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Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm76014258
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of James Buchanan, president of the United States, and his niece and White House hostess, Harriet Lane Johnston, were given to the Library of Congress by Johnston’s cousin, May S. Kennedy, in 1918. Additional material was acquired by the Library through gift, transfer, and purchase, 1903-2010.
The papers of James Buchanan and Harriet Lane Johnston were arranged and described in 1976. Additional material was incorporated into the collection and the finding aid revised in 1983, 2003, and 2010.
In 1979, the Library published
The principal collection of James Buchanan's papers is located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has been reproduced on sixty reels of microfilm available for use in the Manuscript Division Reading Room of the Library of Congress.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of James Buchanan and Harriet Lane Johnston is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Restrictions apply governing the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division for information concerning these restrictions. In addition, many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on four reels. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition as available.
The papers of James Buchanan and Harriet Lane Johnston are available on the Library of
Congress Web site at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000061.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number or reel number, James Buchanan and Harriet Lane Johnston Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of James Buchanan (1791-1868) and Harriet Lane Johnston (1830-1903) span the years 1825-1887, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1840-1866. They are organized in five series: James Buchanan Papers, Harriet Lane Johnston Papers, Special Documents File, Additions, and Oversize.
Series I: James Buchanan Papers consists chiefly of correspondence but also includes notes, drafts of remarks made in the House of Representatives, Department of State commissions and transmittals to foreign service officers, land patents, petitions, a presidential message to Congress, and clippings. Among the topics discussed in the papers are Democratic politics in Pennsylvania and the nation, Joel R. Poinsett’s negotiations with Mexico, the Cumberland Road, the Delaware Canal, the Oregon question, relaxation of the blockade of Mexico, British attempts to obtain a marine postal monopoly, trade treaties, Democratic presidential possibilities and the convention of 1852, and anti-Buchanan attacks in the
Series II: Harriet Lane Johnston Papers consists chiefly of letters received concerning such topics as ladies’ fashions, social affairs, and romance. Also included are letters of her husband, Henry E. Johnston, and others concerning the selection of a biographer of James Buchanan and efforts to provide financial support for the work.
Series III: Special Documents File consists of photocopies of selected Buchanan material in other repositories and typed transcripts of Buchanan letters from various collections in the Library of Congress. An earlier published guide to the James Buchanan and Harriet Lane Johnston Papers includes an index to items in Series I-II and the photocopies in Series III.
Series IV: Additions contains a group of letters from Buchanan to his friend, J. Glancy Jones, a Pennsylvania lawyer, Democratic party activist, and member of the United States House of Representatives from 1851 to1858. The correspondence includes discussions of national and Pennsylvania state politics and traces Buchanan’s career from the Senate to the first year of his presidential term. His presidential ambitions are documented throughout, including assessments of support and comments on rivals, most notably during the election of 1856. The escalating sectional strife between North and South is also ever present in the letters, culminating in Buchanan’s assertion in 1856 that the presidential election “ought to be run on the question of union or disunion. . . .” Many letters originate from London during Buchanan’s service as minister to England with observations on his participation in formulating the Ostend Manifesto, Europe and the Crimean War, and domestic politics, including his dismissal of the Missouri Compromise as obsolete. Other topics include protective tariffs, abolitionists, the American Party (Know Nothings), “Black Republicans,” government support for a transcontinental railroad, and cabinet appointments. Addition III includes a version (some variation from the published version) of the December, 1858 State of the Union message. This addition also contains nine letters written by Buchanan. Topics covered in his letters include the National Bank, the Whig Party, Pennsylvania politics, the Tariff of 1842, Nicaragua, the Missouri Compromise, the "will of the majority" for Kansas and Nebraska, nullification, and presidential politics, including his own presidential campaign. Also in Addition III is an inscribed book.
Series V: Oversize is an official patent signed by Buchanan while secretary of state, removed from Addition III.
This collection is arranged in five series:
Available on microfilm. Shelf no. 16,939
General correspondence and other material, including notes and drafts of remarks made while Buchanan served in the House of Representatives and as president of the United States, commissions, land patents, petitions, and clippings.
Arranged chronologically. Indexed in the published register.
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Chiefly letters received by Johnston.
Arranged chronologically. Indexed in the published register.
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Photocopies of documents from collections relating to Buchanan in other repositories and typewritten transcripts of Buchanan letters in other collections in the Library of Congress.
Arranged chronologically. Photocopies only are indexed in the published register.
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Two additions of correspondence and a third addition with the 1858 State of the Union message, correspondence, and inscribed book.
Arranged in order of processing date and therein chronologically for the first two additions. Addition III is arranged alphabetically by type of material and name of correspondent.
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Official patent certificate signed by Buchanan while he was secretary of state.
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