Letterbooks (Outgoing Correspondence), 1889-1921, Apr. 28, 1903 to Apr. 16, 1904

An extensive index to the letterbooks is available here. 9 MB PDF file.

The letterbook copy impressions of letters written by Schurman as President of Cornell University profile both his personal character and formal manner in the execution of his administrative duties. A few letters of Charles Kendall Adams commence the letterbooks, and Acting Presidents are the signatories of several letters, notably T. F. Crane 1912 and 1913 when Schurman was serving as Ambassador to Greece, and Acting President Albert W. Smith in 1920 and 1921. Volumes 1-50 are letters signed by President Schurman; volumes 51-80 are letters signed by President Schurman's Secretary on behalf of the Office of the President.

In addition to the routine administrative subjects in the correspondence that devolved typically from the Office of the President of Cornell, topics include the 1903 typhoid epidemic in Ithaca, the establishment of the Carnegie Fund, the Leo Frank case, the Chi Psi fire, the construction of several new campus buildings, co-education and women students, African-American students on campus, and relations with Ithaca, New York. Other topics and concerns in the letterbooks include the president's relations with faculty, college benefactors, and presidents of other universities; also, fraternities and campus housing, foreign students, religious education, and Sage Chapel preachers. President Schurman made several appearances before alumni groups throughout the nation, and correspondence to this effect is plentiful. Cornell's relations with other universities, other associations of American universities, and educational societies are mentioned frequently. The element of publicity is suggested by Schurman's many letters to newspapers, magazines, and publishers. The university's role in World War I is shown as the president assists in the mobilization of resources and facilitates the university's preparation of its students to become soldiers; letters to the United States War Department are numerous. The development of the New York State College of Agriculture and the New York State Veterinary College at Cornell is referred to in many letters, as well as a proposed School of Forestry. Schurman corresponded frequently with Andrew Carnegie, and with officials of the Carnegie Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation. He also wrote many letters to immediate family members of Ezra Cornell.

Principal recipients of letters include Lyman Abbott, Liberty Hyde Bailey, Frank Barton, C. E. Bennett, Charles H. Blood, George Boldt, G. P. Bristol, J. E. Creighton, L. M. Dennis, W. A. Hammond, Frank H. Hiscock, Charles Evans Hughes, C. H. Hull, David Starr Jordan, A. T. Kerr, D. S. Kimball, Albert R. Mann, Veranus A. Moore, Jared T. Newman, Henry S. Pritchett, C. W. Pound, W. M. Polk, Robert F. Plummer, Theodore Roosevelt, H. W. Sackett, M. W. Sampson, A. W. Smith, Goldwin Smith, William Howard Taft, Frank Thilly, Mynderse Van Cleef, Andrew Dickson White, J. DuPratt White, W. F. Willcox, and C. V. P. "Tar" Young. In addition to these principal recipients, many additional names are listed in the index, including such important Cornell personalities as Willard Straight, E. B. Titchener, and Martha Van Rensselaer.