Walter A. Powell letters to William P. Frank

Collection

Identifier: MSS 0098-F0184

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

Delaware historian Walter A. Powell wrote these four letters ranging in dates from 1928 to 1978 to Wilmington News Journal columnist William P. (Bill) Frank in response to Frank's inquiries about articles, pamphlets, or books written by Powell.

In the four letters Powell responded to requests for information or copies of his published work. Powell complimented Frank on his columns or commented on Frank’s printed work related to Delaware’s history, particularly Frank’s Delaware Sketches . Powell also thanked Frank for his compliments on Powell's own book, A History of Delaware . The letters suggest that a mutual respect existed between these two Delaware historians.

These letters were originally laid in Bill Frank’s copy of Since Coming to America written by Ebba Victoria Krebs, which is cataloged with imprints in Special Collections. Accompanying the letters is one of Mrs. Henrik Krebs's visiting cards, a prospectus for Walter Powell’s A History of Delaware , and a five-page paper titled "Henrik Johannes Krebs." The Krebs paper bears autograph notes on the verso of several pages and seems to be information toward a speech related to Krebs. The last paragraphs mention the Krebs school in Newport, Delaware, which was donated by Henrik Krebs to the community in 1926. The final sentence reads: "The principal of the junior high school, who will introduce you, is Mr. Michael Simmons," suggesting that a speech or presentation was being prepared.

Dates

Creation: 1928-1978
Creation: Majority of material found within 1934-1935

Creator

Powell, Walter A. (Walter Anderson), 1855-1948 (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials entirely in English.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, http://library.udel.edu/spec/askspec/

Walter A. Powell

Walter A. Powell, formerly a Judge of the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, was a Delaware historian who wrote A History of Delaware (1928) and The Pilgrims and Their Religious, Intellectual and Civic Life (1923).

The Christopher Publishing House, Boston. Flyer forA History of Delaware, 1928.

William P. Frank

Delaware journalist William P. Frank, widely known as Bill Frank, was a newspaper columnist and radio commentator for over 65 years. Bill Frank was also a Delaware historian, a Judaic scholar, a Shakespearean actor, and social activist. Though born in New York City in 1905, Frank grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. He died in Wilmington on August 21, 1989.

"William P. Frank Scholarship." http://www.degridiron.org/scholarship.html (accessed March 2, 2011).