MHS Edward Atkinson Papers, 1819-1920 : Guide to the Collection

The majority of the letters to and from Edward Atkinson pertain to business matters; however there are letters to family members, as well. Also included are drafts of letters to editors, press releases, speeches and talks, and other compositions. The letters and occasional writings by Atkinson in this series document his deep involvement with manufacturing and industrialization, fire prevention and insurance, the abolishment of slavery, statistics, economics, and the science of dietary, nutritional, and educational awareness. His prominence in these fields is evidenced by letters he received from across the United States, as well as France, Germany, England, Japan, and Russia, among others. This series is divided into eleven subseries consisting of letters Atkinson received (General Correspondence) and those from selected business acquaintances. The bulk of Atkinson's outgoing correspondence can be found in Atkinson's letterbooks.

Atkinson was a prolific letter writer. He was an expert in many subjects, and the correspondence in this subseries reflects this. Atkinson expressed frank opinions on topics such as the cotton trade, anti-slavery, industrialization, building materials, political and international affairs, economic development and stability, business, human rights and equality, the science of nutrition, and home economics. Although Atkinson's correspondence is arranged chronologically, users looking for a specific correspondent (other than those listed below) can search the index to the letterbooks to see when Atkinson received letters from those individuals. Significant runs of correspondence with individuals have been arranged alphabetically below.

Atwater worked at times for the United States National Museum, the Chemical Laboratory at Wesleyan University, and the United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations, and is known for his work in nutrition. Letters between Atkinson and Atwater discuss nutrition and dietary studies that led, in part, to the establishment of the food calorie. Discussion also focused on the study of food consumption and the energy used by the average working man.

Bayard was United States secretary of state when his correspondence with Atkinson began in 1885. The nature of their correspondence includes bimetallism and a state department-sponsored investigatory trip to four European countries--requested by President Grover Cleveland--on the same subject to determine if it would be practicable to establish an international ratio between gold and silver.

Chace, United States representative and senator from Rhode Island, was a cotton manufacturer at a time when Atkinson was still largely involved with that industry. Their correspondence discusses tariffs, free trade, gold and silver currency, the development of better fire prevention standards, awareness, insurance, and other legislative matters.

Forbes was a railroad executive, as well as an abolitionist, merchant, and philanthropist. His correspondence with Atkinson began toward the end of the Civil War and touched on issues relating to cotton taxes, freed slaves, pamphlets, and political matters surrounding the cabinet selections of President Abraham Lincoln in his second term. Topics of discussion also included Frederick Douglass, the Robert Gould Shaw Monument, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This subseries includes many letters from Atkinson to Forbes. Forbes' handwriting is difficult to read, and many of his letters to Atkinson have been typed.

Ford was an editor of Bradstreet's and two special news services: Ford's Special News and, later, Ford's News. His letters to Atkinson document his efforts to establish a network of newspapers across the country that agreed to print reports from his offices in New York. Atkinson occasionally wrote articles and letters for Ford's papers.

Correspondence with Charles Nordhoff relates to articles Atkinson sought to place in The Evening Post, where Nordhoff was employed as an editor. They also discuss political issues, free trade, economics, and taxes on cotton.

Norton was an author, critic and professor at Harvard. In their early correspondence, they discussed the procurement of some of Atkinson's writing for distribution and publication. Norton, also an editor of the North American Review, frequently asked Atkinson for articles and sent subscription money to Atkinson.

Ott, secretary of the Southern Fertilizing Company in Richmond, Virginia, corresponded with Atkinson about life in the South and the affects of the end of slavery on Virginians. Additional subjects include cotton, silver, railroad expansion, and fire prevention; the two regularly traded articles of interest on these topics. Ott was an ardent reader and supporter of Atkinson's writings and regularly assisted with their publication and distribution.

Atkinson's correspondence with Ellen H. Richards pertains to her work at the New England Kitchen and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, her exhibition at the Chicago World's Fair, bread, and writings on which they collaborated, such as The Science of Nutrition. They forwarded articles and papers to each other with regularity. Atkinson was a fundraiser and supporter of Richards' efforts as she established educational practices and standards in the field of home economics.

Wells was an author, economist, and engineer. In their voluminous correspondence, Atkinson and Wells discuss politics, economics, and science, among other subjects.

Edward Atkinson wrote a memoir on his early memories in Brookline, Massachusetts, which he titled "Egotistigraphy." Atkinson spoke his memoir into an Edison phonograph, and the text was taken from the recording. Included in this series is an Atkinson family genealogy.

The letterbooks contain thousands of Atkinson's outgoing letters. Each letterbook (except Volume 24) was indexed, possibly in the 1930s, prior to their arrival at the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Pages were removed both before and after the initial handwritten indexes were compiled.

The Letterbook Index accompanying this finding aid contains only those letters that remain in the letterbooks. The recipients of those letters originally indexed, but removed at a later time, can still be discovered by viewing the original handwritten indexes in the volumes.

Volumes 1-79 are chronological from 1853 to 1905. There is no Volume 53 or 75. There are three volumes of separate correspondence for Atkinson's oven, Volumes 80-82, from 1892 to 1897.

Letters show Atkinson's deep involvement with accounting, manufacturing, and insurance companies. By 16 February 1858, Atkinson was agent or treasurer for at least six companies in Massachusetts and Maine, keeping all the books himself. Atkinson frequently discusses Ogden Mills and Indian Orchard Mills.

Atkinson actively sought to help finance new or financially troubled mills, to employ competent fugitive slaves, and to import cotton from Africa at a cheaper price per pound than could be obtained from cotton farms in the southern United States in an attempt to undermine slavery.

The correspondence in this volume centers around the cotton tax, manufacturing, import/export, politics, and equal rights in the southern United States. Major recipients of letters include David A. Wells, Maurice Williams, and the Honorable Hugh McCullock.

