Container List
Series I. General Correspondence, 1915-1963. 5 Linear feet
Scope and ContentsThe series contains mostly pleasantries between Olds and his colleagues, friends, and the public. Letters are approximately split evenly between carbon copies of letters written by Olds, and original letters received by Olds. Although there are occasional references to U.S. Steel and White & Case, the correspondence is mostly personal in nature. There are a few letters to and from notable figures, such as former President Herbert Hoover. The bulk of the correspondence dates from the 1940s to his death in 1963, although there are letters of his that date back to approximately 1910. Most correspondents are not well-known, although any of note (either due to their historical prominence or substantial appearance within the collection) will be specified within the scope notes of each folder. At the end of the series, there are subject files which contain mostly correspondence with universities at which he was speaker or from whom he was receiving an honorary degree, and with museums regarding exhibitions he organized.
ArrangementThese materials remain largely in the order in which they were organized when they were received by N-YHS. They are arranged in primarily alphabetical order by correspondent or by subject. There are some exceptions to this, especially in the case of related letters from various correspondents that were filed together under a principal correspondent's name, as determined by either Olds or his assistant. Much of Olds's early correspondence exists in bound volumes organized by first letter of correspondent's surname or in some cases in bound volumes of materials pertaining to one correspondent. Although the alphabetized correspondence had maintained its rough original order, the folders in which they were originally stored have been lost, and upon the onset of processing, the correspondence was found in roughly sorted piles in various boxes. The folder arrangement here was created by the processing archivist but likely approximates the original organizational structure. The subject files are housed in the last box of the series. They were still in their original folders and, during processing, were rehoused into archival folders. |
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| Container 1 | Container 2 | Title | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offsite-Box: 1 | Folder : 1-2 | Correspondence, A (2 folders) |
1945-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 1 | Folder : 3-6 | Correspondence, B (4 folders)
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence concerning Edwin Beinecke, Ford Foundation, Crotched Mountain Foundation, Williams College, Grolier Club, U.S. Naval Academy, Aetna Life Insurance Corporation, Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation, Hammermill Paper Company, Mary Buchanan of Mesilla Park, New Mexico, Columbia University, and American Antiquarian Society |
1941-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 1 | Folder : 7 | Correspondence, Behrend
Scope and ContentsIncludes correspondence regarding Ernst R Behrend, the President of the Hammermill Paper Company, who was a close friend of Olds, and had ties to Olds's childhood hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania |
1922-1945 | |
| Offsite-Box: 1 | Folder : 8 | Correspondence, Boykin
Scope and ContentsIncludes correspondence concerning Carolyn and Ancrim Boykin, and their daughter, Lynn. They appear to be friends of Irving. |
1938-1942 | |
| Offsite-Box: 1 | Folder : 9 | Correspondence, C
Scope and ContentsBound file of early correspondence |
1921-1935 | |
| Offsite-Box: 1 | Folder : 10 | Correspondence, C
Scope and ContentsBound file of early correspondence |
1936-1948 | |
| Offsite-Box: 1 | Folder : 11-15 | Correspondence, C (5 folders)
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding Chase Bank, Office of Mayor Robert F Wagner, J.P. Morgan, Columbia University, Albany Institute of History and Art, Norman P Clement, Antiques Magazine, American Telephone and Telegraph Company, Association of A. Crawford Greene |
1941-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 2 | Folder : 1 | Correspondence, D
Scope and ContentsBound file of early correspondence. |
1921-1947 | |
| Offsite-Box: 2 | Folder : 2-3 | Correspondence, D (2 folders)
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding Carrier Corporation, Dartmouth College, War Production Board, Union College, U.S. Naval Academy, Alexander Davidson, Jr. Books, American Hospital of Paris, and American Steel & Wire Company |
1940-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 2 | Folder : 4-5 | Correspondence, E (2 folders)
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding Charles Edison, J.P. Morgan, Encyclopedia Britannica, Elihu Club, and U.S. Treasury Department |
1921-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 2 | Folder : 6 | Correspondence, F
Scope and ContentsBound file of early correspondence |
1920-1935 | |
| Offsite-Box: 2 | Folder : 7 | Correspondence, F
