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Florida Atlantic
University Libraries hold a number of
collections pertaining to the American Civil
War and Reconstruction. Together these collections contain
hundreds of primary sources including
original letters and diaries, period
government documents, prints and
illustrations, rare books and military
objects. For
more information on each collection, please
select a collection or scroll down. To
obtain access to these materials, please contact the
Special Collections Department at
LYSCA@fau.edu
or call 561-297-3787. |
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Eliot Cross and James A. Cross Civil
War Collection |
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The
Eliot Cross and James A. Civil War Collection documents
the Southern perspective of the
Civil War. As FAU’s
largest collection dedicated solely
to the Civil War, the Cross
collection contains hundreds of
manuscript and published items
including
personal correspondence from
Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stephens,
Robert E. Lee and many other
Confederate military and government
leaders. Also included are
Confederate government documents and
general orders pertaining to the war
as well as photographs and
illustrations from the period.
The
Cross Collection was donated by
Eliot Cross’ son James A. Cross in
the early 1970s, following his
father’s death. Eliot Cross, a
life-long aficionado of the
Confederacy, purchased papers,
lithographs and prints, currency,
published and unpublished letters
and memorabilia over a period of
forty years. FAU Libraries received the
collection mounted in four
custom-made maroon leather
scrapbooks. The items have been
removed from these scrapbooks for
preservation purposes.
The
publication of several articles
about the collection in 1988 led to
research by Civil War scholars that
culminated in ground-breaking
publication. One such breakthrough
identified pneumonia as T. J.
“Stonewall” Jackson’s cause of
death; a thesis supported by
documents in the Cross Collection
and published in Robert K. Krick’s,
The Smoothbore Volley that Doomed
the Confederacy: the Death of
Stonewall Jackson and other Chapters
on the Army of Northern Virginia.
(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State
University Press, 2002).
Item List: Cross Collection by Title
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Arlyn Austin Katims
Civil War Collection |
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The
Arlyn Austin Katims Civil War Collection focuses
upon the Civil War from the Union
position. Within the collection are
illustrations, currency, and a
number of artifacts from the era.
Items of special interest include an
authentic mourning card from Abraham
Lincoln’s funeral and newspapers
reporting Lincoln’s death.
In
1995, Dr. Robert B. Katims donated
more than 345 books, 337 periodical
issues, and 304 artifacts to FAU
Special Collections upon the death
of his wife, Arlyn Austin Katims.
Included among these items are
historical letters and documents, a
tintype of a Union soldier,
hand-colored illustrations from
contemporaneous journals, and
soldiers’ accessories – a musket
belt, veterans’ cane and medic’s
cap.
Arlyn
Austin Katims, Civil War enthusiast,
lecturer and re-enactor, was
president of the South Florida Civil
War Roundtable, and director of the
Lincoln Society of South Florida.
She was also involved with several
national organizations dedicated to
battlefield and historical artifact
preservation, including the Civil
War Society and the Blue and Gray
Society. Mrs. Katims was an
important contributor in the field
of learning disabilities, and helped
found the Early Childhood
Development Center of the Department
of Pediatrics at John Hopkins
Hospital in Baltimore.
Deeply patriotic, her primary
interest was Abraham Lincoln who
exemplified “integrity … the rise
from humble beginnings and
adversity, the ability to overcome
not only family tragedies … and he
was able to preserve the Union,”
according to her husband.
Item List: Katims Collection by
Title
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Marvin & Sybil Weiner
Spirit of America Collection |
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The
Marvin & Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection, while
focused primarily on the books and
pamphlets that influenced the
Founding Fathers, also includes 482
books, pamphlets, political
cartoons, newspapers and broadsides
from 1840 to 1880. These rare and
historic documents demonstrate the
changing interpretation of the
United States Constitution, of the
legislative and executive powers,
and of civil liberties during the
crucial period of the American Civil
War and Reconstruction.
Item List: Weiner Collection - Civil
War by Title
Marvin & Sybil Weiner Spirit of
America Collection
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Rita and Harold
Feigenbaum Historical Prints
Collection |
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The
Rita and Harold Feigenbaum Collection of
approximately 60 historical prints
from the American Civil War era was
originally donated in 2006 to the
Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center for
Book Arts at FAU Libraries but
continues to grow. These gifts of
prints and illustrations to Florida
Atlantic University are made in
memory of Harold Feigenbaum by the
Feigenbaum family.
As an
American history teacher, Harold
Feigenbaum was interested in all
facets of American history but
particularly the Civil War period.
His wife, Rita Feigenbaum, an
archivist for the Jaffe Center for
Book Arts, began the prints
collection but was soon joined by
other family members. The collection includes
Harper’s Weekly prints from
Winslow Homer and Thomas Nast as
well as the works of
illustrators from other Civil War
publications.
Item List: Feigenbaum Collection
Prints
Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center for
Book Arts
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The Clarke Family
Papers |
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The
Clarke Family Papers reveal the
economic, political, and social
interests of the Civil War era via
several personal letters between the
Clarke family in the United States
and their friends and acquaintances
in England. In addition to this
broad look at the mid-nineteenth
century, there are two letters
specifically discussing the Civil
War and its wounded. Also of
particular interest to researchers
are dozens of Civil War era
photographs, both American and
English, which depict period
costumes of women and children.
Clarke Family Papers
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FAU Rare Books
Collection |
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This
collection contains assorted books,
maps, newspapers and journals from
the American Civil War era, 1850-1880. In
addition to the following list there
are other items, currently
unprocessed, available to
researchers upon request. For more
information contact FAU Special
Collections at
lysca@fau.edu.
Item List: FAU Rare Books - Civil
War by Title
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