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/mm78017509
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 Caleb Cushing, lawyer, author, United States representative from Massachusetts, envoy to China, Colombia, and Spain, brigadier general in the Mexican War, attorney general of the United States, and senior counsel for the United States at the Geneva Tribunal of Arbitration, were given to the Library of Congress by his niece, Margaret W. Cushing, 1935-1942. Several small additions have been acquired through purchase, gift, and transfer, 1906-1995.
The papers of Caleb Cushing were initially arranged and described between 1961 and 1962 by John McDonough, Esther Coles, Woodrow Hamilton, and Bessie Waters. Additional material was incorporated into the collection in 1984, by Nan Thompson Ernst in 1999, and the finding aid was revised in 2006.
A description of the Caleb Cushing Papers appeared in the
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Caleb Cushing is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Caleb Cushing 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.
A microfilm edition of correspondence, Dec. 1856-Dec. 1860, is available on eight reels and the treaty of Wang Hiya (Wanghsia), 1844, is available on one reel. 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.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Caleb Cushing Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of
The General Correspondence
series, constituting approximately one-third of the collection, documents
Cushing's life and touches on many of the national and international issues that arose
during the middle years of the nineteenth century. The much less voluminous Special Correspondence
series includes letters dealing with patronage questions during Cushing's congressional
career (1835-1843) and during his service as
Legal and business correspondence is included as part of the extensive Legal File. The Legal File is divided among cases in which Cushing was in some way personally involved and those in which he acted as attorney or consultant. Also in the Legal File, and separately arranged therein, are drafts of Cushing's opinions as attorney general.
Correspondence is also included in the Land Speculation and Related Business Ventures File
illustrating Cushing's financial interest in lands located from
The Speech, Article, and Book
File has material as disparate as Cushing's fledgling attempts at poetry in
1816 and his philippic against Britain's
A Subject File incorporates notes, memoranda, and extracts, largely in Cushing's hand and principally dealing with political topics of the day. Personal Miscellany contains biographical material, early notebooks, commissions, and photographs. Numerous lists and inventories reflect Cushing's reading habits and wide-ranging interests. Much of the Financial File is in small, dated bundles as kept by Cushing. The series of newspaper clippings and printed matter complete the collection.
From an early date Cushing was in correspondence with important figures of his day.
Names such as
The Addition includes two
items of correspondence. The first item is a printed circular letter dated 1841 from
The collection is arranged in thirteen series:
About sixty small, unbound notebooks and two bound volumes.
Arranged chronologically by type of material.
Letters sent and received.
Arranged chronologically or alphabetically by name of correspondent. Undated correspondence includes files for Cushing and Franklin Pierce.
Microfilm edition available of Containers 79-88, Dec. 1856-Dec. 1860. Shelf no. 19,366.
Bound copies of selected letters to Cushing, bound correspondence of I. Lowell, and correspondence and related papers of J. N. Cushing, L. B. Cushing, S. Stevens, and others.
Patronage letters are followed by files for invitations, announcements, and requests for autographs. Each file is arranged chronologically.
Microfilm edition available of the treaty of Wang Hiya (Wanghsia), 1844. Shelf no. 21,859.
Memoranda, drafts, extracts, official documents, and other material connected with Cushing's many public offices.
Arranged chronologically by title of office or subject and thereunder by type of material or by subject. Correspondence removed unless noted in container list.
Microfilm edition available of the treaty of Wang Hiya (Wanghsia), 1844.
Handwritten drafts, printed copies, and newspaper accounts of Cushing's speeches, articles, and books.
Arranged chronologically by year; poetry separately grouped.
Notes, memoranda, and extracts relating to a variety of topics of interest to Cushing.
Arranged alphabetically by topic.
Opinions, briefs, legal documents, drafts, memoranda, notes, printed matter, and correspondence.
Cases in which Cushing was himself a party to the suit.
Arranged chronologically and thereunder alphabetically by case title or subject.
Chiefly drafts of Cushing's opinions with official correspondence and memoranda, notes, and other material.
Various types of litigation and business ventures in which Cushing acted as attorney or had an interest.
Correspondence, legal and business papers, financial data, memoranda, notes, maps, newspaper clippings, and printed matter.
Arranged alphabetically by state and thereunder in approximate chronological order or by type of material.
Biographical material, notebooks, daybooks, commissions, prints and photographs, literary enterprise, inventories and lists of books, publications, memoranda, notes, and printed extracts.
Biographical material including a portion of C. M. Fuess's manuscript, notebooks, daybooks, commissions, prints and photographs, literary enterprise, inventories and lists of books, publications, memoranda, and notes.
Arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material.
Principally memoranda, notes and extracts in Cushing's hand.
Arranged chronologically. An undated memoranda file contains documents concerning Madrid, Spain, and Washington, D.C.
Bills, receipts, accounts, bank books, vouchers, memoranda of expenses, and related material including some financial correspondence.
Arranged in approximate chronological order with the remainder grouped by type of material.
Newspaper clippings, pamphlets, magazines, and articles, some of which are annotated by Cushing and others that concern him.
Arranged in two groups as Newspaper Clippings and as Pamphlets, Magazines, and Articles. Two containers of the newspaper clippings are marked "personal" by Cushing.
Two items of correspondence.
Treaty, watercolor and ink sketches, maps, legal documents, and certificates of appointment, commission, citation, and membership.
Arranged according the series, container, and folder from which the documents were removed.
Microfilm edition available of the treaty of Wang Hiya (Wanghsia), 1844. Shelf no. 21,859.