Inventory of the Jane and William Pease Papers, 1804 - 1992
Avery Research Center College of Charleston 125 Bull Street Charleston, SC 29401 USA
http://avery.cofc.edu/archives Phone: (843) 953-7609 | Fax: (843) 953-7607 Table of Contents
Descriptive Summary...... 3 Biographical Note...... 3 Collection Overview...... 3 Restrictions...... 4 Subject Headings...... 4 Administrative Information...... 5 Detailed Description of the Collection...... 6 1. Research Articles, undated...... 6 2. Primary Documents: Slavery, Free People of Color and Abolition, 1804-1873...... 6 3. Charleston Free People of Color: Statistical Data, 1980-1992...... 7 4. Research Notes, 1811-1865...... 7 5. Microfilm, 1826-1889...... 8 Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston
Descriptive Summary Title: Jane and William Pease Papers,
Dates: 1804 - 1992
Creator: Pease, Jane H. and Pease, William Henry.
Abstract: Jane H. Pease (born 1929) and William H. Pease (born 1924), professors emeritus from the the University of Maine, Orono, and former associate professors at the College of Charleston, wrote numerous books and articles on abolition, slavery, the history of Charleston, and many other topics.
The collection consists of research material created and collected by the Peases for numerous projects, such as Bound With Them in Chains, 1972 and They Who Would be Free, 1974. The materials document slaves and free blacks in Charleston, South Carolina, national abolition societies, disunion addresses, and pamphlets and writings from figures prominent in the abolition movement. The collection contains cards abstracting information on Charleston slaves and free blacks, and abolitionists and their societies; with many bibliographic entries on these and other subjects as well. The collection also contains a statistical database of Charleston free people of color (ca. 1830-1840), with a code partially explaining the database and what various columns report. The microfilm reels include information regarding abolition societies and their activities (circa 1820s-1860s), newspapers (circa 1826-1868), correspondence of abolitionist figures, and various records from government and private sources regarding black labor and education during the Civil War.
Extent: 8.5 linear feet(2 archival boxes, 5 record cartons
Repository: Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston
Call Number: AMN 1019
Language of Material: Material in English
Biographical Note
Jane H. Pease (born 1929) and William H. Pease (born 1924), professors emeritus from the University of Maine, Orono, and former associate professors at the College of Charleston, wrote numerous books and articles on abolition, slavery, the history of Charleston, and many other topics.
Collection Overview
The collection consists of research material created and collected by the Peases for numerous projects, such as Bound With Them in Chains, 1972 and They Who Would be Free, 1974. The materials document slaves and free blacks in Charleston, South Carolina, national abolition societies, disunion addresses and pamphlets and writings from figures prominent in the abolition movement, including a memoir and other materials regarding abolitionist Samuel J. May, materials by and about Joshua R. Giddings, an antislavery congressman, and abolitionist Stephen S. Foster. The collection contains cards abstracting information on Charleston slaves and free blacks, and abolitionists and their societies; with many bibliographic entries on these and other
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subjects as well. The collection also contains a statistical database of Charleston free people of color (circa 1830-1840), with a code partially explaining the database and what various columns report. The microfilm reels include information regarding abolition societies and their activities (circa 1820s-1860s), newspapers (circa 1826-1868), correspondence of abolitionist figures, and various records from government and private sources regarding black labor and education during the Civil War, especially in the Port Royal region of South Carolina. Of note is the minute book of Vigilant Committee of Philadelphia (1839-1844), arm of the Vigilant Association that provided aid for runaway slaves. Also worthy of mention is the William F. Allen diary (1863-1865); Allen, a southern agent for the Freedmen's Aid Commission, describes his trip from New York to Port Royal, commenting on freedmen, the Union Army, and the War. Also includes is the partial papers of William F. King (circa 1830s-1850s) an abolitionist minister and founder of Elgin Society and settlement in Canada, for free blacks and slaves.
Collection Arrangement
Research Articles
Primary Documents: Slavery, Free People of Color and Abolition
Charleston Free People of Color: Statistical Data
Research Notes
Microfilm
Restrictions Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright Notice
The nature of the Avery Research Center's archival holdings means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Avery Research Center claims only physical ownership of most archival materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
Subject Headings
Abolitionists -- United States -- Biography.
African Americans -- Canada.
