Gibbs Myers Dissertation Research and Papers, 1938-1988

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SPECIAL COLLECTIONS FINDING AID

Title: MS 616 Gibbs Myers Dissertation Research and Papers, 1938-1988

Processor: Emily Schwarz

Date: July 16, 2003

Gibbs Myers (d. 1995), a native Washingtonian, studied at McKinley Technical High School, the University of Maryland, where he received a M.A. in history, and Yale University where he received his doctorate in American history. 1 The papers in this collection include essays Myers wrote at the University of Maryland and the research for his doctorate. While working on his dissertation, Myers worked for the National Archives in Washington, D.C. After receiving his degree from Yale in 1943, Myers started his career as a systems manager at Brewster Aeronautical Co. in Long Island City, NY. In 1944 he started working at ITT and then worked for Kearfott in 1956 until 1972, when he retired. Myers was a member of the Association of Systems Management, the Columbia Historical Society (now the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.), the Friends of Washington National Cathedral and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. In 1938, Myers married Josephine M. Richards, who passed away in 1970. Myers died at the age of 87 on January 10, 1995 in Upper Montclair, NJ.

Scope and Content: The Gibbs Myers Dissertation Research and Papers, 1938-1988, consists of Gibbs Myers’ research for his dissertation on the history of Washington, D.C. and other academic papers. Myers’ dissertation on the history of Washington, D. C. from 1790 to 1870 was written for the candidacy of doctor of philosophy from Yale University. This file includes Myers’ research, drafts, correspondence and notes for his dissertation, personal files, and other academic papers written by Myers, some of which are not related to Washington, D.C. Myers’ dissertation is called “The Founding of Modern Washington, 1790 to 1874”, but the alternate title “America Builds a National City: A History of Washington and the Federal Area in the Nineteenth Century” appears throughout Myers’ work. Notes and excerpts from the diary of Michael Shiner are included in Myers’ research. The final bound copy of Myers’ dissertation can be found in the records of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.’s dissertation collection. Myers’ dissertation documents how the civil war changed Washington, DC from “no more than a rude provincial settlement” into “the frontier of the North and the heart of the Union” (Myers’ dissertation, page ii) and it focuses on efforts of Washingtonians to beautify their City in order to make it suitable to be the capital.

1 Biographical information on Gibbs Myers is from his obituary in The Washington Post. The obituary was written on January 20, 1995. 2

This collection has been kept as closely as possible to Gibbs Myers’ original order. It is arranged in two series:

SERIES I: DISSERTATION MANUSCRIPTS, DRAFTS AND RESEARCH FILES is arranged in two sub-series.

Sub-series A: Gibbs Myers’ Research Files consists of correspondence, notes, drafts and research leading up to his dissertation. The documents in this sub-series are listed in chronological order and undated papers are at the end.

Sub-series B: Gibbs Myers’ Final Dissertation Drafts is arranged in chapter order. The final bound copy of Myers’ dissertation is cataloged in the Washington Historical Society’s dissertation collection.

SERIES II: PERSONAL FILES AND ACADEMIC PAPERS consists of personal documents as well as papers Gibbs Myers wrote at Yale University, the George Washington University and the University of Maryland. These papers are unrelated to Myers’ dissertation and some are unrelated to the history of Washington, D.C. The documents in this series are listed in chronological order.

Donor: Richard Gibbs Myers and Joanna Myers, 1997.107.

Size: 0.70 cubic ft (2 containers).

Restrictions: None.

Container List

SERIES I: DISSERTATION MANUSCRIPTS, DRAFTS AND RESEARCH FILES

Sub-series A: Correspondence, notes, drafts and research.

Container 1

Folder 1: Prospectus for Myers’ dissertation, October 27, 1938. The title of the prospectus is, “The Rise of the City of Washington: A History of the District of Columbia in the Times of “Boss” Shepherd, 1865 to 1878”. 71 pages long with a bibliography.

