Marine Museum of the Bostonian Society.   “Waddy’s” papers reflect his interests in architecture and boats.   His papers consist of correspondence, scrapbooks, log books and journals with a number of photographs, including some of European architecture and of his own commissions.   This collection also includes the papers of Mary King Longfellow (1852-1945), an accomplished artist, including her journals notated daily for many years, and Richard King Longfellow (1864-1914).

Alice Mary Longfellow Papers
Finding Aid

Alice Mary Longfellow Papers, 1850-1928                 
15.5 linear feet

The eldest daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Alice’s papers reveal her interest in preservation and education.   Correspondence documents her support of women’s education and Native American and African-American students, including work with Radcliffe College and the Tuskegee and Hampton Institutes.   In addition, Alice served on the Board of Directors of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities and the Mount Vernon Ladies Association.   Also included are her numerous articles, logbooks of travels abroad, photographs, and personal correspondence documenting her work to preserve her family’s home as a museum

Charles Longfellow Papers Finding Aid

Charles Longfellow (1844-1893) Papers, c. 1845-1909        
est. 4 linear feet

Processing of the papers of Henry and Fanny Longfellow’s oldest son will be completed by 2005.   The collection includes several dozen journals and diaries chronicling his world travels including Japan, China, India, and Russia.   Of special interest are the several hundred photographs of Charles Longfellow’s travels to Russia, India, Cambodia and the South Pacific during the late 1860s to 1880s.  

Rare photographs of Meiji-period Japan taken between 1871-1873 include photographs of the Ainu tribe.

Frances (Fanny) Appleton Longfellow Papers Finding Aid

Frances Elizabeth Appleton Longfellow Papers, 1825-1861    
4 linear feet

The papers of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s wife: a skilled artist, art collector, and insightful commentator on nineteenth-century Boston literary culture.   Fanny Longfellow’s papers include her sketchbooks, made as a teen-ager on trips across the United States and Europe, her dairies detailing her educational philosophy when raising her children, and letters documenting her interaction with intellectuals of the day, including Julia Ward Howe and Charles Sumner.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Family Papers, c. 1815-1971     
est. 25 linear feet

Processing of these papers will be completed in 2004.   This collection includes some papers of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (exclusive of his manuscripts, correspondence and journals which are held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University), those of his son Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow (1845-1921), daughters Edith Longfellow Dana (1853-1915) and Anne Longfellow Thorp (1855-1934), as well as his sisters Anne Longfellow Pierce (1810-1901) and Mary Longfellow Greenleaf (1816-1902), and his brother Stephen Longfellow (1805-1850) and their families.   The papers of Henry’s sister Anne document life in Portland, Maine during the latter half of the nineteenth century.   Since she lived in the Wadsworth-Longfellow House most of her life her papers document her stewardship of the house, which she donated to the Maine Historical Society as a memorial to her brother.   Papers of Longfellow’s daughters provide insights into their youth and travels, marriage, and contributions to the formation of the Longfellow House Trust, the preservation society dedicated to preserving the Craigie-Longfellow House.

Longfellow House Trust Papers, 1852-1973                
11 linear feet

Financial records, correspondence, administrative records and materials related to the management of the house as a museum.   The papers reveal the developing preservation philosophy for one of the oldest historic house museums, and include guest books noting the visits of many eminent guests to the Longfellow House, such as Paul Robeson.

The Rev. Samuel Longfellow (1819-1892) Papers, c. 1845-1890
est. 12 linear feet

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s youngest brother and biographer, Samuel was a Unitarian minister and author of many hymns still in use today.   His papers document his belief in Transcendentalism, Temperance, and Women’s Suffrage, and include correspondence with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, and others.   He was also interested in photography and experimented with calotypes while a student at Harvard in 1839 with his Harvard roommate Edward Everett Hale.

Frederick Haven Pratt & Stephen D. Pratt Research Papers, 1783-1996      
1.7 linear feet

These papers were generated as a result of research conducted by Frederick Haven Pratt, M.D. to publish The Craigies in 1942, and by his son, Stephen D. Pratt, to publish a new edition, The Craigies: A Footnote to the Medical History of the Revolution in 1996.   These materials focus primarily on Andrew Craigie, Jr., the first Apothecary General of the United States and former owner/resident of the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House.   Included are some primary legal documents and correspondence of the Craigie, Foster and Haven families dating from 1783-1840 .

Patricia R. Pratt Papers, 1759-1994                          
4.8 linear feet

This collection documents the grounds of the Longfellow House before, during, and after restoration by the Cambridge Plant and Garden Club in 1969-1972; ongoing maintenance of the Longfellow House and garden; and preservation and renovation of Longfellow Park.   The papers consist primarily of documentation generated by the Longfellow House and Garden Committee and the Longfellow Park Committee of the Cambridge Plant and Garden Club.   The papers were assembled by Patricia Pratt while she was a member of that club.   She served at times as president of the club and chairman of the Longfellow House Garden Committee.

Wadsworth-Longfellow Family Papers, 1610-1971            
27 linear feet

The papers of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s ancestors and their close relatives include journals and diaries maintained by Henry Wadsworth while serving on the USS Constitution, and letters of Peleg Wadsworth, general to George Washington and member of Congress.   Also included are the papers of Judge Stephen Longfellow (1750-1824), Henry’s grandfather; Stephen Longfellow (1776-1849), Henry’s father who was a lawyer in Portland, Maine and member of Congress; and Capt. Samuel Longfellow, Henry’s uncle, as well as letters from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s mother, Zilpah Wadsworth Longfellow (1796-1851).   Primarily to members of her family, they reveal her years growing up in Maine, family history, domestic life, her literary and religious interests, visits to Henry in Cambridge, and visits to Plymouth.  

Due to her husband Stephen’s frequent travels on business and to Washington, D.C. as a member of Congress, there are several years of extensive correspondence with him during the 1820s.   Family groups represented in the collection include those of William Longfellow (1650-1690) (“the Emigrant”), Stephen Longfellow (1685-1764), Peleg Wadsworth (1748-1829), and Stephen Longfellow (1776-1849).