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Collection Data
- Description
- The Emersons were an American family who lived in Europe and Japan and traveled widely during the second half of the 19th century. The family consisted of Edwin Emerson (1823-1908), his wife Mary Ingham Emerson (d. 1883) and their six children. Edwin Emerson was a journalist, professor of English literature and amateur photographer. His children were teachers, bankers, lawyers, journalists, engineers, and archaeologists. The collection contains correspondence, writings, family records, photographs, printed matter, memorabilia, and other papers of three generations of the Emerson family. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence among members of the family in Europe, the U.S. and Japan, and with friends and colleagues. Topics discussed include politics, current events, religion, archaeology, and business and economic trends.
- Names
- Emerson family (Creator)
- Clarke, John Thatcher (Contributor)
- Emerson, Alfred, 1859-1943 (Contributor)
- Emerson, Edith (Contributor)
- Emerson, Edwin, 1823-1908 (Contributor)
- Emerson, Edwin, 1869-1959 (Contributor)
- Emerson, George Hale, 1866- (Contributor)
- Emerson, Harrington, 1853-1931 (Contributor)
- Emerson, Margaret Genevieve, 1863- (Contributor)
- Emerson, Mary Ingham, d. 1883 (Contributor)
- Emerson, Samuel D. I., 1855-1930 (Contributor)
- Hale, George, 1866- (Contributor)
- Ingham, Samuel D. (Samuel Delucenna), 1779-1860 (Contributor)
- Ingham, William A. (William Armstrong), 1827-1913 (Contributor)
- Oakley, Violet, 1874-1961 (Contributor)
- Penniman, Gwendolen (Contributor)
- Rood, Ogden N. (Ogden Nicholas), 1831-1902 (Contributor)
- Rose, Hilda (Contributor)
- Sen, Gertrude Emerson, -1982 (Contributor)
- Ingham family (Contributor)
- Cornell University (Contributor)
- Dates / Origin
- Date Created: 1840 - 1980 (Approximate)
- Library locations
- Manuscripts and Archives Division
- Shelf locator: MssCol 923
- Topics
- Antiquities -- Collection and preservation
- Archaeology -- Study and teaching
- Banks and banking -- Nebraska
- Bimetallism
- Literature -- Study and teaching
- Photography
- Spanish-American War, 1898
- Technology
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives
- Archaeologists
- Artists
- Authors
- Businessmen
- Journalists
- Lawyers
- Photographers
- Teachers
- Europe -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
- India -- Social life and customs
- Japan -- Social life and customs -- 1868-1912
- Nebraska -- Commerce
- United States -- Economic conditions -- 1865-1918
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
- United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
- Genres
- Diaries
- Photographs
- Correspondence
- Ephemera
- Notes
- Biographical/historical: The Emersons were an American family who lived in Europe and Japan and traveled widely during the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The family consisted of Edwin Emerson, 1823-1908, his wife Mary Ingham Emerson, d.1883, and their children: Harrington, 1853-1931; Samuel D.I., 1855-circa 1930; Alfred, 1859-1943; Margaret, b.1863; George Hale, b.1866; and Edwin Jr., 1869-1959. Alfred Emerson became an archeologist and married Alice Edwards Emerson in 1887. Most of the later material in the collection is that of Alfred and Alice's children: Edith, a noted artist; Gertrude, a writer and editor in Asia; Willard, a banker and soldier; and Alfred Jr., an entomologist.
The Emerson family was originally from New York City, but in 1862 they moved to Europe, settling in Paris in 1863. The children went to schools in France and Germany. Edwin contributed articles to French journals and became the editor of the "British Journal of Photography", though he gave up the post six months later. The family then traveled around Europe for several years, eventually settling in Germany, where they lived for 22 years.
In 1876, Harrington and Samuel returned to the United States. Then, in 1883, Mary Emerson died, and in 1894 Edwin and Margaret Emerson also returned to the United States, where they traveled a bit, staying with several members of the family and friends. They returned to Paris in 1899, and Margaret graduated from the Sorbonne in 1901. In that year father and daughter moved to Tokyo, Japan (they later lived in Yokohama) to join Samuel who had already settled there. Edwin Emerson died in Japan in 1908.
- Content: The papers, 1840s-1980, document the lives of three generations of the Emerson family. Included are correspondence, diaries, accounts, school records, poetry and writings, art work, photographs, legal and financial records, printed material, sound recordings, and memorabilia. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence among members of the family in Europe, the U.S. and Japan, and with friends and colleagues. Topics discussed include politics, current events, religion, archaeology, and business and economic trends. Also included are papers of the Ingham family, related to the Emersons by the marriage of Edwin Emerson and Mary Ingham in 1850.
- Physical Description
- Extent: 15.95 linear feet (63 boxes, 1 volume)
- Type of Resource
- Text
- Still image
- Identifiers
- NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b12330931
- MSS Unit ID: 923
- Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): e82e4600-b389-0136-fb7c-3d2dd8cc256f