Correspondence in this volume focuses on political controversies, issues surrounding currency and the economy, Atkinson's pamphlets on various subjects, and his purchase of land in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition, many of these letters respond to requests for his skills as a statistician and economist. Frequent recipients include David A. Wells, the Honorable Hugh McCullock, Henry Hitchcock, Charles Sumner, and E. G. Obear & Co.

In addition to continuing conversations on the subjects of cotton, manufacturing, free trade, real estate, tariffs, and other economic matters, Atkinson's correspondence in this volume discusses patents on various inventions. The letterbook contains a number of drawings and sketches of a treadle for a sewing machine and upgrades to the popular Warren Cooker and a steam oven. These ideas likely led to Atkinson's Aladdin Cooker and Aladdin Oven. Frequent correspondence sent to Parke Goodwin, William Grosvenor, and Mahlon Sands.

Atkinson letters discuss political and economic topics, railroad expansion, the use of powder in putting out fires, and mortgage payments on his St. Louis property, as well as his desire to disassociate himself from it. Atkinson helped to establish a mill in Milton, Massachusetts, and continued to draw and relate his inventions, such as a spiral rotating saw or chisel and valves, to the appropriate people in an effort to ease production tasks in various industries. Frequent recipients include Trusten Polk and the law firm of Hitchcock, Lubke & Player.

Correspondence in this volume includes the expansion of railway lines and rail yards in South Boston, the sale of railroad and other bonds, economic subjects such as the price of gold and paper money, manufacturing, the economics of flour, and other culinary matters. Atkinson and Goodwin continued to seek patents for their inventions. Frequent recipients include C. I. Barker, Parke Goodwin, and James H. McMullin.

Atkinson continued to investigate the cost of food production and distribution, to discuss the current tariff structure, and to seek reform and free trade. His correspondence also focuses on currency and Atkinson's examination of cotton fibers to determine what damage they incur in the manufacturing process. Frequent recipients include J. Hubley Ashton, the Honorable Hamilton Fish, E. B. Washburn, and George E. Woodward.

Atkinson was at work on a self-closing faucet; this volume includes drawings and correspondence on its development. The subject of cotton dominates much of the letterbook as Atkinson was sending and receiving bales of cotton to and from all over the world, as well as producing and circulating publications on cotton and cotton fabrics. The subject of South Boston railway lines is raised again.

There is a gap in the letters from late May to early October 1877 while Atkinson spent several months in Europe. Letters prior to his travel include a resignation letter as trustee and president of the Brookline Savings Bank, as well as letters that conclude other business affairs. Some correspondence relates to the Robert Gould Shaw Monument in Boston, the prospect of using a single legal tender of gold coin, railway expansion in Greater Boston, and recurring subjects like cotton manufacturing, tariffs, and pamphleteering.

Atkinson's correspondence remains centered on cotton, gold and currency, industrial inventions and improvements, and the production and distribution of pamphlets on these subjects. Fire insurance and fire prevention are discussed more frequently. Atkinson issues letters and statements arguing for land development and street planning. A composition, presumably dictated by Atkinson, entitled "After the Battle" appears on pages 426-433, and an ode, dedicated to C. I. Barker, on page 435.

Atkinson's outgoing letters give investment advice, discuss statistics relating to food production, defend statements in the newspapers, and detail a census he undertook of cotton manufactures. Atkinson frequently sent letters with checks enclosed to subscribe--or invest--in companies. Frequent recipients include H. I. Kimball, J. W. Ryckman, and J. H. Reall.

Atkinson discusses the many countries from which he purchased cotton, praising Chinese cotton above all others. He defends against being misquoted in various newspapers on a wide range of subjects, including cotton manufacturing. Politics, economics, agriculture, and the spreading of information via pamphlets, speeches, and newspaper articles are prevalent. Frequent recipients include H. I. Kimball and J. H. Reall.

Atkinson's letters involve coordinating a trip for the committee of the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association to the Atlanta Cotton Exhibition. Atkinson also discusses the development of electric lighting, railroads, fire insurance, cotton, agriculture, and progress in the southern United States.

This letterbook begins on the subject of a tariff commission. The Shaw Monument, railroads, land development in South Boston, architecture and building standards, economics, cotton, and speaking engagements are also discussed. Frequent recipients include Thomas P. Ivy.

Subjects discussed in letters are: fire prevention and insurance, labor and wages, invitations to join boards, metals (steel, copper, etc.), economics, agriculture, and railways. Frequent recipients include William R. Morrison and David A Wells.

Subjects discussed in Volume 16 are: wheat, tariffs, industrialization, railroads, politics, economics, and wage earnings. There is some correspondence with Dr. Henry Bowditch in which Atkinson proposes the use of "finger marks" printed on the backs of personal checks, bonds, and banknotes as a way to prevent forgery.

Atkinson discusses various matters relating to politics, pensions, economics, and the accountability of city government (Boston) and corporations. He also writes with regard to building standards for low income earners, construction and fire insurance, and the publication of books, pamphlets, and other compositions. Frequent recipients include Charles Nordhoff, Joseph Nimmo Jr., George Haven Putnam, and George P. Putnam's Sons.

Atkinson's letters reference studies of food composition, tariffs, recommendations for political positions, cotton, insurance, and statistics. Frequent recipients include Wilbur O. Atwater, Thomas F. Bayard, Charles Nordhoff, and J. S. Potter.

Topics in the correspondence include food production and cost, the fluctuation of wage earnings, gold, fire extinguishing and insurance, politics, and legislative decisions. Frequent recipients include Charles Dana, Franklin Ford, and P. A. Montgomery.

Subjects discussed include census results and wage earnings; banking and finance; the production, distribution, and cost of food; agriculture and ensilage; syndication of Atkinson's writings; speaking engagements; taxes; and tariffs. Frequent recipients include W. C. P. Breckenridge and Charles D. Owen.