African Americans -- History -- To 1863.
African Americans -- South Carolina -- Charleston -- History -- To 1863.
African Americans -- South Carolina -- Port Royal -- History.
African Americans -- Statistics.
Allen, William Francis, 1830-1889.
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Antislavery movements -- United States.
Elgin Society.
Freedmen -- South Carolina -- Charleston.
Freedmen -- South Carolina -- Port Royal.
Foster, Stephen S. (Stephen Symonds), 1809-1881.
Giddings, Joshua R. (Joshua Reed), 1795-1864.
King, William, 1812-1895.
May, Samuel J. (Samuel Joseph), 1797-1871.
Pease, Jane H.
Pease, William Henry, 1924-
Slavery -- United States -- History.
South Carolina -- History -- 1775-1865.
Vigilant Committee of Philadelphia.
Administrative Information Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Jane and William Pease Papers, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Donated by Jane and William Pease, March 1992
Processing Information
Processed by Lance Brodrero, May 2006
Encoded by Melissa Bronheim, August 2010
Edited by Melissa Bronheim, August 2010
Funding from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation supported the processing of this collection.
Funding from the Council on Library and Information Resources supported the collection processing and encoding of this finding aid.
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Detailed Description of the Collection
1. Research Articles, undated
Box 1 Folder 1 Slavery and Free Blacks Journal Articles
Box 1 Folder 2 Abolition, Reconstruction and Civil Rights journal Articles 2. Primary Documents: Slavery, Free People of Color and Abolition, 1804-1873
Documents in this series are photcopied material
Box 1 Folder 3 Slavery and Free Blacks, 1819-1845
Includes a list of those involved in Denmark Vesey conspiracy, burial records and marriage records including some African Americans at St. Stephens Chapel, and a broadside, "Rules and Regulations of the Coloured Ministers, Elders and Members of the Baptist Church, in Charleston, South Carolina."
Box 1 Folder 4 Free Negro Books, Charleston, South Carolina, 1828, 1838 and 1841
Lists the names of Charleston's free blacks and their addresses.
Box 1 Folder 5 Slaves, Slavery and Free Blacks Court and Legislative Materials, 1820-1835
Includes a portion of Magistrate's court register with some references to slaves; court case of South Carolina versus Edward Smith, a sailor who distributed abolitionist material to Charleston blacks; "Petition for Change of Trustee and Relief" for William and Laura Decoster and copies of Charleston laws pertaining to slaves.
Box 1 Folder 6 The Law of Magistrates and Constables, undated
By B.C. Pressley, regarding laws and regulations for Charleston, South Carolina.
Box 1 Folder 7 Antislavery and Abolition Materials, 1804-1863
Includes "Address of the American Convention for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery;""Declaration of Sentiments" and the constitution of the American Antislavery Society; "Address to the Abolitionists of Massachusetts" from the Massachusetts Antislavery Society; pages from the Antislavery Advocate;"To the People of the United States" from the Antislavery Examiner;"Last Speech of John Brown;" proceedings of "National Emigration Convention of Colored People," regarding abolition, Fugitive Slave Act, the settlement of African Americans in Canada and their emigration to such places as the West Indies, Central and South America. With copies of addresses from the American Antislavery Society, the Cleveland Disunion Convention and the Worcester, Massachusetts Disunion Convention explaining their desire to separate politically, economically and socially from slaveholders.
Box 1 Folder 8 Joshua R Giddings Materials, 1842-1844
Includes copy of 1842 pamphlet published under his pseudonym "Pacificus" titled "The Rights and Privileges of the Several States in Regard to Slavery, By a Whig of Ohio," regarding abolition and politics; and photocopy of pamphlet entitled, "A Letter From Hon. J.R. Giddings, Upon the Duty of Anti-Slavery Men in the Present Crisis."
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Box 1 Folder 9 Stephen S. Foster Pamphlets, 1851-1855
Entitled, "Letter to Nathaniel Barney and Peter May of Nantucket" in which he discusses the views of American churches in respect to slavery and abolition and "Revolution the Only Remedy for Slavery" wherein he advocates immediate abolition.
Box 1 Folder 10 Abolitionist Samuel J. May Autobiographical Sermon, 1867
Entitled, "A Brief Account of His Ministry Given in a Discourse."
