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/mm79012799
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 Gillespie Birney, abolitionist and editor, were deposited in the Library of Congress by Dion S. Birney in 1932. The deposit was converted to a gift in 1958.
The papers of James Gillespie Birney were arranged and described in 1981 by Jacqueline Goggin. The collection was expanded and revised by Michael McElderry in 1986 and 1998, and additional revisions were made to the finding aid in 2008. The finding aid was updated in 2024 by Maria Farmer as part of a division-wide remediation project by the Inclusive Description Working Group.
The "Liberty's Advocate" (Amesbury and Salisbury, Mass.; 21 Oct. 1843, no. 5) has been transferred to the Rare Books and Special Collections Division where they are identified as part of the James Gillespie Birney Papers.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of James Gillespie Birney is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of James Gillespie Birney 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 these papers is available on one reel. onsult 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 number, James Gillespie Birney Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of James Gillespie Birney (1792-1857) span the years 1830-circa 1895, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1830-1850. They contain four types of material arranged in the following order: diaries, a notebook, correspondence, and newspaper clippings.
The diaries, consisting of three volumes, 1830-1850, were written by Birney while he traveled throughout the United States and abroad on antislavery lecture tours. They describe his travels on behalf of the abolitionist movement; his association with abolitionist leaders, such as Benjamin Lundy, Gerrit Smith, and Theodore Weld; his opposition to the followers of William Lloyd Garrison, who believed that slavery could not be abolished through legal and constitutional means; and his support for the colonization of African Americans in Africa and for the American Colonization Society.
The notebook, circa 1895, may have been written by Birney's son, William, and contains biographical information on his father's activities as an abolitionist.
The correspondence, 1834-1844, contains mainly letters James Birney wrote to Gerrit Smith and Theodore Weld discussing antislavery activities. Included are a letter of 1844 to B. F. Mudge regarding the Liberty party's convention in Lynn, Massachusetts, and a photocopy of an 1839 letter to Myron Holley describing political agitation to end slavery.
The newspaper clippings consist of an obituary of Benjamin Lundy and a letter D. D. Barnard wrote to the United States House of Representatives in 1842 regarding a resolution of censure proposed by Congressman Joshua Giddings.
This collection is arranged by type of material.
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm79012799
Available on microfilm. Shelf no. 19,543