Topics referenced in letters include international affairs regarding William Gladstone's Irish policy, wages, the progress and development of the United States, the establishment by law of fire marshals in cities, free trade, and agriculture. Frequent recipients include Worthington C. Ford, Richard Watson Gilder, Rand & Avery, and David A. Wells.

Atkinson's correspondence relates to overseeing the publication of his article "The Relative Weakness and Strength of Nations" which appeared in Century Magazine in January and February 1887. The article presented the idea that "the annual product of a country, whatever it may be, is the source of its wages, profits and taxes." Other topics include food, manufacturing, tax and tariff reform, investments, and railroads. Frequent recipients include Wilbur O. Atwater, F. W. Ballard, Ernest Edwards, Richard Watson Gilder, and A. W. Westgate.

Subjects of correspondence include fire insurance and safety, the cancellation of speaking engagements due to his wife's ill health, labor, food, taxes, statistics, and international affairs. Atkinson spent several months in Europe studying labor, money, and other related subjects in 1877; as a result, many letters prepare his acquaintances for silence or delays in response. Frequent recipients include Thomas F. Bayard, Ernest Edwards, Richard Watson Gilder, and A. W. Westgate.

Please note this volume is extremely fragile and has not been indexed.

Atkinson sailed to Europe, leaving the first 48 pages of his outgoing correspondence in charge of C. E. Cabot. While in Europe, Atkinson had a special passport which appeared to exempt his personal effects from customs inspections. Subjects of letters after Atkinson's return from Europe include: translation of foreign language documents, food production and distribution, and the purchasing New Brunswick and Nova Scotia from Canada in relation to the fishery industry. Frequent recipients include Thomas F. Bayard, Henry L. Bryan, Charles D. Clark, C. S. Fairchild, N. S. Shaler, and Frank William Taussig.

Atkinson discusses statistics, the development of a new oven, insurance, the prevention of loss by fire, the need for education in cooking, wages earned versus the cost of production of commodities, politics, and spontaneous combustion. Frequent recipients include W. C. P. Breckenridge, Ernest Edwards, Photo-Gravure Co., and Albert C. Stevens.

Topics of correspondence include goods production and taxation, import and export, food with regard to the measure of efficiency of labor, insurance, the publication of various articles and books, currency, fish, and drafts of speeches given. Frequent recipients include Wilbur O. Atwater, Samuel S. Cox, Ernest Edwards, C. S. Fairchild, and Lorettus Sutton Metcalf.

Correspondence includes discussion of wool pricing and manufacturing, fundraising for charities, currency circulation, cotton bagging, the 1888 election, fishery, bimetallism, and inventions such as a humidifier. Frequent recipients include J. H. Conant, George W. Gregory, Lorettus Sutton Metcalf, Ellen H. Richards, and R. H. Thurston.

Atkinson's correspondence discusses farming and farming machinery, publications, working hours for the standard work week, manufacturing, fire sprinklers, building construction and materials, and insurance companies. Frequent recipients include Wilbur O. Atwater, J. H. Conant, George Draper & Sons, Ernest Edwards, Kenrick Bros., Lorettus Sutton Metcalf, Poor & Greenough, Ellen H. Richards, and James M. Swank.

Subjects of outgoing letters include: the 1880 census and the wealth of the United States measured by dollars, production and consumption, economics, increased life expectancy being tied to increased intelligence, food preparation and the Aladdin Oven, wheat crops, and the abuse of power by corporations. Frequent recipients include J. H. Conant, R. H. Edmonds, C. A. Hopkins, J. M. McBryde, D. M. Osborne & Co., Poor & Greenough, and George P. Putnam's Sons.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include the prices of iron and steel used in construction of ships, land development, food consumption, mining, Atkinson's publications, and malpractice faced by surgeons and physicians. Frequent recipients include R. C. P. Coggeshall, General A. W. Greeley, George P. Putnam's Sons, Popular Science Monthly, James M. Swank, Dr. Irving A. Watson, and W. J. Youmans.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include atmospheric nitrogen and farming, relative humidity and meteorology, taxes, textile factories, fire insurance and prevention, architecture, building materials, gold, and bonds. Frequent recipients include General William F. Draper, Ambrose Eastman, Richard Watson Gilder, Dr. J. Orne Green, John Hill, Poor & Greenough, George P. Putnam's Sons, William Rotch Ware, Charles W. Whitcomb, and W. J. Youmans.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include race, humidity and temperature controls in mills and factories, tunneling, fire prevention, iron and bimetallism, and his own publications. Frequent recipients include Henry L. Dawes, A. B. Farquhar, Richard Watson Gilber, Henry Saltonstall, and W. J. Youmans.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include race, politics, the McKinley Tariff bill, land development at Indian Orchard, food production and transportation, finances, wool, establishing a bakery in Boston, the watershed of the Paraguay and Parana Rivers, and credit. Frequent recipients include Horace S. Bradford, W. M. Brown, John G. Carlisle, George Dexter, A. B. Farquhar, W. H. Firebaugh & Co., Charles Nordhoff, Ex Norton, Ellen H. Richards, and Moses Williams.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include the McKinley Tariff bill, the development in the arts and industries of America, plaster board, school architecture, credit, economic rent, iron production, river exploration, labor costs, and his own publications. Frequent recipients include Brookline Chronicle, John G. Carlisle, Century Co., Richard Watson Gilder, Dwight H. Olmstead, Ellen H. Richards, David A. Wells, and W. J. Youmans.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include credit, publication of his writings, tariffs on food, iron and other products, textile manufacturing, the McKinley Tariff bill, growth of industry in the south, and cooking experiments. Frequent recipients include John G. Carlisle, R. H. Edmonds, A. B. Farquhar, Abram S. Hewitt, J. R. McPherson, and Ellen H. Richards.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include the Aladdin Oven, mutual companies, the New England Kitchen, bimetallism, an elastic circulating medium in boots and shoes, supervision of factories, and the publication and distribution of his own writings. Frequent recipients include Bradstreet's, Cordley & Hayes, Edmund Hudson, Ellen H. Richards, L. Sterne, Albert C. Stevens, Sir Henry Thompson, Mrs. Charles Trench, and William L. Wilson.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include cooking practices and food preparation, silver coinage and legal tender, construction and the prevention of loss by fire, the promotion of stenographers, and a trip through the southern states. Frequent recipients include Clark W. Bryan, Mrs. Edwin L. Hall, Michael D. Harter, Lalance & Grosjean Manufacturing Co., Nathan Matthews Jr., Ellen H. Richards, John A. Walker, J. E. Watkins, and David A. Wells.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include the science of nutrition, silver coinage, architecture and building construction, the Aladdin Oven, civil engineering and roadway improvements, the Shaw Monument, and brick making. Frequent recipients include Thomas Egleston, William H. Forbes, A. M. Goodale, W. H. Glenny Sons & Co., Ellen H. Richards, and J. E. Watkins.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include a comparison of railway practices between the United States and Germany, the Aladdin Oven, the Shaw Monument, building standards in schoolhouses and hospitals, the emergence of the South commercially, the expenses of the United States, and silver. Frequent recipients include Mrs. Mary Hinman Abel, Atlanta Constitution, John Hill, Walter H. Page, and Ellen H. Richards.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include free coinage of silver, gold, leatheroid, the Aladdin Oven, iron ore and the McCarty process, the cost of producing a pound of cotton, the McKinley Bill, and food preparation. Frequent recipients include William E. Barrows, Clark W. Bryan, Walter H. Page, Ellen H. Richards, David A. Wells, and Carroll D. Wright.