Box 1 Folder 11 "Memoir of Samuel Joseph May", 1873
Regarding life, ministry, educational and anti-slavery work.
Box 1 Folder 12 Content Listing of Microfilm Reels 3. Charleston Free People of Color: Statistical Data, 1980-1992
Box 2 Folder 1 Charleston Free Blacks: Code Book, 1992
Provides a key to explain numerical codes used in compiling a statistical analysis of Charleston's free black population. With lists of numerical codes given to street address and occupations. As well as a note by Jane Pease about the computer program used, the abandonment of the project, and the indecipherability of some of the data.
Box 2 Folder 2 Charleston's Free People of Color, circa 1980
Includes an alphabetical lists of free blacks, followed by columns of numbers, some columns matching to the code book values noted above. With sections on Heads of Household, household composition, gender, city directory, Free Negro Books, ward and street, and occupation frequencies, with references to 1830 1840 censuses. 4. Research Notes, 1811-1865
Note cards contain information compiled by Jane and William Pease during their research.
Box 3 Folder 1 Free blacks of Charleston: A-L, 1811-1860
Includes list from the 1830 census and the 1811-1860 Free Negro Capitation Tax Books, South Carolina with some addresses, some listings of occupation, number of adults and children in the households, organizations belonged to and if slave holders.
Box 3 Folder 2 Free blacks of Charleston: M-Z, 1811-1860
Includes a subdivision,""All Slave Households, 1828-1842," which lists number and gender of people in households marked as all slaves.
Box 3 Folder 3 Data on Afrcian Americans Abstracted from Charleston Newspapers, 1790-1858
Chronologically arranged with private papers and legal documents, focusing on life and labor of African Americans in the city.
Box 4 Folder 1 Abolitionists
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Alphabetically arranged with information on people active in the abolition movement; contains a brief biography of each and occasional quotes. Information was used to write Bound With Them in Chains.
Box 4 Folder 2 Black Abolitionist Bibliography
List sources on black abolitionists. Also includes lists for secondary sources on slavery, abolition, the Civil Rights movement and black culture.
Box 4 Folder 3 Antislavery Bibliography
Alphabetically lists sources by author of books and articles on the topic.
Box 5 Folder 1 Abolition, Slavery, and Figures Prominent in the Abolition Movement, circa 1600s-1835
Includes note cards arranged chronologically containing brief quotes and other information from various primary sources.
Box 5 Folder 2 Abolition, Slavery, and Figures Prominent in the Abolition Movement, 1836-1841.
Box 5 Folder 3 Abolition, Slavery, and Figures Prominent in the Abolition Movement, 1842-1848.
Box 6 Folder 1 Abolition, Slavery, and Figures Prominent in the Abolition Movement, 1849-1853.
Box 6 Folder 2 Abolition, Slavery, and Figures Prominent in the Abolition Movement, 1854-1860.
Box 6 Folder 3 Abolition, Slavery, and Figures Prominent in the Abolition Movemen, 1861-1900.
Box 7 Folder 1 "Samuel J. May, 1797-1854"
Includes information regarding abolitionist Samuel May including brief quotes by and about him from a variety of sources.
Box 7 Folder 2 "Samuel J. May, 1855-1871"
Box 7 Folder 3 Abby Kelley and Stephen S. Foster
Arranged chronologically with primary source quote; the Fosters were well known abolitionists from New England. 5. Microfilm, 1826-1889
The materials have been duplicated during the course of the Peases research.
Items may not be reproduced. See individual repositories for copyright information.
Box Microfilm/1 Abolitionist Publications, 1863-1868
With excerpts from the "Pennsylvania Freedmen's Bulletin", a pamphlet by abolitionist James Miller McKim entitled "The Freedmen of South Carolina"; various pages from reports of Pennsylvania freedman's associations; and various pages from a journal published by Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery.
Box Microfilm/2 Abolitionist Publications: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1826-1865
Includes "The Genius of Universal Emancipation", "Pine and Palm""Independent""Freedmen's Advocate""Free South", a Union paper published in
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Beaufort during the Civil War regarding land and freedmen; and the "New Harmony Gazette" regarding the establishment of "Nashoba," a utopian community in western Tennessee backed by Marquis de Lafayette and Robert Owen that welcomed free blacks and slaves. Also some correspondence from the "First Annual Report of the Port Royal Relief Committee" listing contributors and a series of general orders from Union headquarters in Port Royal regarding land sales, freedmen and civilians.
