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: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm70052720
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 T. O. Selfridge, naval officer and explorer, were deposited in the Library of Congress by the Naval Historical Foundation in 1949 and converted to a gift in 1998.
The papers of T. O. Selfridge were arranged and described in 1969. The finding aid was revised in 2011.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of T. O. Selfridge is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of T. O. Selfridge 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.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, T. O. Selfridge Papers, Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Thomas Oliver Selfridge (1836-1924) span the years 1852-1926, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1858-1880. The papers are distributed over his life span and closely document his career and his interests. The collection is organized into five series: Logbooks, Journals, and Notebooks; Letterbooks and Letterpress Books; Correspondence; Subject File; and Miscellany.
The Logbooks, Journals, and Notebooks series and Letterbooks and Letterpress Books cover the years from 1854 to 1885. The Correspondence file includes letters to and from J. P. Benjamin, John Luke Porter, John B. Jervis, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Edward Knight Collins, and T. O. Selfridge's father, Thomas Oliver Selfridge, Sr.
Included in the collection are maps, correspondence, drawings, and other material pertaining to the United States Darien Exploring Expeditions of 1870, 1871 and 1873, which were headed by Selfridge in 1869-1874. Correspondents on the subject include Daniel Ammen, Edward Knight Collins, George Davidson, W. W. Evans, Gustavus Vasa Fox, James Bicheno Francis, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Benjamin Peirce, and J. Dutton Steele. Also in the collection are correspondence and reports documenting Selfridge’s court-martial in 1888. Other special topics include the sinking of the USS
This collection is arranged in five series:
Accounts, logs, journals, and a variety of titled notebooks. Includes journals from the Darien Exploring Expedition.
Arranged chronologically.
Copies of letters sent by Selfridge as commander of different ships and ventures. Includes letterbooks for the Darien Exploring Expedition.
Arranged chronologically.
Letters received and a few drafts of letters sent.
Arranged chronologically.
Bills and receipts, correspondence, drawings, maps, miscellaneous material, newspaper clippings, printed matter, reports, scrapbooks, and statistics concerning the Amazon River Survey, Selfridge’s court-martial trial, and the Darien Exploring Expedition.
Arranged alphabetically by topic and therein by type of material.
Remarks, reports, photographs, and notes and sketches.
Arranged by topic.