SALINGER, J.D. American author of Catcher in the Rye. Typed letter signed “Jerry”. 1972. Written during his extended correspondence with Eileen Paddison, this two-page letter offers Salinger’s reflection on Taoism. February 24, 1972, two pages. Addressed to Eileen Paddison, a close friend and aspiring writer who maintained a correspondence with.....

Goddard’s Liquid-Propellant Rocket Development records the experimental phase that followed his March 16, 1926 launch near Auburn, Massachusetts, when a liquid-fueled rocket rose 41 feet, traveled 184 feet, and landed after 2.5 seconds. Published ten years later by the Smithsonian Institution, the paper distills the work Goddard conducted with a......

This exceptionally dense technical archive documents U.S. Army rocket and missile development during the height of the Cold War and Vietnam War, originating from the estate of a retired aerospace engineer, Thomas T. Howell, affiliated with the U.S. Army Missile Command, with direct work conducted at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, and.....

[Civil War] [African American Military] [Slavery] Unknown official. Slave impressment receipt and certificate, 1865 documents the Confederate government’s forced mobilization of enslaved labor during the final phase of the Civil War under legislation authorizing the use of enslaved people for military purposes. Issued in Florida under the February 17, 1864.....

[Drag][Las Vegas] Las Vegas Drag photo album, circa 1970s, depicting female impersonators and performers during a formative period in LGBTQ+ performance history. Several images show drag showgirl Joey Skilbred, known professionally as Jocelyn Somers. The album provides direct visual evidence of Las Vegas drag performance culture as it developed in.....

U.S. Navy photo archive documenting the Mexican Patrol mission of USS Rainier, a Pacific Fleet auxiliary schooner,during World War I. This archive documents U.S. naval personnel moved between shipboard duty, shore stations, and regional exploration in Mexican and California waters. Taken by Lieutenant junior grade Dr. Louis Henry Clerf, the.....

[WWII] [Japanese American] Japanese American incarceration archive, circa 1940s, documenting the personal lives of Japanese American detainees at Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona and Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming during World War II. Executive Order 9066 authorized the forced removal and incarceration of more than 120,000 persons of.....

[WAC][Korean War] Women’s Army Corps photo album, compiled by Sgt. Elizabeth Adamek of Cairnbrook, PA ca. early to mid 1950s, extensively recording enlisted women in post-1948 U.S. Army administrative operations at Camp Zama, Japan during the Korean War period. Elizabeth Adamek, later Elizabeth Adamek Pierce (1932–2016), served approximately twenty years.....

[Harley Davidson Motorcycle] Southern Eagles Motorcycle Club photograph archive documenting Harley Davidson riders connected with the Cable dealership in Winston Salem, North Carolina between 1958 and 1968. The photographs illustrate the growth of organized motorcycle clubs, dealership sponsorship, and competitive racing culture during the expansion of recreational motorcycling in postwar.....

TV Clip-Sheet gathered mainstream newspaper and magazine clippings on cross dressing, female impersonation, passing, theatrical performance, arrest and public scandal for readers already connected to Chevalier Publications’ transvestite print network. These six issues preserve the publication’s method of reprinting sensational press language, with headlines including “Princeton Lads Put Show On.....

[Biker Subculture] Southern California biker community photo albums documenting motorcycle culture during the 1970s and 1980s, a period when custom chopper building, club rides, and regional motorcycle gatherings characterized a flourishing biker subculture in the post Vietnam era. The photographs record a network of riders with heavily customized motorcycles participating.....

[African American][New Deal][Labor] Black Civilian Conservation Corps member photograph archives, showing an all-Black CCC unit in Pennsylvania, ca. 1937. These photographs document the experiences of Black participants in the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of the central employment and public works initiatives created under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Established.....

[Civil Rights] National Association for the Advancement of Colored People printed and photographic archive documenting organizational activism, legal strategy, and leadership within the American Civil Rights Movement from the 1940s through the late 1970s. The materials trace the NAACP’s work in litigation, membership organizing, public advocacy, and legislative lobbying during.....