The subject of correspondence in this letterbook includes property valuation, the Census Bureau, nutrition, the condition of railways and the question of ownership, wages rates and their effect on supply of food, free coinage, his son Robert's study of music in Munich, the Aladdin Oven, wood pulp, and iron ore. Frequent recipients include Clark W. Bryan, Julia O. Graves, George F. Hoar, Ellen H. Richards, and David A. Wells.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include labor and wages, iron ore, tariffs, school house construction and architecture, nutrition and food supply, the national banking system, sugar, and the development of the Department of Education. Frequent recipients include Clark W. Bryan & Co., C. F. Crisp, Michael D. Harter, J. R. Leeson, S. S. McClure, Ellen H. Richards, J. H. Walker, David A. Wells, and William L. Wilson.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include tariff reform, speaking engagements and travel, commerce, the Torrens System of Registering Land Titles, Chile, seeking financial backing from philanthropists, cotton, and the publication and distribution of his own articles and books. Frequent recipients include Alden & Woods Fibre Co., Clark W. Bryan & Co., Michael D. Harter, John H. Holmes, Ellen H. Richards, J. N. Whitney, George Frederick Williams, and Erastus Wiman.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include manufacturing wages, silver, registration of land titles and land development, mills, building codes, fire prevention and statistics, investments, invitations to lectures and other social engagements, cooking, wheat, pensions, taxation, immigration, and the Chicago World's Fair. Frequent recipients include Wilbur O. Atwater, Clark W. Bryan, Hon. Sherman Hoar, Michael D. Harter, John H. Holmes, Mr. Miller, Walter H. Page, Poor & Greenough, Green B. Raum, Ellen H. Richards, and J. N. Whitney.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include Kentucky Bourbon, currency and silver coinage, advertising, the Aladdin Oven, nutrition, public schools, free trade, nutrition, a trip to England, and ribbed glass. Frequent recipients include Wilbur O. Atwater, Clark W. Bryan & Co., Alfred D. Chandler, Ambrose Eastman, Thomas Egleston, Charles S. Hamlin, Michael D. Harter, Lee, Higginson & Co., Mr. Miller, Roger Q. Mills, Walter H. Page, G. P. Putnam's Sons, Ellen H. Richards, Augustus St. Gaudens, David A. Wells, and J. N. Whitney.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include letters of introduction, the Columbian Exhibition, the Shaw Monument, the Nineteenth Century Club, construction standards for school buildings, the introduction of maize in England, coal dust and spontaneous combustion, the Workmen's Free Union, statistics, customs revenue, and prohibition. Frequent recipients include John G. Carlisle, Grover Cleveland, J. R. Dodge, Ambrose Eastman, Charles S. Fairchild, William G. S. Keene, Green B. Raum, Ellen H. Richards, Augustus St. Gaudens, J. Montgomery Sears, William S. Stuyvesant, David A. Wells, F. E. White, J. N. Whitney, William L. Wilson, and Charles D. Wood.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include Atkinson's publications and addresses, insurance, cotton and wool, tariffs, road and land development in Brookline, pensions, the competition and cost of ocean steamers, water and fire service in Boston, the census and western farm mortgages, food grains of India, and beans. Frequent recipients include D. Appleton & Co., Grover Cleveland, Charles S. Hamlin, S. Frederick Howe, J. Sterling Morton, Richard Olney, Walter H. Page, J. S. Potter, Josiah Quincy, N. S. Shaler, H. C. Shaver, John Shepard, Albert C. Stevens, David A. Wells, Charles Whitcomb, and J. N. Whitney.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include tariff reform, silver, food laboratories and Agriculture Experiment Stations, the Shaw Monument, farm mortgages, building standards and fire prevention, travel arrangements for meetings with various political figures, the Sherman Act, letters to the editors of national newspapers, and legal tender. Frequent recipients include E. Ellery Anderson, John A. Dunlap, William Dodsworth, Worthington C. Ford, Charles S. Hamlin, Ripley Hitchcock, John H. Holmes, C. H. Jones, Roger Quarles Mills, J. Sterling Morton, Ellen H. Richards, Augustus St. Gaudens, Joseph H. Walker, David A. Wells, and William L. Wilson.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include the publication of his articles, gold, currency, bimetallism, cooking, land development and real estate, the McKinley Tariff Bill, the Sherman Act, iron, agricultural machinery, weights and measures, and the metric system. Frequent recipients include Ambrose Eastman, J. Malcolm Forbes, Worthington C. Ford, Charles S. Hamlin, Ripley Hitchcock, Samuel Hoar, John H. Holmes, William C. Lovering, Arthur T. Lyman, Roger Quarles Mills, Walter H. Page, Elmer C. Rice, Ellen H. Richards, Morrison J. Swift, Joseph H. Walker, David A. Wells, Horace White, William L. Wilson, and Carroll D. Wright.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include Roman economics, the history of the 19th century, Napoleon, money weights and measures, peanuts, the Shaw Monument, income tax, tariff reform, comparative taxation, silver coinage, Atkinson's publications, mortgages, wool and farming. Frequent recipients include Clifford R. Breckenridge, George W. Cable, C. W. Dabney, Damrell & Upham, Horace E. Deming, R. H. Edmonds, Charles W. Eliot, Charles Francis Jr., Morrill Goddard, George S. Hale, Michael D. Harter, Ripley Hitchcock, John H. Holmes, Osborne Howes Jr., James K. Jones, Charles Lowell, Arthur T. Lyman, S. S. McClure, J. R. McPherson, Roger Quarles Mills, Walter H. Page, Ellen H. Richards, A. B. Shepperson, Augustus St. Gaudens, David A. Wells, J. N. Whitney, Charles A. Williams, and Carroll D. Wright.