Shorter Features
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The American Archivist / Vol. 43, No. 4 / Fall 1980 485 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/4/485/2746744/aarc_43_4_b11374522623124h.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 Shorter Features MICHAEL J. SULLIVAN, Editor The Shorter Features department serves as a forum for sharply focused archival topics which may not require a full-length article. Members of the Society and others knowledge- able in areas of archival interest are encouraged to submit papers for consideration. Shorter Features should range from 500 to 1,000 words in length and contain no annota- tion. Papers should be sent to: Michael J. Sullivan, Department Editor, the American Archi- vist, National Archives Building, Washington, DC 20408. Before Hyde Park: The Rutherford B. Hayes Library THOMAS A. SMITH C. Hayes, the President's second son, spec- ified that a fireproof building be erected MANY WOULD BE SURPRISED to learn that by the state as a library and museum to the nation's first presidential library was house the family's gift of the nineteenth established to house the papers of Ruth- President's personal library, papers, and erford B. Hayes, and not those of Franklin personal effects. D. Roosevelt. Although affiliated with the In 1912, ground was broken in Fremont, Ohio Historical Society, the Hayes Library Ohio, for the Hayes Commemorative Li- has maintained an independent existence brary and Museum. Nearly four years through the governance of its own board later, on Memorial Day, 1916, the building of trustees since its beginnings in the early was completed and dedicated to the public. twentieth century. It remains the only ma- A library annex was dedicated on 4 Octo- jor presidential library outside the jurisdic- ber 1922, the one hundredth anniversary tion of the National Archives and Records of the birth of Rutherford B. Hayes, dou- Service. bling the size of the original structure. Sub- The origins of the Rutherford B. Hayes sequent additions of east and west wings in Library can be traced back to March 1910, 1967 further increased the dimensions of when the President's family deeded Spie- the library to its present size. gel Grove, their father's estate, to the State The research center occupies the entire of Ohio. The gift, transacted through Webb second floor and four stack levels in the 486 The American Archivist/ Fall 1980 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/4/485/2746744/aarc_43_4_b11374522623124h.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 The Rutherford B. Hayes Library, Fremont, Ohio. Photograph courtesy of the Library. library building. The main reference area greatest resource. Although small by to- is conveniently situated in the original day's standards of presidential papers, the building between the east and west wings Hayes papers contain over 164 linear feet and can accommodate up to twenty-five of material and document the career of a researchers at a time. The professional man whose life spanned nearly three-quar- staff of director, manuscripts librarian, ters of the nineteenth century. In addition books librarian, and librarian in charge of to serving as President of the United States, special collections, oversee holdings of more 1877-81, Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-93) than 1 million manuscripts, ranging in date ably served in the capacities of criminal from 1676 to the present, and over 100,000 lawyer, city solicitor of Cincinnati, U.S. bound volumes, excluding pamphlet ma- congressman, Ohio's first three-term gov- terial. The collections of the library contain ernor, and philanthropist. One of the fea- a diverse range of information primarily tures setting this library apart from other focusing on the latter half of the nine- presidential libraries is the alphabetical in- teenth century and the early twentieth. dex to the President's personal correspon- Some of the areas in which collections are dence. This extensive card index lists each especially strong are: Civil War and Recon- manuscript by author(s) and contains cross- struction; the Spanish-American War; local reference cards for every individual men- history; civil service, monetary, and prison tioned in the text. Item-by-item indexes are reforms; social history; education; and the also available for the more than 77,000 American Indian. The library also contains manuscripts which make up the papers of President Hayes's personal library of more Lucy Webb Hayes, the Hayes children, and than 10,000 volumes. The President's fine other family members. assemblage of early Americana has been Also, the Hayes Library actively collects cataloged and is available for use by qual- manuscripts of individuals associated with ified researchers. the federal government during Hayes's The personal papers of Rutherford B. four years as President, as well as material Hayes constitute, by far, the library's relating to contemporaries of the Presi- Shorter Features 487 dent. In addition, the library maintains more than a hundred years has played host several special collections, one of the most to a bevy of distinguished visitors. Many of prominent of which is the William Dean the more-than-a-century-old trees on the Howells collection embodying nearly 400 grounds bear small plaques honoring the pieces of correspondence, both personal visits of U.S. Presidents, Supreme Court Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/4/485/2746744/aarc_43_4_b11374522623124h.