194 REPORTS ON inve;stigations and projects. 



most intelligent students of the history of American civilization, it was 

 resolved that an attempt should be made to furnish a methodical guide or 

 inventory to the large but scattered mass of unprinted historical material 

 preserved in the archives of the various religious bodies and missionary 

 societies, and in the libraries of theological seminaries and denominational 

 colleges. The Protestant portion was first taken up. Prof. William H. 

 Allison, of Franklin College, was chosen as the fittest person to conduct such 

 an inquiry. In explanation and furtherance of its objects a printed circular 

 was extensively employed. 



Most of the work was done in the summer. It met with cordial cooperation 

 and much success, with some drawbacks, due to the summer closing of libraries 

 or the absence of custodians. The agent visited six denominational archives 

 in New York, six in Philadelphia, four in Boston, three in Louisville, two 

 each in Cincinnati, Princeton, Rochester, and Allegheny, and one each in 

 Cleveland, Oberlin, Dayton, Xenia, Springfield, and Urbana, Ohio; Gettys- 

 burg, Lancaster, Swarthmore, and Upland, Pennsylvania ; Wilmington, Dela- 

 ware ; New Brunswick, New Jersey ; Hamilton, Canton, and Syracuse, New 

 York, and Hanover, New Hampshire. A highly satisfactory report of prog- 

 ress has been rendered. By the end of another summer Mr. Allison hopes 

 to complete the visitation of such archives as are to be covered by the final 

 report. 



Prof. Charles M. Andrews, of Bryn Mawr College, had been early engaged 

 by the department to prepare in England a guide to the materials for Amer- 

 ican history prior to 1783 to be found in London archives. The results of 

 his labors down to October, 1905, are described in Mr. McLaughlin's report 

 of a year ago. At that time he returned to America with an extraordinarily 

 complete mass of notes upon the American papers in the Public Record Office, 

 the British Museum, and the Bodleian Library. From these he has been 

 preparing the desired book as rapidly as his college duties have permitted. 

 It seems probable that by January it will be finished and ready for the printer. 



Meanwhile it seemed desirable, both to Professor Andrews and to the 

 director, that the manual should not be confined to the three repositories 

 which alone the former had been able to examine thoroughly, but that such 

 supplementary searches and notes should be made as would complete it for 

 the whole circle of public or semi-public archives in London. To this end, 

 as Professor Andrews could not go to England again. Miss Frances G. 

 Davenport of this department went to England in June, after such conference 

 with him as would enable her to collect materials on a plan uniform with his. 

 The repositories which she was instructed to examine for their American ma- 

 terials were the archives of the House of Lords (never hitherto examined with 

 care for purposes of American history, it is believed), of Lambeth Palace, of 

 Fulham Palace, of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, of the Hud- 