Folder 2: Correspondence, 1942-1943. These fifteen letters are related to Myers’ research for his dissertation. Myers wrote to Mrs. Francis D. Merchant of Kensington, MD requesting access to documents for his research. Myers also corresponded with Frank Kent of the Baltimore Sun concerning a book written by Mr. Kent, The Story of Maryland Politics, 1911. There are several letters from Gibbs Myers to Jim Thornell, the Secretary of the Board of Commissioners of the D.C. government, requesting access to documents of the D.C. government. Myers corresponded with St. George L. Sioussat of the Manuscripts division of the Library of Congress requesting Michael Shiner’s manuscript diary. There are also three articles discussing suffrage in Washington, D.C. included in this folder.

Folder 3: Notes on the diary of Michael Shiner, September 9, 1942. The diary, 186 pages long, consists of Shiners’ notes on Washington, D.C. from 1813-1865. This notebook is a copy of the diary and was transcribed around September 1942. The diary describes shops and services in Washington, D.C. and the presence of the British in Washington, D.C. in August, 1814.

Folder 4: Excerpts from Michael Shiner’s diary, undated. Also includes a cartoon from the Washington Sunday Star, August 10, 1941, and notes for Myers’ dissertation.

Folder 5: Financial records, 1943, describing the costs spent on the dissertation for supplies, binding, etc. Receipts for these purchases are also included, most of which are from March 1943. There is also information from Yale University describing the details and specifications of the dissertation.

Folder 6: Notes, and charts and diagrams of Gibbs Myers’ dissertation, mostly undated. Drawn on the inside of this folder is a graph of population growth in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia from 1790 to 1890. The newspaper clipping is from the New York Herald Tribune, October 26, 1947.

Folder 7: Drafts and notes on Myers’ dissertation, ca. 1944-1947 (original folder divided into folders 7 and 8). 4

Folder 8: Drafts and notes on Myers’ dissertation, ca. 1944-1947. A continuation of materials from folder 7. Folder includes are copies of chapter titles, a list of possible titles for the dissertation, abstracts of the dissertation, hand-written drafts, and notes on Washington, D.C. There is also correspondence between Myers and Mr. Curtin Garrison, the Managing Editor of the Hayes Foundation of the Hayes Memorial Library in Fremont, Ohio. These letters, written in January 1944, indicate that an abstract of Myers’ dissertation would be included in the next issue of “The United States, 1865-1900: A Survey of Current Literature, with Abstracts of Unpublished Dissertations”. A letter from Alfred Harris, dated August 3, 1945, includes his positive assessment of Myers’ dissertation. There is also a book review of various books on Washington from the New York Herald Tribune Weekly Book Review, May 4, 1947.

Folder 9: Letter from the editor of Robert Luce, Inc in Washington, D.C. addressed to Gibbs Myers at Upper Montclair, N. J., August 21, 1961. This letter is Robert Luce, Inc.’s refusal to publish Myer’s manuscript, “The Founding of Modern Washington”. There are two newspaper clippings from the New York Times Book Review about a book entitled “Washington: Village and Capital, 1800-1878”. There is also a loose version of “The Founding of Modern Washington” with many hand-written corrections.

Folder 10: Notes and outlines for Gibbs Myers’ dissertation, undated. Also included: an article entitled “Washington Crisis” by Merlo Pusey (Washington Post, Tuesday, December ?) and a records requisition from The National Archives. (Material in folders 10 and 11 originally included in one folder.)

Folder 11: Notes and outlines for Gibbs Myers’ dissertation. There is an article from the Washington Post. There is also a records requisition from The National Archives. This folder is undated. (Included in 2 folders- Folders 10 and 11).

Sub-series B: Final Drafts of the Dissertation.

Folder 12: Draft of Chapter One, Copy 1, pages I-1 to I-18.

Folder 13: Draft of Chapter Two, Copy 1, pages II-1 to II-32.

Folder 14: Draft of Chapter Three, Copy 1, pages III-1 to III-59.

Folder 15: Draft of Chapter Four, pages IV-1 to V-32.

Folder 16: Draft of Chapter Five, pages V-1 to V-62.

Folder 17: Draft of Chapter Six, pages VI-1 to VI-49.

