Showing 24 results

This collection includes correspondence from the 1940s, memoirs of Grinnell College in the 1880s, class letters and other related materials.

The collection consists of genealogical charts 1480 0 1919.  Correspondence ca. 1898-1908, 32 portraits, some unidentified, copies of cemetery inscriptions, Family Association publications for the Chapin (4 books, 1862, 1908, 1908, 1927) and Alden (1 book, 1916) families, sixty Chapin family deeds and documents from Massachusetts 1674-1851, and a 114-page handwritten notebook by E. F. G. of Stockbridge, 1848, family history of Chapin ancestors Dudley, Woodbridge, Jones, and Eliot.

The papers have detailed information about a few branches of the family, little or no information on other branches.  The researcher might consult U.S. Library of Congress, Genealogies in the Library of Congress to identify more complete sources.

Genealogical charts in this collection trace part of the Grinnell family from Pierre Grenelle, born about 1480 in France. A descendant, Matthew, born 1602, became a Protestant and moved to Newport, R.I., in 1630, beginning the American line of the family. Matthew’s son married a granddaughter of John and Priscilla Alden. Other charts trace various branches of the Chapin family from about 1576 to Mary Grinnell’s birth about 1857.

The personal correspondence, notes and photographs of former Grinnell professor of physics Grant O. Gale. Gale was educated at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and got his masters in physics at the University of Michigan in 1933. He taught at Grinnell from 1929 to 1972. The college's observatory is named for Gale, and he was active in several Grinnell community organizations before his passing in 1998.
Gale is remembered for his dedication to his students and to his role as a mentor on the Grinnell campus.

The collection contains 24 different volumes that are collections of essays, lectures, eulogies, toasts, letters, reminiscences, etc. The subjects of the essays range from dogs to writing and from poetry to hunting and fishing, reflecting the broad range of interests of the author. Also included is an autobiography, family stories, travel accounts, and reflections on the academic life. There are histories of Grinnell Federal Saving and Loan Association and of the Kiwanis Club. Some of the essays were papers delivered at the Fortnightly Club. The speeches include ones given on retirements, dedications, commencements, and inaugurations.

President George Drake and his brother, Professor Richard Drake of Berea College, donated family papers to Grinnell College Archives January 1991.  The bulk of the material is from their father, George Bryant Drake. It consists of correspondence, notes for sermons, family financial and business records, clippings, photographs, ca. 1920s-80s.  One box contains writings of Richard Drake, one box correspondence and writings of George Drake and family, one box papers of Alberta Drake, a box of Nell Drake's writings and publications.

George Bryant Drake (1895-1979) was a Congregational Minister and President of Doane College in Nebraska. He and his wife, Alberta Stimson Drake, had three children: George Albert Drake (1934-), professor and President of Grinnell College; Richard Bryant Drake (1925-), professor at Berea College; and Alberta Jane Drake (1928-). George Bryant was called Bryant; his parents were Nellie Jennie Rice Drake and George Burton Drake.

Materials collected by the class agents relating to the Grinnell College Class of 1957.

Collection contains 16 volumes.

The collection consists of the secretary's records of the Chrestomathian Society, one of several literary societies operating at Grinnell between 1852 and 1925. The groups were organized in order to hold debates and social events, divided into male and female groups that had a matched pair. The all-male Chrestomathians were paired with the all-female Ellis society. According to the Scarlet and Black, the societies disbanded in 1925, as the social role they once filled was no longer relevant.

The collection consists of a letter from Chekhov’s sister, a replica of Chekhov’s letter (November 2, 1903) to Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko (co-founder of the Moscow Art Theatre), and a note (June 14, 1985) from Kennan explaining the provenance of the Chekhov letter. Also included are photocopies in Russian.