Mississippi Library Association

Papers of President Grant find a new home at MSU Libraries

Through an agreement signed recently with the Ulysses S. Grant Association, correspondence, photographs, books, memorabilia, and other documents related to the military career and presidency of Ulysses S. Grant now are being housed at Mitchell Memorial Library on the campus of Mississippi State University.

In December, MSU Libraries officials took delivery of nearly 90 filing cabinets of original and photocopied manuscripts, the largest single Grant collection in the world. Formerly housed at Southern Illinois University, the material includes letters written to leading political and military figures of the day, as well as epaulets, headgear, diaries, and other war memorabilia.

Civil War scholar John F. Marszalek, a Mississippi State University Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, is assuming the duties of executive director and managing editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Association. He continues a 46-year-old project begun by the late John Y. Simon, another nationally renowned scholar who died in 2008 in Illinois. Marszalek said Mississippi State University now becomes one of only a few U.S. institutions to house a collection of presidential papers.

Over the next five years, Marszalek and MSU Libraries will be leading efforts to produce a supplementary volume, as well as a scholarly edition of Memoirs, the Union Army general-in-chief and 18th president’s autobiography. The Libraries also will be working to develop a digitized version of the entire series and a cumulative index, which will precede a formal opening of the collection to visiting scholars.

“Mississippi State is now the premier source of materials for research about a seminal figure in the nation’s history,” the veteran historian observed. “This is a remarkable accomplishment for our institution.”

In early May 2009, Mitchell Memorial Library will be the host for the Grant Association’s first national meeting to be held in the South.

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) is renowned for a military career in which he rose through the officer ranks ultimately to lead all Union forces during the 1861-65 conflict. He was architect of the 1863 Vicksburg campaign, among others, that effectively split the Confederacy and is considered a key battle in the war.

The Grant Collection at Mitchell Memorial Library joins those of former U.S. senator John C. Stennis and other more contemporary political figures in the Libraries’ Congressional and Political Research Center.

“We are very grateful for the support of our administrative leadership, who saw the importance of the Collection and helped provide resources necessary to secure its placement at Mississippi State,” said Frances N. Coleman, Dean of Libraries. “These papers have a significant place in our nation’s history, and it is a major honor for Mitchell Memorial Library to house them.”

Organized in 1962 during the Civil War centennial, the Ulysses S. Grant Association has maintained ownership of the papers during their earlier sojourns at Ohio State and Southern Illinois universities. Rhode Island Chief Justice Frank J. Williams, winner of Mississippi State’s 2006 MSU Distinguished Jurist Award, is Association president. A former commissioner of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and a New York Metropolitan Museum of Art vice president, as well as two direct Grant descendants, are other officers.

For more information on the Ulysses S. Grant Collection, including photographs of memorabilia and photographs from the official signing of the acceptance agreement, and more information on MSU Libraries, please visit http://library.msstate.edu/

Submitted by
Angela M. Patton
Library Assistant
Mississippi State University Libraries

Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum and First Lady Rhonda Keenum view a portrait of Ulysses S. Grant at Mitchell Memorial Library prior to a program officially accepting the Grant Collection for MSU.

Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum shares remarks during the January 30th, 2009, program officially accepting the Grant Collection for MSU.

Ulysses S. Grant Association Executive Director John F. Marszalek (left) and Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum sign the official documents accepting the Grant Collection for MSU. Dean of Libraries Frances N. Coleman stands to the president’s left.

Photographs by Jim Tomlinson – MSU Libraries

Entry Filed under: News
Posted on: February 17th, 2009