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MSS 154

Gallaudet Centennial Memorial Fund, est. 1883

Collection of the Gallaudet Centennial Memorial Fund, 1885-1891

Gallaudet University Archives

Descriptive Summary

Repository: Gallaudet University Archives

Call No.: MSS 154

Creator:

Title: Collection of the Gallaudet Centennial Memorial Fund, 1885-1891.

Quantity: 1.0 Linear Feet (2 document boxes)

Abstract:

Note: This document last updated 2006 January 6.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information: The collection of the Gallaudet Centennial Memorial Fund was in the Presidential Papers of Edward M. Gallaudet. The date of acquisition is unknown.

Processed by: Michael Olson. 2005 May.

Processing Note:

Conditions on Use and Access: This collection is open to the public with no restrictions. Photocopies may be made for scholarly research.

Related Material in the Archives:

See ALADIN

Historical Sketch

The Gallaudet Centennial Memorial Fund was organized by a committee of 18 members of the National Association of the Deaf at its 2nd National Convention in 1883. Its purpose was to raise funds for the erection of a memorial statue in honor of Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and his pupil, Alice Cogswell. The funds were raised by various people of the United States and its territories. The Memorial Fund committee proposed that the statue be situated on the National Deaf-Mute College grounds, now Gallaudet University. The committee commissioned a well-known sculptor, Daniel Chester French, to design and sculpt the statue. Amos G. Draper, a member of the Class of 1872 of the National Deaf-Mute College and a faculty member of the college, was responsible for collect funds and report to the committee. The funds were amounted to over $12,000, and the statue was completed in 1888.

The dedication of the statue occurred on the campus of the college in June 1889. The National Association of the Deaf convention was held on the campus at the same time. Also, a group of alumni of the college formed a new association, called Gallaudet College Alumni Association.

Scope and Content

The Gallaudet Centennial Memorial Fund collection consists of letters; drafts of program books; drafts of inscriptions for the stone base of the statue; invoices; list of names of contributors; and treasurer’s reports. The collection, which consists of approximately 1,700 pages, dates from 1885 to 1891. The bulk of the collection consists of letters from agents of each union who was responsible for sending funds, including the list of names of contributors. The next bulk of the collection consists of a list of names of each union’s contributors in the United States and its territories. The bulk dates are mostly between 1886 and 1889, of which the fund were collected. The largest subject in the collection is focused on fundraising for the construction of Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Alice Cogswell’s statue. Included in the collection, there are the original address for the unveiling of the statue written by Edmund Booth. Also included is an original poem written by a deaf poet, Laura Searing. The most interesting letters in the collection are that a deaf sculptor wrote a critical letter to Amos G. Draper for not selecting a deaf sculptor. A few letters were written by notable persons such as Augustus Saint Gaudens, a prominent sculptor; John McAllister Schofield, a Civil War general; and Olive Logan, a well-known actress and writer, and lecturer.