Scope and ContentsBound file of early correspondence |
1936-1946 | |
| Offsite-Box: 2 | Folder : 8 | Correspondence, Foster
Scope and ContentsContains correspondence relating to Belle W. Foster and the El Sabino Ranch |
1953-1960 | |
| Offsite-Box: 2 | Folder : 9-11 | Correspondence, F (3 Folders)
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding California Institute of Technology, J.C Fox (one letter from 1904 about taxes), Hunter College, Sons of the American Revolution, Jackson Hole Preserve, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harold Fabian, First National Bank of the City of New York, and American Red Cross |
1904-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 2 | Folder : 12-14 | Correspondence, G (3 folders)
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding Philip Goodwin, Bradley Goodyear, Antoni Gronowicz, Yale University's Office of the President, St. Luke's Hospital, American Express, University of Kansas |
1945-1960 | |
| Offsite-Box: 2 | Folder : 15-17 | Correspondence, H (3 folders)
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding University Club, American Red Cross, Joseph A Heckel of Americana Prints / Paintings, City National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago, Yale University, Consolidated Western Steel, and Museum of Fine Arts. Also includes a signed 1960 letter from former President Herbert Hoover, to his "old friend", Irving Olds. |
1942-1963 | |
| Offsite-Box: 3 | Folder : 1 | Correspondence, H
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding Frances Hereford, Minnesota Historical Society, NATO, Secretary of the Treasury George M Humphrey. Also includes correspondence to and from former President Herbert Hoover about his birthday. |
1928-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 3 | Folder : 2 | Correspondence, Holmes
Scope and ContentsBound volume containing correspondence regarding Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, for whom Olds clerked in the 1910s. There are only a handful of letters that predate 1930, and none of the correspondence is addressed to or from Holmes himself. Nearly all letters are pleasantries to and from law colleagues, with the overarching theme of the letters having to do with Justice Holmes in one way or another. |
1915-1938 | |
| Offsite-Box: 3 | Folder : 3 | Correspondence, I |
1930-1960 | |
| Offsite-Box: 3 | Folder : 4 | Correspondence, J
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding IBM, Trinity College of Hartford, Senator Robert A Taft, Architect Louis Jaeger, Senator Kenneth Keating, and Representative John V Lindsay |
1946-1961 | |
| Offsite-Box: 3 | Folder : 5 | Correspondence, K
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding New-York Historical Society and John Deere company |
1940-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 3 | Folder : 6 | Correspondence, Knight
Scope and ContentsIncludes newsclippings, correspondence, and court documents related to Richard A Knight,
a former lawyer convicted of libel. |
1946-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 3 | Folder : 7-8 | Correspondence, L (2 folders)
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding Yale Club, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Harvard Club, Smyth Manufacturing Company, and Harvard University |
1941-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 3 | Folder : 9-12 | Correspondence, M (4 folders)
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding Secretary of State Edward R Stettinius Jr, Smyth Manufacturing Company, John C Mitchell Naval & Maritime Books / Prints / Models, Attorney Gilbert H Montague, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Justice George W. Maxey, Grolier Club, Library of Congress, Yale University, Professor Clarence W Mendell, Metropolitan Opera, and Professor Thomas Mendenhall |
1946-1963 | |
| Offsite-Box: 3 | Folder : 13 | Correspondence, N
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding the Central National Bank of Cleveland, New York University President Carroll V. Newsom, Newberry Library, Old Print Shop, Ford Foundation, Attorney General Herbert Brownell, and Senator Edward Martin |
1941-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 4 | Folder : 1 | Correspondence, O
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence concerning Yale University and University of Colorado Denver. |
1942-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 4 | Folder : 2 | Correspondence, P
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding Alfred Paine, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, and Parker Gallery of London |
1942-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 4 | Folder : 3 | Correspondence, R
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding Madame Romaine Robert and Richard Robbins. |
1941-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 4 | Folder : 4-8 | Correspondence, S (5 Folders)
