Delaware Miscellany collection

The Delaware Miscellany collection includes three large, green buckram-bound volumes compiled by William Ditto Lewis, which contain various documents pertaining to the history of Delaware and the surrounding region, and the University of Delaware. Many of the items housed in the collection provide biographical information about former University of Delaware faculty and staff, as well as historical background about the institution. Other items include newspaper articles about prominent Delaware figures, legends, geographic locales, and architectural landmarks, as well as black-and-white photographs of U.S. Naval vessels. Although the volumes are not dated, the age of many of the documents suggests that the volumes were compiled sometime between the late 1940s and late 1950s.

While the physical arrangement of the volumes does not reflect any overarching organizational scheme, each volume does contain an index. These indices, which have been compiled and reproduced in this finding aid, are useful for locating items relating to specific individuals or subjects. The indices are less helpful, however, in directing researchers to items within the collection that are related to one another either by origin, topic, time period, or creator. Therefore, some attempt has been made to overlay an organizational hierarchy based on origin and/or subject matter of the material in the contents list below.

The collection has been broken into two series. Series I. Historical essays and documents, 1825-1958, primarily contains works written or produced to provide historical background about the University, state, or region. This series is further subdivided into six subseries, which are: Subseries I.A. University of Delaware history, 1920-1957, Subseries I.B. University of Delaware faculty, staff, and alumni, 1908-1956, Subseries I.C. Newark history, 1897-1951, Subseries I.D. Delaware history, 1899-1958, Subseries I.E. General history, 1825-1956, and Subseries I.F. Henry Clay Reed student essays, 1927-1928. All of the subseries, save Subseries I. F. Henry Clay Reed student essays, are separated according to the subject matter of the items housed within the series. All of the documents contained within Subseries I.F. were originally written as student assignments by students in Henry Clay Reed's history courses. These essays, though all historical in nature, cover topics as varied as banking, politics, slavery, religion, and family genealogy, from throughout the region including Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

The second series, Series II. University of Delaware documents, 1911-1958, primarily consists of items generated by or for the University. This series consists of seven subseries, including the following: Subseries II.A. Speeches and addresses, 1951-1955, Subseries II.B. Biographies of honorary degree recipients, 1928-1958, Subseries II.C. Faculty biographical information, 1944-1952, Subseries II.D. Press releases, 1950s, Subseries II.E. Resolutions, 1911-1956, Subseries II.F. Committee reports and memorandum, 1936-1954, and Subseries II.G. Miscellaneous, 1928-1954. Of note in this series are an extensive list of honorary degree recipients from 1874-1958; several resolutions adopted by the University Board of Trustees upon the death of prominent individuals including, among others, Charles B. Lore, Hamilton M. Barksdale, Lewis West Mustard, Dr. Theodore R. Wolf, Dr. Charles Lyndall Penny, William Frederick Curtis, Frederic H. Robinson, Dr. Francis Hagar Squire, and Dr. Edward N. Vallandigham; copies of three commencement speeches from 1951, 1953, and 1955; and biographical information about former University of Delaware faculty members and staff.

Many well-known Delawareans are featured in this collection, including many for whom several University buildings are named. Among these men and women are Francis Alison; Harry Fletcher Brown; Walter Hullihen; William Henry Purnell; Amy Rextrew; Rev. Andrew K. Russell; Hugh Rodney Sharp; Margaret S. Sterck; Wilbur Owen Sypherd; Frank A. Virdin; and Theodore Wolf. Some of the notable landmarks and architectural structures featured in the collection include the Baltimore, Chesapeake and Delaware Bay Railroad; Barratt's Chapel; Doe Run Church; Fenwick Island; Fort Delaware; the Oaklands; Old Town Hall; Old Swedes Church; Shipping Creek Plantation; U.S.S. Delaware Battleship; the Wilmington Institute Free Library; and the Winterthur Museum. Organizations and companies discussed in the collection include, among others, the Du Pont Company; Friends School; Delaware Newspapers (including the Newark Post , Saturday Visitor , Newark Record , Newark Journal , and University of Delaware Review ); and the Underground Railroad.

The information found in this collection will be useful to researchers and students involved in a wide variety of topics related not only to University of Delaware history, but to the background of the First State itself.