Box Microfilm/3 Vigilant Association of Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1837-1861
Includes the "Minute Book of the Vigilant Committee of Philadelphia." Also includes constitution and annual address of the African Civilization Society.
Box Microfilm/4 American Convention for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery Minutes: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1828-1832
Box Microfilm/5 Oliver Johnson Correspondence: Vermont Historical Society, 1861-1889
Includes material regarding slavery and abolition. Johnson was a member of the Vermont Antislavery Society.
Box Microfilm/6 Abolitionist Newspapers: American Antiquarian Society, 1855-1863
Includes the Antislavery Advocate, Weekly Anglo-African, and Frederick Douglass' Paper regarding free blacks in Canada, Haiti, slavery, and abolition.
Box Microfilm/7 Mooreland Collection at Howard University, 1853-1866
Includes pages from the "Fourth Annual Report of the Elgin Association", an organization established to oversee the migration of salves and free blacks to Canada; the "Emancipation League," a group of abolitionists seeking immediate emancipation as a war aim; the "New England Educational Commission," an organization that sent teachers and supplies to freedmen; the "First Annual Report of the Educational Commission for Freedmen"; the "Freedmen's Record," official reports from white teachers; an address delivered by J.Miller McKim, a prominent member of the Pennsylvania Antislavery Society; the "National Freedman," a publication of the National Freedman's Relief Association; "Pennsylvania Freedmen's Relief Association"; and the "Official Reports of Edward L. Pierce," a northern attorney stationed in Port Royal, South Carolina.
Box Microfilm/8 Department of the Treasury: National Archives, 1861-1864
Includes general records regarding Port Royal area land and cotton confiscated by the Union Army, also includes information regarding appointment of a general agent over Sea Island cotton and employment of slaves with paid wages. Some documents discuss religious and educational instruction of freedmen by northern missionaries and philanthropists and lists the names of some freedmen who purchased land in the area.
Box Microfilm/9 Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Land's Educational Division, 1866
Regarding the educational instruction of freedmen and lists the denominations and organizations involved.
Box Microfilm/10 William F. Allen's Diary: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1863-1865
An agent in the south for the Freedmen's Aid Commission chronicling his trip from New York to Port Royal.
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Box Microfilm/11 Publications, 1838-1857
Includes George Fitzhugh's Cannibals All! or, Slaves Without Masters, Chalres Follen's The Works of Charles Follen, With a Memoir of His Life, 5 Volumes, Selections From the Writings and Speeches of William Lloyd Garrison, Horace Greeley's, A History of the Struggle for Slavery Extension or Restriction in the United States and Angelina Emily Grimke's Letters to Catherine E. Beecher, in Reply to an Essay on Slavery and Abolitionism.
Box Microfilm/12 "Culture, Economy and Urban Structure in Charleston, South Carolina, 1860-1880", 1974
By John Price Radford, Ph. D. dissertation, from Clark University 1974.
Box Microfilm/13 Abolitionist Papers: Library of Congress, 1827-1881
Includes selected correspondence from the Elizur Wright papers; the Lewis Tappan papers; the Giddings-Julian papers; the US American Peace Society papers; and the Carter G. Woodson Collection of Negro Papers. Also includes letters from the Benjamin Lundy and Cassius M. Clay Collections. The letters reference abolition and slavery.
Box Microfilm/14 William King Papers: Library and Archives, Ottawa, Canada
Includes material regarding "Elgin Society," the settlement of free blacks and slaves in Canada as well as autobiographical information about King, a former slave owner and a Presbyterian minister who promoted the welfare of blacks at the Elgin settlement in Canada.
Box Microfilm/15 Miscellaneous Correspondence: New York State Library, circa 1858
Contains letters to and from E.D. Morgan, governor of New York; Cassius and Lewis Clay regarding politics; letters from Samuel J. May regarding Thomas Jefferson, and from Lewis Tappan regarding abolition.
Box Microfiche Contain list of books and pamphlets written before the Civil War by and about Negroes and about Cards/1-6 slavery and antislavery; and a guide to the manuscript division's finding aids from the National Archives of Canada.
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