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include free trade, silk and textile fabrics, nutrition, insurance risks, consumption of cotton, the Shaw Monument, currency, the Aladdin Oven, letters to the editors, wheat and the American farmer, refrigerators, and the Thursday Evening Club. Frequent recipients include H. E. Abbot, J. C. Brown, John G. Carlisle, Harvey S. Chase, Grover Cleveland, Miss Emma O. Conro, C. W. Dabney Jr., Damrell & Upham, R. H. Edmonds, Worthington C. Ford, Charles H. Heath, Abram S. Hewitt, George K. Holmes, James K. Jones, G. Shaw Lefevre, J. Sterling Morton, Walter H. Page, J. S. Potter, L. G. Powers, Ellen H. Richards, W. R. Sessions, Augustus St. Gaudens, Albert C. Stevens, Joseph H. Walker, and Carroll D. Wright.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include the effects of heat on food, the relative conductivity of glass to heat and cold, docks, cotton gin, electrolysis of salt water, insurance business, letters to the editor, the science of preventing fires, and legal tender. Frequent recipients include William E. Bear, Charles H. Botsford, Captain Charles Bryant, Damrell & Upham, William Dodsworth, Engineering Magazine, Evening Post, A. B. Farquhar, William H. Forbes, Worthington C. Ford, Charles S. Hamlin, John H. Holmes, Journal of Commerce, Henry Loomis Nelson, Walter H. Page, Robert Treat Paine Jr., Ellen H. Richards, Albert C. Stevens, The Tradesman, David A. Wells, and Horace White.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include wages and currency, Texas, land and home ownership, the Shaw Monument, letters to editors, child insurance, appreciation and depreciation of precious metals, Brookline, and taxation. Frequent recipients include Atlanta Union, Boston Herald, John G. Carlisle, Chicago Record, Damrell & Upham, William Dodsworth, John A. Dunlap, Engineering Magazine, William H. Forbes, Worthington C. Ford, Charles S. Hamlin, J. Sterling Morton, Henry Loomis Nelson, Walter H. Page, Ellen H. Richards, Augustus St. Gaudens, James M. Swank, John DeWitt Warner, David A. Wells, and J. N. Whitney.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include a visit to the southern states, cotton bales, taxes, silver, building materials and fire prevention, cooking, nutrition, food preparation, the removal of greenbacks or legal tender from circulation, anti-jingoism, wages and labor, the value of products, and the cost of war. Frequent recipients include Asbestos Paper Co., W. H. Baldwin Jr., Lloyd Bryce, John G. Carlisle, Andrew Carnegie, Chattanooga Tradesman, John A. Dunlap, Engineering Magazine, Worthington C. Ford, A. M. Goodale, Charles S. Hamlin, J. Sterling Morton, Henry Loomis Nelson, C. L. Norton, Ellen H. Richards, William R. Tucker, Tradesman Publishing Co., David A. Wells, and Moses Williams.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include non-illuminant gas, the extension of the railway system, tariffs and currency, jingoism, nutrition of college students, cotton seed, the Shaw Monument, building codes for dormitories, agricultural production and wages earned by export, the consumption of food, and Atkinson's own writings on various subjects. Frequent recipients include Wilbur O. Atwater, John H. Converse, William Dodsworth, Dr. C. W. Dabney Jr., Worthington C. Ford, Charles S. Hamlin, J. Lawrence Hamilton, James K. Jones, J. L. Laughlin, E. J. Phelps, Ellen H. Richards, Calvin Tompkins, Joseph D. Weeks, David A. Wells, W. H. Wentworth, Henry M. Whitney, and George Wood.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include silver, Atkinson's pamphlets and publications, silver and free coinage, family matters, working condition of Europeans compared to Americans, grain farmers, the Shaw Monument, and legal tender. Frequent recipients include Bartlett Arkell, Robert Benson, H. K. Carroll, Chicago Record, Engineering Magazine, A. B. Farquhar, Charles S. Hamlin, John H. Holmes, Osborne Howes, John C. Lane, Henry Lee, H. L. Nelson, George Peel, L. G. Powers, Augustus St. Gaudens, Albert C. Stevens, Calvin Tompkins, and David A. Wells.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include Palmer and Buckner's sound money campaign, the 1896 election, fire prevention, the Shaw Monument, the prices of wheat, financial fears, reconstructing the monetary system, statistics, and tin plates. Frequent recipients include Boston Herald, R. R. Bowker, H. W. Brown, C. W. Dabney Jr., J. A. Dunlap, Franklin Dye, A. B. Farquhar, John M. Forbes, W. H. Forbes, Charles S. Hamlin, John H. Holmes, Henry Lee, J. Sterling Morton, H. L. Nelson, Charles Nordhoff, G. W. Ochs, J. S. Potter, L. G. Powers, Augustus St. Gaudens, Colonel Taylor, B. F. Trueblood, Charles Warren, Booker T. Washington, David A. Wells, and W. P. Wilson.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include grain crops and farm products, gold deposits in the northwest U.S. and British Columbia, the unveiling and dedication of the Shaw Monument, circulating money, the Arbitration Treaty, silver, sound money, Cuba, the Dingley Bill, and Atkinson's plans to visit England. Frequent recipients include Francis H. Appleton, H. W. Brown, A. B. Farquhar, W. W. Gibbs, Charles S. Hamlin, Jerome Hill, George F. Hoar, John H. Holmes, William James, Henry W. Lamb, A. T. Lyman, James J. Myers, John Henry Rolker, E. V. Smalley, Augustus St. Gaudens, F. H. Viaux, Booker T. Washington, and David A. Wells.