Manuscripts

Keystone View Company *Polish museum and Rathhaus Tower, on Ring Square, Cracow, the ancient capitol of Poland*. [between 1867 and 1918]. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Reading Room.

Housing more than 40 million individual manuscripts in some 10,000 collections, the Manuscripts Division has the primary mission of collecting materials of research value for the study of the history, law, and civilization of the United States. Among these vast holdings, manuscripts of interest to Polish scholars also are to be found. In particular, the papers of the U.S. presidents, secretaries of state, diplomats, and sundry individuals personally or professionally associated with Poland merit investigation. Additionally, many of the hundreds of thousands of German documents in the Division's microfilm collections pertain to Poland, especially during the partition period and the twentieth century to the end of the Second World War. Below are listed in general thematic categories some of the Division's holdings of potential interest to Polish researchers. The titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog.

Poles in American History, 17-20th Centuries

George Washington papers, 1592-1943 (bulk 1748-1799)
Call Number: Microfilm George Washington Papers
George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000010.
The first U.S. president's papers date mostly to the 1748-99 period and concern his relations with the Continental Congress, the command of the Continental Army, and his presidency. Among the documents are 22 letters from Washington to Kazimierz Pulaski, whom he promoted to the rank of brigadier general of cavalry, and six to Tadeusz Kosciuszko, perhaps Poland's most revered patriot and a key figure in the American Revolution.
Thomas Jefferson papers, 1606-1943 (bulk 1775-1826).
Call Number: Thomas Jefferson Papers
Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000014.
The collection includes Jefferson's copies of early Virginia laws and historical records, among them the Records of the Virginia Company of London. The latter contain several references to Polish craftsmen recruited for their expertise in hemp, flax, potash, saltpeter/gunpowder, pitch, and tar--commodities critical to the survival of the Jamestown colony. Furthermore, the collection contains Jefferson's 12 letters to (and 40 letters about) Kosciuszko, as well as correspondence (16 letters) with Julian Niemcewicz, Kosciuszko's aide-de-camp in the 1794 Insurrection and a friend of the first three American presidents.
Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 [microform]
Call Number: Microfilm 22,339-204P
Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 https://www.fold3.com/publication/63/continental-congress-papers. External
Collection includes correspondence with Pulaski and Kosciuszko.
Nathanael Greene papers, 1775-1785.
Call Number: Microfilm 13,421-2P
Collection includes correspondence with Pulaski and Kosciuszko.
The Henley Smith Collection, 1686-1903.
Call Number: MMC-3444
This collection contains letters written by Joel Barrow to his wife during his journey to Poland to interview Napoleon on American affairs.
Adam Gurowski papers, 1743-1898 (bulk 1848-1898)
Call Number: MMC-1714
This is a collection of 4,000 items of the Polish-born social historian, Pan-Slavist, and author of important works on slavery, the American Civil War, and U.S. relations with Europe.
B.F. Wade papers, 1832-1886 (bulk 1852-1869)
Call Number: Microfilm 14,109-11P
Correspondence with De Gurowski and B.F. Wade, 1832-1881, an Ohio senator and Republican Party leader;
Henry Wilson papers, 1851-1875
Call Number: MMC-3424
Included is correspondence between De Gurowski and Wilson, a Massachusetts senator and U.S. vice-president.
Abraham Lincoln papers, 1832-1865.
Call Number: Microfilm 7,319-1N (service negative)
Papers include correspondence with De Gurowski.
Caleb Cushing papers, circa 1785-1906 (bulk 1820-1878).
Call Number: 0316G
The papers of this prominent lawyer/U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts/land speculator contain many documents concerning the Polish Emigration Land Company established in Virginia in 1869 for the benefit of Polish immigrants.

Poland before World War I

German captured documents collection, 1766-1945.
Call Number: Microfilm 18,806-496P
Although the 350,000-piece collection dates mostly to the inter-war and World War II period, it also contains valuable material relating to partitioned Poland. For example, the "Rehse Collection" contains a document transferring the allegiance of Lwow from the King of Poland to Maria Theresa of Austria in the First Partition. The "Zimmermann Family Papers" contain 14th-17th century materials from regional repositories, including Wroclaw. And the "Deutsches Auslands Institut Collection" contains some Copernican prints.
Jan II Kazimierz, King of Poland, indenture, 1659 August 1.
Call Number: MMC at Oversize 1:18
A papal document in Latin absolving the former cardinal upon his ascension of the Polish throne.
Acts of the Confederacy of Bar, 1768-1772.
Call Number: MMC-2964
The 60-item collection documents a movement formed in 1768 by the Polish landed gentry to mount armed resistance to the Russian occupation. Kazimierz Pulaski and his father were leaders of the movement.