Folder 18: Draft of Chapter Seven, pages VII-1 to VII-35.

Folder 19: Draft of Chapter Eight, pages VIII-1 to VIII-45.

Folder 20: Draft of Chapter Nine, pages IX-1 to IX-37.

Folder 21: Draft of Chapter Ten, pages X-1 to XII-44.

Folder 22: Draft of Chapter Eleven, pages XII-1 to XII-73.

Folder 23: Draft of Chapter Twelve, pages XII-1 to XII-22.

Container 2

Folder 24: Chapter I, Final Copy 1, pages 1 to 21.

Folder 25: Chapter Two Final Copy 1, pages 22 to 50.

Folder 26: Chapter Three Final Copy 1, pages 72 to 106.

Folder 27: Chapter I, Final Copy 2, pages 1 to 21.

Folder 28: Chapter II, Final Copy 2, pages 22 to 50.

Folder 29: Chapter I, Final Copy 3, pages 1 to 21.

Folder 30: Chapter III, Final Copy 3, pages 51 to 106.

Folder 31: Foreword, Bibliography, etc.: This folder contains the foreword, bibliography, list of chapters, summary, a copy of the first chapter and excerpts from each chapter of the dissertation. Gibbs Myers’ business card is attached to these documents and states that he is the manager of systems and procedures at the Kearfott Company, Inc. in Clifford, NJ. There are also several other pamphlets, letters and newspaper clippings about Washington, D.C. from the 1950s.

Folder 32: A final draft of “The Founding of Modern Washington, 1790 to 1874”, 1943. Pages ii to III-59.

Folder 33: A final draft of “The Founding of Modern Washington, 1790 to 1874”, 1943. Pages IV-3 to VIII-42.

Folder 34: A final draft of “The Founding of Modern Washington, 1790 to 1874”, 1943. Pages VIII-43 to XII-13.

SERIES II: PERSONAL FILES AND ACADEMIC PAPERS

Folder 35: Two of Marion E. Myers’ Public School Report Cards, 1923-1925. One report card is from the 1923-1924 school year, and the other is from the 1924-1925 school year. Marion was in grades six through eight during this time period. The report cards are signed by her teachers and parents, E.J. Myers and Mrs. J. C. Myers.

Folder 36: Gibbs Myers’ thesis, “Maryland Newspapers in the Eighteenth Century”, May 26, 1931. His thesis was written for the graduate school of the University of Maryland to fulfill the degree of Master of Arts. The thesis is about the Maryland Gazette of Annapolis, the Maryland Journal of Baltimore, the Maryland Gazette of Baltimore, Colonial Newspapers, and advertising. College Park, Md. This thesis is 64 pages long, with a page of sources.

Folder 37: Paper written by Gibbs Myers, “United States Special Agents in Latin America”, 1937. This was written in Washington, D.C. at George Washington University. 60 pages, including a bibliography.

Folder 38: Paper written by Gibbs Myers, “Two British Imperialists: Gibbon Wakefield and Professor Seeley”, April, 1939. This paper was written for history class 147 at Yale University. 44 pages with a bibliography.

Folder 39: Paper written by Gibbs Myers on “William. A. Dunning’s Concepts and Philosophy of History”, April 1939. This paper was written for history class 190 at Yale University. 33 pages long with no bibliography.

Folder 40: Essays written by Gibbs Myers, January 19, 1939, for a seminar on Liberal & National Movements in Modern Europe. The paper is entitled “Freedom of Assembly during the July Monarchy: Two British Imperialists: Gibbon Wakefield and Professor Seeley”. This paper was written at Yale University. 44 pages, including bibliography.

Folder 41: Invitations to The Columbia Historical Society meetings, 1940-1943. Gibbs Myers became a member of the Society on November 13, 1940. Obituary of Allen C. Clark, who was the president of the Society during that time, 1943. Correspondence between Gibbs Myers and the Columbia Historical Society, mainly concerning a paper entitled “Pioneers in the Federal Area” that Myers presented February 16, 1943 at the Society.