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include wool, silver, gold, tariffs, cotton, nutrition, the Shaw Monument, the abuses of taxation, metallic and paper currency, corn stalks, British Silver, air moisteners, electro-physics, Texas and Australia, postal savings banks, the health of David Wells, and the annexation of Hawaii. Frequent recipients include Asbestos Paper Co., H. W. Brown, Charles S. Fairchild, A. B. Farquhar, Worthington C. Ford, Lyman J. Gage, James A. Gary, Charles H. Heath, John H. Holmes, Houghton Mifflin & Co., Col. Henry Lee, A. W. Lightbourn, L. G. Powers, Mayor Josiah Quincy, Ellen H. Richards, John E. Searles, Augustus St. Gaudens, James M. Swank, Booker T. Washington, David A. Wells, and C. J. H. Woodbury.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include currency, nutrition, Atkinson's pamphlets and articles, Anthracite coal, "proprietary medicines" (alcohol), ventilation in schoolhouses and public buildings, the census, pensions, gold, corn stalks, cotton manufacturing, and boiler insurance. Frequent recipients include E. W. Atkinson, William Atkinson, H. W. Brown, Horace D. Chapin, Country Gentleman, Charles R. Dodge, A. B. Farquhar, William Fowler, Lyman J. Gage, R. W. Gilder, Samuel Gompers, Thomas Hall & Son, Charles H. Heath, George F. Hoar, Houghton Mifflin & Co., A. L. Lincoln Jr., C. R. Miller, T. H. Martin, T. B. Neal, Ellen H. Richards, E. V. Smalley, and C. J. H. Woodbury.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include cotton and wool manufacturing, wage earnings, solid silage, the Aladdin Oven, Cuba, comparative and relative taxation, fire prevention and insurance, real estate, household science, the Torrens Act, Malthusian and Darwinian theory, sized yarn, a scientific investigation of the injury and impairment done to the cotton fiber in the conversion of cotton to cloth, the Spanish-American War, Mugwumps, and health improvements in the workplace. Frequent recipients include Advance Mill & Gin Co., Frank P. Bennett, A. A. Burnham, William Dodsworth, Frederick Emory, Lord Farrer, William Fowler, W. H. Harris, Charles H. Heath, George F. Hoar, John H. Holmes, William C. Lovering, J. Sterling Morton, Charles Nordhoff, S. N. D. North, L. G. Powers, Matthew Prior, Ellen H. Richards, John E. Searle, Swire Smith, David A. Wells, and H. C. Wainwright & Co.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include yarn; cotton; the science of cooking; wages; taxation; the national expansion and governmental possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Alaska; agriculture; eggs; duties on imports; wheat; the Aladdin Oven; trade with the Philippines; and Atkinson's pamphleteering. Frequent recipients include Asbestos Paper Co., Boston Mailing Co., Donelson Caffery, Andrew Carnegie, Worthington C. Ford, Lyman J. Gage, Osborne Holmes, George F. Hoar, H. G. Kittredge, Henry W. Lamb, T. H. Martin, S. N. D. North, L. G. Powers, Rockwell & Churchill, Stoddard, Haserick, Richards & Co., Tradesman Publishing Co., Erving Winslow, and W. J. Youmans.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include wheat, the growing power and influence of the United States after the Spanish-American War, women's clubs, the American farmer, army medical reports, the Aladdin Oven, mental energy, solid silage, and the layout of roadways, parkways, and drainage ways in Brookline. Frequent recipients include E. W. Atkinson, Andrew Carnegie, J. W. Clarke E. H. Clement, Donelson Caffery, Lord Farrer, A. M. Goodale, George F. Hoar, Sir J. B. Lawes, J. Sterling Morton, Herbert Myrick, C. L. Norton, A. D. Provand, L. G. Powers, James L. Slayden, Erving Winslow, C. J. H. Woodbury, Horace White, Winslow Warren, and W. J. Youmans.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include the Philippines, The Anti-Imperialist, Atkinson's pamphlets, aerated bread, mixing dough with compressed air, cotton, hydraulic presses for creating rectangular bales, wage rates, the northern U.S. versus the southern U.S., national deficits and economics, enlistments, and tariffs. Frequent recipients include E. W. Atkinson, Andrew Carnegie, J. E. Chessman, Damrell & Upham, Louis R. Ehrich, John H. Holmes, Allen O. Myers, C. L. Norton, John C. Ropes, Edwin Burritt Smith, Moorfield Storey, Flavius J. Van Vorhis, Henry C. Wainwright & Co., Stephen M. Weld, Horace White, and Erving Winslow.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include Ohio, Atkinson's The Anti-Imperialist, pamphlet mailings, the Philadelphia Exposition, the Philippines, President McKinley, the "Cost of Criminal Aggression," cotton, industrialization in the southern United States and the importance of the 'colored race,' the single tax, the United States mail, wheat, and imports and exports. Frequent recipients include Irving Bacheller, Boston Mailing Co., George S. Boutwell, David R. Boyd, William A. Buckley, Andrew Carnegie, James W. Clarke, William W. Crosby, Deimel Linen-Mesh System Co., William Fowler, Charles H. Heath, George F. Hoar, Philadelphia Museum, D. S. Sanford, Edward Strang, W. C. Stubbs, W. P. Wilson, and Erving Winslow.