World War I and the Reestablishment of the Polish State

Stanley Washburn papers, 1912-1945 (bulk 1920-1943)
Call Number: MMC-3167
The papers of a prominent newspaper correspondent containing numerous dispatches from Poland, Russia, and France during World War I.
Woodrow Wilson papers, 1786-1957 (bulk 1876-1924).
Call Number: Microfilm Woodrow Wilson Papers
The 278,000-item collection includes minutes and other documents concerning the Paris Peace Conference and the reestablishment of an independent Polish state. In addition to case file no. 2950: "Poland 1915-21," other files contain abundant material pertaining to Poland, e.g., Wilson's letters to and from Ignacy Paderewski; Paderewski's correspondence with Georges Clemenceau, Herbert Hoover, Edith Wilson, Joseph P. Tumulty, R. Lansing, L. Marshall, E. M. House, and R. Dmowski (co-leader of the Polish delegation to the Paris Peace Conference); and several letters to and from Jozef Pilsudski (the first Polish president).
Available through the Library of Congress Web site at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000070.
Robert Lansing papers, 1831-1935 (bulk 1914-1920).
Call Number: 0335M
The collection contains thousands of documents relating to these individuals' experiences as members of the Paris Peace Conference. Lansing was Wilson's Secretary of State, and White held diplomatic assignments in Austria, Great Britain, Italy, France, and the Argentine Republic.
Robert Lansing Papers : Private Memoranda, Desk Diaries, and Notes at the Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000072.
Henry White papers, 1812-1931 (bulk 1880-1928).
Call Number: 0634N
The collection contains thousands of documents relating to these individuals' experiences as members of the Paris Peace Conference. Lansing was Wilson's Secretary of State, and White held diplomatic assignments in Austria, Great Britain, Italy, France, and the Argentine Republic.

Poland between the World Wars

Henry Morgenthau papers, 1795-1941 (bulk 1870-1941).
Call Number: 0530A
The 30,000-piece collection of diaries, correspondence, writings, and other papers of the prominent businessman and diplomat contains correspondence with Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Morgenthau's diary account of his visit to Poland after World War I, and papers relating to the treatment of Jews in Poland.
Polish declarations of admiration and friendship for the United States, 1926.
Call Number: 0556A
This is a 111-volume series containing illustrations of representative Polish scenes and the signatures of the Polish president, other dignitaries, and five million Polish school children. The set was presented to President Coolidge as a testimonial of the gratitude and friendship of the Polish people for the United States on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000002.
William Orr papers, 1890-1939 (bulk 1920-1927).
Call Number: MMC-3282
About two-thirds of the collection is from the period 1920-27, when Orr served as a Y.M.C.A. adviser on education in Eastern Europe.
Raymond Leslie Buell papers, 1915-1981 (bulk 1920-1946).
Call Number: 0625W
Among the nearly 18,000 items in the collection of this prominent educator and prolific writer on international affairs are materials used in his book "Poland: Key to Europe".
Charles Schuveldt Dewey papers, 1924-1933 (bulk 1927-1930).
Call Number: MMC-3125
This is a collection of 1,500 reports, memoranda, statistical studies, and correspondence concerning Poland assembled by this one-time Illinois Congressman who served as financial adviser to the Polish government.

Poland during and after World War II

German captured documents collection, 1766-1945.
Call Number: Microfilm 18,806-496P
Particularly the archives from the Deutsches Auslands Institut collections contain much information on the administration of occupied Poland.
Frank Kowalski papers, 1925-1976 (bulk 1948-1963)
Call Number: Vault 0202A
Among the 7,500 documents of this former Congressman from Connecticut are manuscripts describing the economic, political, and social conditions in Poland from 1945 to 1980 and a report based on interviews of Polish-born soldiers who served in the German army before 1944.
Protest of...American women of Polish extraction to the women of Germany, 1942 July 30.
Call Number: MMC-1048
A petition sent to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
W. Averell Harriman papers, 1869-2001 (bulk 1895-1986).
Call Number: 0321A
This 300,000-item collection of papers covers most aspects of the long and eventful career of one of the century's great statesmen and includes a number of documents pertaining to Poland, e.g., the Katyn Forest massacre and the Yalta Conference.

Poles in the Arts

Grosvenor family papers, 1827-1981 (bulk 1872-1964).
Call Number: FORT MEADE
The 65,000-piece collection of papers of the prominent Massachusetts/ Washington D.C. family contains correspondence with the Polish- born American writer Joseph Korzeniowski Conrad.
Elijah Walker Halford papers, 1848-1938.
Call Number: MMC-0912
Among the correspondents of this soldier/newspaperman/private secretary to Benjamin Harrison was the beautiful Polish actress, Helena Modjeska, who enjoyed enormous popularity in the U.S.
Louise Chandler Moulton papers, 1852-1908.
Call Number: 0628BB
Included are letters to and from Polish actress Helena Modjeska.
Minnie Maddern Fiske; a register of her papers in the Library of Congress.
Call Number: Z8300.4 .U5
Electronic copy from HathiTrust http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001173116 External.
Included are letters to and from Polish actress Helena Modjeska.

About the Manuscript Division

The Manuscript Division seeks to preserve personal papers and organizational records that document the course of America's national experience. Its more than twelve thousand collections and more than seventy million items touch upon every aspect of American history and culture. The Manuscript Division's holdings are strongest, however, in the areas of American national government, the federal judiciary, diplomacy, military history, women's history, and black history.

Manuscript Reading Room
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Polish Collections at the Library of Congress