Scope and Contents

The Samuel F.B. Morse Collection contains inventories of letters from and about Morse; biographical summaries; papers relating to his career as an artist; his association with the University of the City of New York (now New York University); the invention of the telegraph and exhibitions thereof; and his experiments with photography. The collection also includes information on his will and his funeral; the Morse Plaque, which was placed on Main Building at NYU; the centennial celebration of his invention of the telegraph in 1944; the Morse Medal; and information concerning the Morse Telegraph Club, Inc.

The collection comprises one document box of material that serves as the primary reference file for the Archives staff on Morse. Additional material on Morse in the New York University Archives consists of nine letters in the Chancellors' Records, 1827-1885 (RG 3.0.1), newspaper reports on an address to the University alumni in 1853, and monographs about Morse.

The Samuel F.B. Morse Collection includes an essay on Morse and his association with New York University by Gary Reynolds, former curator of the Grey Art Gallery at NYU, that appeared in the catalog prepared for the Samuel F.B. Morse exhibition at New York University, September 14 to October 23, 1982; a folder listing of the Morse Collection; and a bibliography of works on Morse in the New York University Archives.