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include Atkinson's The Anti-Imperialist, free trade and the central government, regional humidity and climatic conditions, wheat, the art of war, construction of school houses, the cost of food and food consumption, fire prevention, political economy, killing implements, and the diffusion of light. Frequent recipients include O. P. Austin, Rev. M. C. Ayers, Thomas J. Barret, Donelson Caffery, W. A. Croffut, W. M. Curtis, Worthington C. Ford, William Fowler, A. H. French, Charles H. Heath, George F. Hoar, Samuel Hoar, L. O. Howard, Manual Training School, Charles J. Rosebault, W. F. Sherman, W. P. Wilson, and Erving Winslow.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include potash and famine, the 1900 presidential election, fire insurance, imports and exports, the Civil War, Atkinson's The Anti-Imperialist, slow-burning construction, humidity, mental energy, the principle underlying the payment for products and services, prices and wages, real estate titles, and the removal of stamp taxes for proprietary medicines. Frequent recipients include O. P. Austin, Boston Mailing Co., George S. Boutwell, E. H. Clement, Jerome Hill, George F. Hoar, Charles Lowell, Edward Marshall, Charles L. Norton, John G. Palfrey, Ellen H. Richards, Charles J. Rosebault, Sanford & Kelley, Horace White, J. N. Whitney, and Erving Winslow.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include commerce; the Free Coinage Bill; German Government Insurance; the death of Queen Victoria; Mark Twain's North American Review; providing access to books and libraries; potash; Agricultural Experiment Station; cotton; the census; national debts; the Atkinson family; improvement in humans; a trip to Hamburg, Germany; fire-proof materials; and an exchange of interesting letters with Senator George F. Hoar. Frequent recipients include O. P. Austin, Boston Mailing Co., J. R. Dunlap, E. Dana Durand, Frederic Emory, William Fowler, W. H. Forbes, F. W. Grinnell, Charles H. Heath, J. F. Jackson, Kidder, Peabody & Co., A. H. Latham, C. L. Norton, Robert L. O’Brien, L. G. Powers, T. W. Ripley, Gustav H. Schwab, William T. Sedgwick, Henry C. Wainwright & Co., Moses Williams, and Erving Winslow.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include medical reports from the war in the Philippines, the Philippine economy, beetling, textiles, smoke prevention, cotton, real estate, books and literature, the burden and strength of nations, potatoes, insurance engineering, race and religion, the explosion on the battleship Maine, the Free Workmen's Union, the consumption of alcohol, comparative taxation, potash mines, Assiniboia, combustion, steel construction, and the penalty of militarism. Frequent recipients include William Atkinson, William J. Boies, Chase & Co's Express, E. W. Carmack, R. H. Edmonds, A. B. Farquhar, William Fowler, Charles H. Heath, George F. Hoar, Osborne Howes, George Iles, C. L. Norton, S. N. D. North, Popular Science Monthly, L. G. Powers, Samuel L. Powers, James M. Swank, and Erving Winslow.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include the penalty of militarism, the pension commission, the war in the Philippines, the National Reciprocity League, bankruptcy, equality among races, labor unions, coal and gas, food preparation and oven usage, the "Approximate estimate of the volume of trade in the materials necessary to existence in the United States," currency and banking, building construction, and the Brookline reservoir. Frequent recipients include O. P. Austin, Boston Mailing Co., E. W. Carmack, J. McKeen Cattell, C. A. Culberson, Damrell & Upham, R. H. Edmonds, Frederic Emory, A. B. Farquhar, William Fowler, George F. Hoar, Willard Kent, William C. Lovering, William R. Merriam, C. L. Norton, L. G. Powers, T. W. Ripley, Hazard Stevens, John L. Williams, Moses Williams, and Erving Winslow.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include "How to Save Children's Eyes," pensions, tariff reduction, the corrosion of steel, naval vessels, "How to Annex the Maritime Provinces of Canada," mud fuel, the Dingley Act, free trade, fire prevention and building inspections, the Factory Mutual System of Fire Insurance, the Steel Trust, agriculture and mining, and industrialization. Frequent recipients include O. P. Austin, Edward W. Baker, Boston Mailing Co., C. B. Bryant, E. H. Clement, George Clark, Damrell & Upham, John C. Fetzer, William Fowler, J. R. Freeman, H. R. Gill, John B. Kinney, Henry W. Lamb, William C. Lovering, H. L. Wade, and Erving Winslow.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include labor conditions in Mississippi, real estate, cotton, taxation and tariffs, wheat production, the English Educational Commission, the Heath Estate in Brookline, presidential campaign financing, the prevention of loss by fire (in regards to the Iroquois Theatre fire), Maine, the Democratic Party, pensions, Atkinson's pamphlets and publications, and the relative consumption in the United States of the necessaries of life. Frequent recipients include A. A. Allen, Robert W. Atkinson, Thomas Barclay, L. W. Baxter, J. C. Bayles, E. W. Carmack, Andrew Carnegie, E. H. Clement, G, J. Cockburn, R. H. Edmonds, William Everett, William Fowler, John C. Fetzer, R. L. Gay, George F. Hoar, Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Co., Old Corner Bookstore, Francisco Rucabado, Edward Starwood, E. F. Ware, William Watson, John L. Williams, Erving Winslow, and C. J. H. Woodbury.