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence concerning Wabash College, Sweet-Orr Co., Anne & Marion Smith, British Hungarian Bank, Sheffield Farms Co., and Embassy of the United States in London. Also includes the American Bar Association Journal from February 1938, and The Harvard Graduates Magazine from March 1931. |
1933-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 4 | Folder : 9 | Correspondence, T
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence concerning Pan American Airways, and the United States Flag Association |
1948-1952 | |
| Offsite-Box: 4 | Folder : 10 | Correspondence, V
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence concerning the National Council of Women of the United States, Colonial Williamsburg, Irving Trust Company, and Hammermill Paper Company |
1947-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 4 | Folder : 11-12 | Correspondence, W (2 folders) |
1941-1961 | |
| Offsite-Box: 4 | Folder : 13 | Correspondence, Y |
1958-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 4 | Folder : 14 | Correspondence, Z |
1941-1961 | |
| Offsite-Box: 4 | Folder : 15 | Correspondence, Unalphabetized |
1940-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 1-2 | Correspondence, Unalphabetized (2 folders)
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence regarding Legal Aid Society, Metropolitan Opera National Council, Sons of the Revolution, American Antiquarian Society, Morgan Library, Columbia University, and Cooper Union |
1940-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 3 | Correspondence, Antiques |
1959 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 4 | Correspondence, Books - Review |
1952-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 5 | Correspondence, Brigham Young University |
1955-1961 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 6 | Correspondence, Bryant College |
1946-1961 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 7 | Correspondence, Franklin and Marshall College |
1959 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 8 | Correspondence, Hofstra University |
1954 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 9 | Correspondence, Long Island University |
1954-1961 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 10 | Correspondence, Oberlin College |
1958-1959 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 11 | Correspondence, Swarthmore College |
1956 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 12 | Correspondence, Syracuse University |
1955 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 13 | Correspondence, Union College |
1954-1955 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 14 | Correspondence, University of Akron |
1959-1960 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 15 | Correspondence, Wabash College |
1957-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 16 | Correspondence, Williams College |
1959 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 17 | Correspondence, Wilson College |
1953 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 18 | Correspondence, Exhibit - Hawley
Scope and ContentsIncludes but is not limited to correspondence concerning an exhibition of Evelyn Foster Olds's painted trays in Hawley, Pennsylvania |
1958 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 19 | Correspondence, Exhibit - Mariners Museum |
1957-1960 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 20 | Correspondence, Exhibit - Miniatures |
1933 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 21 | Correspondence, Exhibit - Naval Museum |
1959 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 22 | Correspondence, Exhibit - N-YHS |
1955-1959 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 23 | Correspondence, Exhibit - Old Print Shop |
1957-1959 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 24 | Correspondence, Exhibit - Peabody Museum |
1957-1958 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 25 | Correspondence, Exhibit - Smithsonian |
1958-1960 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 26 | Correspondence, Kai-Shek, Chiang, Madame
Scope and ContentsContains a letter from Mayor LaGuardia to Olds, setting plans for a visit from Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek. |
1943 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 27 | Correspondence, National Fund for Medical Education |
1960-1962 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 28 | Correspondence, New Jersey Historical Society |
1958-1963 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 29 | Correspondence, Stamps
Scope and ContentsContains photo reproduction of a letter in German, dating from the Nazi era, about special stamps. |
1938-1948 | |
| Offsite-Box: 5 | Folder : 30 | Correspondence, World War I
Scope and ContentsContains materials such as a letter written to Olds's father discussing his mobilization to Camp Beekman, and letters from J.P. Morgan & Co. a few weeks later discussing his discharge, which they appear to have prompted, based upon their need for his legal expertise during the war |
1916 | |
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