Charles Francis Adams (1835-1915) Papers 1860-1933; bulk: 1890-1918 Guide to the Microfilm Edition Researchers should use the microfilm (P-353) for the bulk of this collection. Materials not on microfilm must be retrieved by barcode number from offsite storage. (Boxes and volumes that have not been microfilmed are indicated in the Detailed Description below.) Materials must be requested at least one business day in advance. Contact the Library at library@masshist.org or (617) 536-1608 to request materials. Please discuss your request with the reading room staff before requesting cartons by barcode.

Table of Contents Collection Summary Biographical Sketch Collection Description Related Materials Arrangement Acquisition Information Restrictions on Access Organization Detailed Description of the Collection Select Index Preferred Citation Access Terms

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketch

Charles Francis Adams II (1835-1915) was a soldier, businessman, civic leader, and historian. The descendant of two presidents and the son of noted diplomat Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886), Adams served with distinction as a Union officer during the Civil War. After the war, he became a nationally recognized authority on the railroad industry, chairing the Massachusetts Railroad Commission from 1869 to 1879 and ultimately taking on the presidency of the Union Pacific Railroad for 6 years, 1884-1890. From 1890 to 1915, Adams spoke and wrote widely on historical, educational, economic, and political subjects from his positions as president of the Massachusetts Historical Society (1895-1915) and active member of the Harvard Board of Overseers and the Anti-Imperialist League. Works by Adams include biographies of Richard Henry Dana (1890) and of his father Charles Francis Adams (1900), as well as two important contributions to local history entitled Massachusetts: Its Historians and Its History (1893) and Three Episodes of Massachusetts History (1892).

Collection Description

The papers of Charles Francis Adams II consist of 29 cartons of diaries, personal journals, correspondence, literary drafts, lectures, scrapbooks, and other papers spanning the years 1860-1933. Among the subjects documented in the collection are: Adams's service with the First Massachusetts Cavalry during the Civil War; his leadership of the Massachusetts Railroad Commission; his presidency of the Union Pacific Railroad and other business ventures; his promotion of educational reforms as a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers; his presidency of the Massachusetts Historical Society; his historical and biographical writings; his forays into Massachusetts and national politics on behalf of civil service and railroad reform, anti-imperialism in the Philippines, and free trade; and his active participation in the affairs of Quincy and Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Other family members represented in the collection are: Brooks Adams, Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886), Henry Adams, John Quincy Adams (1833-1894), John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), Mary Ogden Adams, and Mary Adams Quincy. Correspondents include: James Bryce, Elizabeth Cameron, Edward Channing, Charles W. Eliot, Worthington C. Ford, Charles Milnes Gaskell, Edwin L. Godkin, John Hay, Marcus A. Hanna, George Frisbie Hoar, J. Franklin Jameson, Clarence King, Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt, Cecil Spring-Rice, Carl Schurz, Moorfield Storey, William Howard Taft, George Otto Trevelyan, James Harrison Wilson, Woodrow Wilson, and Justin Winsor.

Related Materials

Also at the Massachusetts Historical Society (but not on microfilm) are 5 file boxes of 3x5 cards listing letters to Charles Francis Adams II, miscellaneous addresses, etc., and a collection of canceled checks. Card files entitled "Letters to CFA II, A-H," "Letters to CFA II, I-Z," "Index to his scrapbook or scrapbooks," and "CFA II Address File" are located offsite in Carton 28 (SH 172I U). A card file entitled "CFA II Apparently Index to his Correspondence," as well as Garrett Cochran's "Research Notes on the Railroad Career of CFA" and a volume entitled "CFA II Accounts" (not numbered), are located offsite in Carton 29 (SH 172J V).

The MHS also houses a sizable collection of Adams's published works. Three additional scrapbooks are located at the Adams National Historic Site, Quincy, Mass.

Arrangement

When this collection was first processed, the papers were arranged into document boxes and microfilmed. (Refer to the Detailed Description below for information about the arrangement on microfilm.) The collection has subsequently been rehoused into cartons and moved to offsite storage. Use the chart below to find the current location of materials from their former box and volume numbers.

Carton	Barcode	Former Box/Volume
1	SH 157U 2	Boxes 1, 2, 3
2	SH 171R	Boxes 4, 5, 6 (Folders 1-12)
3	SH 171S $	Boxes 6 (Folders 13-26), 7, 8
4	SH 171T /	Boxes 9, 10, 11
5	SH 171U +	Boxes 12, 13, 14 (Folders 1-12)
6	SH 171V %	Boxes 14 (Folders 13-20), 15, 16
7	SH 171W 0	Boxes 17, 18, 19
8	SH 171X 1	Boxes 20, 21, 22
9	SH 171Y 2	Boxes 23, 24, 25
10	SH 171Z 3	Boxes 26, 27, 28
11	SH 1721 D	Boxes 29, 30, 31
12	SH 1722 E	Boxes 32, 33, 34, 35
13	SH 1723 F	Boxes 36, 37, 38, 39, 40
14	SH 1724 G	Boxes 41, 42, 43, 44
15	SH 1725 H	Boxes 45, 46, 47, 48
16	SH 1726 I	Boxes 49, 50, 51, 52
17	SH 1727 J	Boxes 53, 54, 55
18	SH 1727 K	Boxes 56, 57, 58
19	SH 1729 L	Volumes 1-23
20	SH 172A M	Volumes 24-35
21	SH 172B N	Volumes 36-39
22	SH 172C O	Volumes 40-45
23	SH 172D P	Volumes 46-49
24	SH 172E Q	Volumes 50-55
25	SH 172F R	Volumes 56-60
26	SH 172G S	Volumes 61-71
27	SH 172H T	Volumes 72-81
28	SH 172I U	Volume 82; card index files I
29	SH 172J V	Card index files II; unnumbered volumes

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Adams Manuscript Trust and other donors, 1915-1956.

Restrictions on Access

Researchers should use the microfilm (P-353) for the bulk of this collection. Materials not on microfilm must be retrieved by barcode number from offsite storage. (Boxes and volumes that have not been microfilmed are indicated in the Detailed Description below.) Materials must be requested at least one business day in advance. Contact the Library at library@masshist.org or (617) 536-1608 to request materials. Please discuss your request with the reading room staff before requesting cartons by barcode.

Organization of the Collection

The collection is organized into the following series:

Detailed Description of the Collection

Select Index

This index contains the names of select correspondents, events, organizations, and subjects of significance in the collection. The numbers following each item indicate the microfilm reels, boxes, and folders where correspondence with that individual or information about that item is located. The first number is the microfilm reel (P-353), followed by box and folder numbers in brackets. Targets on the microfilm mark where each new box and folder begins. For example, information about William Abbatt can be found on Reel 35 after the target indicating Box 16, Folder 8; on Reel 36 at Box 17, Folder 21; etc.

Preferred Citation

Charles Francis Adams (1835-1915) papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.