Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78034736
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 John G. Nicolay, presidential secretary and biographer, were given to the Library of Congress by his daughter, Helen Nicolay, between 1910 and 1947. Letters written by Abraham Lincoln that were formerly in this collection have been removed and placed in the Abraham Lincoln Papers.
The papers of John G. Nicolay were arranged and described by Frank Tusa in 1977. The collection was expanded and revised by Thomas Bigley in 2010.
Most of the collection has been cataloged alphabetically by correspondent and subject in a card index file available in the Manuscript Reading Room. Contact the reference staff for information.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of John G. Nicolay is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of John G. Nicolay are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
The John G. Nicolay Papers are available on the Library of Congress Web site at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000085.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, John G. Nicolay Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of John George Nicolay (1831-1901) span the years 1811 to 1943, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1860 to 1901. The collection reflects Nicolay’s long political career, particularly his tenure as private secretary to Abraham Lincoln, and documents his numerous literary activities. There is also a limited amount of material relating to the literary activities of his daughter, Helen Nicolay. The collection is composed mainly of correspondence and research material, supplemented by notebooks, scrapbooks, and miscellaneous material and is organized in seven series: Notebooks and Bound Correspondence , General Correspondence , Helen Nicolay General Correspondence , Transcripts , Research File , Miscellany , and Oversize .
The Notebooks and Bound Correspondence series is relatively brief and incomplete, but the General Correspondence series contains a wealth of material pertaining to Nicolay’s public and private activities. The correspondence is especially valuable, though not voluminous, during the years he served as Lincoln’s private secretary. Numerous letters from the young secretary to his future wife, Therena Bates, offer an intimate glimpse into the character and activities of the war president and the men who shaped national policy, as well as Nicolay’s evaluation of the important political and military decisions made during these crucial years. Scattered memoranda made by Nicolay both before and during Lincoln’s administration provide a valuable supplement to this correspondence.
Nicolay’s career as a public officeholder and writer is amply documented in the correspondence for the years after the war, particularly his collaboration with John Hay as coauthor of a multivolume biography of Lincoln. Nine revealing letters, 1861-1870, from Nicolay to O. M. Hatch in the Hatch papers at the Illinois State Historical Library have been photocopied and interfiled in the correspondence series.
Nicolay’s political career brought him into contact with many distinguished public men, and the general correspondence is enriched by numerous letters from American political figures. Prominent correspondents include John Bigelow, Simon Cameron, Schuyler Colfax, William Dennison, John A. Dix, James Harlan, O. M. Hatch, John Hay, Robert Todd Lincoln, Alexander K. McClure, Charles H. Philbrick, and A. C. Woolfolk. There are also scattered letters from Anson Burlingame, Roscoe Conkling, James Dixon, George Gilman Fogg, Horace Greeley, James Tracy Hale, Joseph Medill, Edwin D. Morgan, Whitelaw Reid, Carl Schurz, Charles Sumner, Leonard Swett, Theodore Tilton, and Horace White. Nicolay’s literary career, particularly his years of work on the Lincoln biography, is the subject of the Research File series. The notes, memoranda, and other material collected by Nicolay and his daughter have been organized into material relating to Lincoln and material unrelated to Lincoln. The first half of the series, particularly the copies and extracts from the diaries of prominent Civil War political and military figures, includes much pertinent material relating to Lincoln and his administration. Nicolay’s literary endeavors, other than his works on Lincoln, are represented by notes, memoranda, and other material in the second half of the series.
The collection concludes with a Miscellany series that includes an autograph collection of invitations for the Civil War period.
This collection is arranged in seven series:
Correspondence, notes, clippings, and memorabilia bound in one scrapbook, one volume of official correspondence, and three small notebooks.
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Letters sent and received by John G. Nicolay and his daughter, Helen Nicolay, supplemented by numerous memoranda and occasional copies of letters written by Abraham Lincoln.
Arranged chronologically.
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Letter received and copies of letters sent by Helen Nicolay, supplemented by occasional memoranda.
Arranged chronologically.
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Typed copies of letters in this collection from Nicolay to Therena Bates and others, as well as copies of his memoranda.
Arranged chronologically.
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Notes, memoranda, occasional correspondence, drafts of chapters and articles, newspaper and article clippings, printed matter, extracts from diaries, and memorabilia collected by John G. Nicolay and Helen Nicolay.
Organized in three parts: a Lincoln file of material gathered by the Nicolays for their published works relating to Abraham Lincoln; transcripts of diaries and notes of Lincoln’s associates; and a miscellaneous file containing material collected by John G. Nicolay for literary projects unrelated to Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln file and transcripts are arranged largely as received according to the title or file name provided. The miscellaneous file is arranged alphabetically by title or topic.
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Scrapbooks, sketchbooks, book of poems, autograph collection, pencil sketches, cards and invitations, patent material, article clippings, and material collected by Helen Nicolay for a biography of John G. Nicolay.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Digital content available
Broadside from
Arranged and described according to the series, container, and folder from which the items were removed.
Digital content available
Digital content available