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 and family; several book manuscripts; and justices, generals, admirals, and other numerous first editions of the noted Amer- prominent guests. The iron gates which ican author and former editor of The At- ringed the White House during the Hayes lantic Monthly. The remainder of the li- administration can be found at the six en- brary's holdings consist of local history trances to the grove. The grounds also con- materials, photographs (over 20,000), mi- tain a portion of the old Sandusky-Scioto crofilm, and newspapers. Indian Trail over which numerous captives Since 1916, the Rutherford B. Hayes were transported to Detroit and to Jun- Library has evolved into a research center queindundeh, the principal Wyandot war for the study of America during the last village located along the Sandusky River in half of the nineteenth century. Since the Fremont. institution's inception, its rich resources The Rutherford B. Hayes Library and have contributed generously to scholarly the other component parts of the Hayes research, including the publication of as- State Memorial are jointly administered by sorted historical monographs on President the Hayes Foundation and the Ohio His- Hayes and on the period. Today, the na- torical Society. In addition to the library, tion's oldest presidential library is involved the site also includes the Hayes residence, in such enterprises as the microfilm edition a museum located in the library building, of the Rutherford B. Hayes Papers and the and the tomb of Rutherford and his wife production of the Hayes Historical Journal, Lucy. The newest addition to the complex a semi-annual publication of the Hayes is the restored nineteenth-century home of Historical Society. Charles M. Dillon, a neighbor. Situated ad- The Hayes Library was built within the jacent to Spiegel Grove, the Dillon House confines of the Hayeses' beautiful twenty- serves as a museum annex and as a guest five acre wooded estate. Named after the house for visiting scholars doing research German word for mirror, for the reflective at the library. pools of water which collect on the ground Both the Hayes home and the museum after a rain shower, Spiegel Grove for offer the visitor a unique view of America The Hayes residence. Photograph courtesy of the Rutherford B. Hayes Library. 488 The American Archivist/ Fall 1980 of more than a century ago. Built in 1863 the life and times of Rutherford B. Hayes by Sardis Birchard, Rutherford's bachelor and his family. Exhibits include specimens uncle, and enlarged in 1873, 1880, and of the famous White House china, com- 1889, the spacious Victorian residence of plete with sideboard used at the executive the Hayes family contains original furnish- mansion while Hayes was President; the Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/43/4/485/2746744/aarc_43_4_b11374522623124h.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 ings that belonged to the former President presidential carriage; daughter Fanny's and First Lady and their five children. The two doll houses; Civil War military equip- museum, located on the first floor and ment; and numerous American Indian and ground level of the Hayes Library, features oriental artifacts. an assortment of memorabilia depicting THOMAS A. SMITH is the manuscript librarian on the staff of the Rutherford B. Hayes Library, in Fremont, Ohio. Collecting Archives in Thailand HERBERT R. SWANSON DURING THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, I have tations which make it an always fascinating had the unusual fortune and rare oppor- and sometimes frustrating area in which to tunity to work in a unique collecting field work. Two factors are especially impor- at a small college in Southeast Asia. Though tant: the influence of Buddhism on Thai not without trials and frustrations, this ex- culture, and the Thai attitude toward social perience has been a positive and deeply classes and the past. rewarding one. The Asian mind in its Thai Buddhism continues to exert a strong expression has not proven to be particu- social and cultural influence. It shapes the larly mysterious, but it constantly requires attitudes of all Thais, whatever religious that I reexamine my own thinking. A West- label they may wear. Buddhism is a religion erner working in an Asian setting must be- of detachment and reflection wherein the come particularly sensitive to the cultural everyday is considered superficial and un- and historical environment.