Series Descriptions and Folder Lists

No Series

Gallaudet Centennial Memorial Fund MSS 154

Box Folder Title of Folder Date
1 1 Classified List of Persons at the Banquet 1889
1 2 Draft of Inscriptions for the Stone Base n.d.
1 3 Draft of Program for the Banquet 1889
1 4 Draft of Program for the Unveiling of the Statue 1889
1 5 Draper, Amos G. 1885-1889
1 6 Edmund Booth’s Address at the Unveiling of the Statue 1889
1 7 Invoice from E. Morrison re: mailing tubes 1886
1 8 Invoice from Geo. W. Knox re: flags and omnibus 1889
1 9 Invoice from Gibson Brothers re: program books 1889
1 10 Invoice from J. H. Small and Sons, Florists re: decorations 1889
1 11 Invoice from Rudolph Reh re: decorations 1889
1 12 Invoice from Washington Granite Monumental Company re: cutting letters on stone 1889
1 13 Job Turner’s Address at the Unveiling of the Statue 1889
1 14 Laura Searing’s Poem for the Unveiling of the Statue 1889
1 15 Letters – Allabough, Brewster R. 1889
1 16 Letters – Axling, Philip 1888-1889
1 17 Letters – B 1886-1890
1 18 Letters – Ballin, Albert 1887
1 19 Letters – Bell, Alexander Graham 1886
1 20 Letters – Blattner, John W. 1886-1888
1 21 Letters – Booth, Frank W. 1889
1 22 Letters – Branum, William O. 1886-1887
1 23 Letters – Brown, Thomas L. 1886-1889
1 24 Letters – Buxton, Albert C. 1886-1889
1 25 Letters – C 1886-1889
1 26 Letters – Carlin, John 1889
1 27 Letters – Chapin, Edwin L. 1886-1889
1 28 Letters – Chase, William K. 1889
1 29 Letters – Clark, Edward – Architect of the United States Capitol 1889
1 30 Letters – Coleman, Thomas H. 1887-1888
1 31 Letters – D 1886-1887
1 32 Letters – Dantzer, Charles Orvis 1886-1888
1 33 Letters – Davidson, Samuel G. 1886-1889
1 34 Letters – Denison, James n.d.
1 35 Letters – D’Estrella, Theophilus 1886
1 36 Letters – Dobyns, John R. 1886-1887
1 37 Letters – Dougherty, George T. 1887-1889
1 38 Letters – Doyle, Thomas S. 1888-1889
1 39 Letters – E 1886-1889
1 40 Letters – F 1887-1889
1 41 Letters – Fairman, Henry M. 1888-1889
1 42 Letters – Fox, Thomas F. 1886-1889
1 43 Letters – Freeman, Samuel M. 1887
1 44 Letters – French, Daniel Chester 1888-1889
1 45 Letters – French, DeCoursey 1886-1889
1 46 Letters – Froehlich, Theodore A. 1886-1888
1 47 Letters – Froehlich, Theodore A. 1889-1891
1 48 Letters – G 1889
1 49 Letters – Gallaudet, Edward Miner 1889
1 50 Letters – George, D. Webster 1886-1889
1 51 Letters – Gross, Henry 1889
1 52 Letters – Gulick, Peter B. 1886
1 53 Letters – H 1886-1889
1 54 Letters – Haynes, Zacharias W. 1885-1889
1 55 Letters – Hodgson, Edwin A. 1885-1889
1 56 Letters – Holloway, Frank C. 1887-1889
1 57 Letters – Hunt, Hiram P. 1886-1889
1 58 Letters – J 1886-1889
1 59 Letters – Jenkins, Weston 1886-1889
1 60 Letters – Johnson, William S. 1886-1887
1 61 Letters – K 1887-1889
1 62 Letters – Kelley, Jeremiah P. 1886-1887
1 63 Letters – Kendrick, Matthew James 1889
1 64 Letters – L 1889
1 65 Letters – Larson, Lars M. 1889
1 66 Letters – Lawrence, R. B. 1886-1889
1 67 Letters – Lentz, John C. 1889
1 68 Letters – M 1887-1889
1 69 Letters – McDougal, Walter 1886-1889
1 70 Letters – McGregor, Robert P. 1889
1 71 Letters – Michaels, John W. 1886-1890
1 72 Letters – Murphy, James J. 1886-1888
1 73 Letters – N 1889
1 74 Letters – Navy Department re: music band 1889
1 75 Letters – Noble, John W. 1889
1 76 Letters – O 1887
1 77 Letters – P 1887-1889
1 78 Letters – Pach, Alexander L. 1889
1 79 Letters – Patterson, Robert 1888-1889
1 80 Letters – Phillips, Hiram 1887
1 81 Letters – R 1886-1889
1 82 Letters – Rogers, David S. 1886-1889
1 83 Letters – S 1886-1889
1 84 Letters – Saint Gaudens, Augustus 1887
1 85 Letters – Schofield, John McAllister 1889
1 86 Letters – Schoolfield, George T. 1887-1889
1 87 Letters – Searing, Laura C. R. 1889
2 1 Letters – Smith, James L. 1887-1889
2 2 Letters – Staples, Orrin G. of the Williard’s Hotel 1889
2 3 Letters – Strong, Charles K. W. 1886-1889
2 4 Letters – Syle, Henry Winter 1887-1889
2 5 Letters – T 1887-1889
2 6 Letters – Tilden, Douglas 1886-1887
2 7 Letters – Tresch, John F. J. 1887-1888
2 8 Letters – Trist, Thomas Jefferson 1889
2 9 Letters – Turner, Job 1886-1888
2 10 Letters – United States Trust Company of New York 1886-1889
2 11 Letters – Vail, Sidney J. 1887-1889
2 12 Letters – Veditz, George W. 1887-1889
2 13 Letters – W 1886-1889
2 14 Letters – Weeks, William H. 1886-1889
2 15 Letters – Wells, James S. 1886-1889
2 16 Letters – Wilkinson, Warring 1888-1889
2 17 Letters – William Ballantyne and Son 1886
2 18 Letters – Yale, Caroline A. 1887
2 19 Letters – Ziegler, Robert M. 1886-1889
2 20 Name of Contributors for Alabama
2 21 Name of Contributors for Arkansas
2 22 Name of Contributors for California
2 23 Name of Contributors for Colorado
2 24 Name of Contributors for Dakota Territory
2 25 Name of Contributors for Delaware
2 26 Name of Contributors for District of Columbia
2 27 Name of Contributors for Georgia
2 28 Name of Contributors for Great Britain
2 29 Name of Contributors for Illinois
2 30 Name of Contributors for Indiana
2 31 Name of Contributors for Iowa
2 32 Name of Contributors for Kentucky
2 33 Name of Contributors for Louisiana
2 34 Name of Contributors for Maine
2 35 Name of Contributors for Maryland
2 36 Name of Contributors for Massachusetts
2 37 Name of Contributors for Michigan
2 38 Name of Contributors for Minnesota
2 39 Name of Contributors for Mississippi
2 40 Name of Contributors for Missouri
2 41 Name of Contributors for Nebraska
2 42 Name of Contributors for New Jersey
2 43 Name of Contributors for New York
2 44 Name of Contributors for North Carolina
2 45 Name of Contributors for Ohio
2 46 Name of Contributors for Pennsylvania
2 47 Name of Contributors for Rhode Island
2 48 Name of Contributors for Tennessee
2 49 Name of Contributors for Texas
2 50 Name of Contributors for Virginia
2 51 Name of Contributors for Washington Territory
2 52 Name of Contributors for West Virginia
2 53 Name of Contributors for Wisconsin
2 54 Orders for Banquet 1889
2 55 Telegrams 1888
2 56 Treasurer’s Bulletin, No. 45 1887
2 57 Treasurer’s Reports 1886-1889
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