Miscellaneous Manuscripts collection

The Miscellaneous Manuscripts collection covers information from the early eighteenth century up through the twentieth century. Most of the collection originates from Williamstown, Massachusetts and surrounding areas, with some materials from New England and the middle Atlantic states. The bulk of the collection has a Williams College focus: from and about the presidents, the alumni, faculty, and students, including documents from and about Ephraim Williams, Jr. Also represented are notable figures in American history, from the colonial period to the twentieth century. The collection consists largely of correspondence, but also sermons, deeds to land and financial records, and autographs; Williams-related documents include class lists, book lists, lecture notes, student resolutions and petitions, biographical sketches, and planning documents related to notable College events. The Williams documents provide insight into the operation of the College in its early years, communication about its important events, such as the relocation controversy, the centennial, fires around campus, as well as subjects on the minds of students. Of particular note in the collection are documents from prominent figures in eighteenth and nineteenth century America: Cotton Mather, Increase Mather, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and Booker T. Washington. Many of the early documents (some undated) consist of sermons bound into volumes.