Subseries I: Presidents of the United States, 1777 - 1959

Sub-Series

Staff Only

Dates

1777 - 1959

Creator

Washington, George, 1732-1799 (Person)

Access:

All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.

Extent

From the Collection: 17 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Condition Note:

The condition of the items contained within this subseries widely varies due to the amount of time covered, however a general note is that in most cases the more recent the document, the less fragile it is. In most of these documents, especially the ones from the 18th and 19th centuries, there are tears, stains, ink bleedthrough, ink fading, and a general browning of the paper. The more recent items show much less damage, usually exhibiting some paper browning or minor folds and tears. There are a few documents which should be handled with extreme care, including 9.1. Item 1: Letter from George Washington to Zebulon Butler, 1777 June 12, 9.2. Item 2: Letter from George Washington to Zebulon Butler, 1780 December 29, 9.11. Item 10: Signature of James Madison and James Breckenridge, no date, 9.21. Item 15: Letter from John Quincy Adams to Sarah H. Butler, 1844 May 18, and 9.29. Item 22b: Autograph of William H. Harrison, 9th U.S. President, 1834 July 27, 1812 July 20.

Subseries I: Presidents of the United States, 1777-1959

Subseries I: Presidents of the United States, 1777-1959 is arranged chronologically by president, and includes various types of materials including engravings of many of the figures, signatures, and many letters written by them or in some cases, their wives. As the name suggests, the subseries is centered around the Presidents of the United States, and includes items from every U.S president from George Washington up to Dwight D. Eisenhower. There are a few examples to this however, as there are also several items created by the wives of these figures, as well as some created by others. An interesting example of this is 9.9. Item 8, which is a letter “written” by James Madison, however the handwriting is actually that of his wife Dolley Madison (Payne). This subseries was personally collected by Gilbert Stuart McClintock throughout his life, with the subseries ending in 1959 and picking up with Subseries II: U.S. Presidents, 1986-2002, 2015 due to his death.

As previously noted, there are many portraits of the figures within the collection which can be seen in various mediums, such as engravings, prints, and photographs. Some notable artists involved with these include J. B. Longacre, B. Otis, G. Stuart, H.B. Hall & Sons, W.A Wilmer, J.W. Paradise, A.B. Durand, E. Wellmore, H. Inman, R.W. Dodson, J.R. Lambdin, J.B Forrest, and Charles Schlecht. Upon examining these pieces, however, a very large portion of them were created by H.B. Hall and/or his sons, with the names being attributed to pieces spanning from Thomas Jefferson all the way to William McKinley nearly a century later. The pieces we have within our collection under this name seem to mostly be created by Henry Bryan Hall himself or his son Henry Bryan Hall Jr.

The range of content covered within this subseries is quite vast due to multiple factors, mainly because of the large date range that it covers and because of how many different individuals the collection is attributed to. Some examples of the scenes and events covered within the the subseries include the assignment of troops during the American Revolutionary War, references to books written by presidents such as John Adams with “Discourses on Davila”, the purchase of property by President John Tyler’s daughter, the inauguration of President Zachary Taylor, a relief bill that was proposed during James Buchanan’s presidency, the affair between President Warren G. Harding and Caroline F. Phillips, and the construction of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park. There are also pieces that are in relation to the history of Wilkes University, such as a piece in which President Eisenhower specifically donated a letter to McClintock for it to become property of the institution, as he was aware of McClintock’s intention with his collection. These are just a few examples of the many topics covered within this subseries.