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include the relocation of streets and height of buildings in Baltimore, domestic industry, cotton manufacturing, the St. Louis Exposition, the presidential campaign and election, tariffs, the cost of war, peat, nutrition and family expenditure for consumption of foods, fire prevention, labor, economic science, tobacco, the digestibility of bread, and the development of the tin plate industry. Frequent recipients include E. H. Clement, W. S. Cowherd, James B. Dudley, R. H. Edmonds, William Everett, William Fowler, Eugene N. Foss, Francis J. Garrison, H. O. Houghton & Co., Osborne Howes, S. N. D. North, C. L. Norton, Alton B. Parker, T. W. Ripley, Frederic Stanley Root, William Watson, H. W. Whitney, and John S. Williams.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include the Heath estate, the decline in quality of newspaper editing, glass, cotton, insurance, bread making, steamship routes between North America and Europe, the cost of the war in the Philippines, dietary nutrition, grass, racial equality, public health and patented medicine, tariffs, statistics, national railroads, the textile worker strike in Fall River, and bog fuel. Frequent recipients include J. C. Bayles, Alice Stone Blackwell, L. E. Chamberlain, Thomas H. Clay, W. L. Douglass, R. H. Edmonds, Richard L. Gay, Charles H. Heath, J. S. Hammond, John B. Kenney, C. L. Norton, S. N. D. North, Old Corner Book Store, Alton B. Parker, T. W. Ripley & Co., C. P. Scott, E. L. Sprague, Edward Starwood, S. D. Warren & Co., John L. Williams, and Erving Winslow.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include the Aladdin Oven, taxation of railroad property, duties on imports from Canada, cost of living, the Heath Estate, paper stock, regulation railway rates, a proposed merger between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the creation of an endowed Agricultural Experiment Station, the Brockton Boiler, the "Extravagance in Women's Dress," bog and grass peat fuel, cotton, the consumption of iron and steel in business, a fireless cooking stove, "A White Man's Country," Amy Lowell, and Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee. Frequent recipients include William Atkinson, O. P. Austin, Henry B. Blackwell, Marshall Cushing, L. Lois Davidson, R. H. Edmonds, A. B. Farquhar, William Fowler, Richard L. Gay, F. W. Grinnell, Albert L. Lincoln, Edwin Mead, C. L. Norton, Perez M. Stewart, A. C. Thomas, H. M. Whitney, and James Wilson.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include raising capital, labeling medicines as to their composition, the establishment of neutral zones on seas, fibrous plants, steam railroads replacing electric trams, agriculture and farming industries, division by state for fire insurance policies, Atkinson's books and pamphlets, wheat, wool and cotton, Russia, educational differences in regard to race, tariff taxes, domestic industry and labor protection, census statistics, manufacturers, nutrition and calories, and the expansion of the State Board of Trade into a National Board of Trade. Frequent recipients include R. W. Atkinson, Brookline Chronicle, Brookline National Bank, F. A. Channing, R. H. Edmonds, W. J. Edwards, George E. Roberts, Alfred B. Shepperson, James Wilson, and Henry M. Whitney.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include Atkinson's book The Science of Nutrition, the Aladdin Oven, the reformation of the domestic kitchen, the New England Kitchen in Boston and New York, the Weavers' Pail Oven, cooking practices, experiments in cooking and living, bean-pots, bread making, and osmazome. Frequent recipients include Clark W. Bryan & Co., W. E. Barrows, A. H. Chapman, Katharine Davis, Thomas Egleston, Ellen H. Richards, Sackett Wall Board Co., and E. Stahl.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include speaking engagements, The Science of Nutrition, the cost of food, the Aladdin Oven, experiments conducted by Booker T. Washington, and experimental food laboratories or stations. Frequent recipients include Ellen H. Richards and Booker T. Washington.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include speaking engagements, animal fat, The Science of Nutrition, the Aladdin Oven, the Workman's Dinner Pail, other cooking apparatuses, advocacy for nutritious cooking and living, flour, and bread baking.

The subjects of correspondence in this letterbook include acquiring subscription funds, the logistics and manner in which experiments were to be conducted, the distribution of circulars, steam pipe coverings, boiler laggings, boiler plants, coal moisture, and the economical production of steam. Many outgoing letters signed by Robert Sever Hale. Frequent recipients include Fuel Economizer Co., Robert Sever Hale, Peter Schwamb, and J. P. Woods.

The financial ledger contains a record of accounts of Edward Atkinson, Austin Sumner, and John D. Parker, Agents of the Bates Manufacturing Co., Androscoggin Mills, Pepperell Manufacturing Co., Laconia Co., Continental Mills, and Naumkeag Steam Cotton Co.

Topics covered include interviews, tributes, and speeches of Edward Atkinson, anti-imperialism, U.S. currency, the gold and silver standards, free trade, tariffs, U.S./Canada relations and reciprocity, the iron and steel industry, home economics, the U.S. economy, agriculture, the post Civil War South, the Aladdin Oven, the Chicago Exposition of 1893, and mass transit and the subway system. Includes publications by Charles L. Norton, H. G. Wells, and others.

Edward Atkinson Papers

1819-1920

Guide to the Collection

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketch

Collection Description

Restrictions on Access

Organization of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

Letterbook Index