Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain collection
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Please use the Collection Organization section below to place requests.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains letters, articles, addresses, documents, Civil War related manuscripts, family manuscripts, biographical essays, etc. Much of the correspondence is from Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain to family members including his parents, Sarah and Joshua, his sister Sarah (Chamberlain) Farrington, brothers John C. and Thomas D. Chamberlain, and wife Francis (Adams) Chamberlain. Other major correspondents, each with five or more letters, include George Thomas Little, Librarian of Bowdoin College; Ira Hobart Evans, banker and attorney; Georgie O. Hutchins, teacher in Madison, Wisconsin; and William E. Webster, a resident of Newton Center, Massachusetts. Published works by Chamberlain are also available in Special Collections.
Dates
- Creation: 1817 - 2014
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1855 - 1914
Creator
- Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Access to original correspondence in series M027.1 is restricted; photocopies are available for patron use.
Biographical/Historical Note
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (Bowdoin Class of 1852) was born in Brewer, Maine in 1828. In 1861, Chamberlain left a Bowdoin professorship to become lt. colonel of the 20th Maine, serving to the rank of bvt. maj. general of volunteers in command of the 5th Corps of the Union Army. He fought at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor for the defense of Little Round Top), Petersburg and Appomattox (where he accepted the surrender of the Confederate troops).
After the war, Chamberlain served as the Republican governor of Maine, 1867-1871; commander of the state militia during the Legislature's 1880 "count-out" rebellion; and president of Bowdoin, 1871-1883.
In 1884-1892 he was involved in railroad and real estate ventures in Florida and from 1900 was surveyor of the Port of Portland. Chamberlain, Bowdoin's sixth president, also served the College as professor, trustee and overseer. For related materials, see the Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Administrative Records.
Chamberlain married Frances Caroline Adams in Brunswick. The couple had four children; two survived. Chamberlain died in 1914.
Extent
8.75 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The collection contains letters, articles, addresses, documents, Civil War related manuscripts, family manuscripts, and biographical essays.
Subject
- Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence, 1828-1914 -- Archives. (Person)
- Chamberlain, Frances Adams, 1825-1905 -- Correspondence. (Person)
- Chamberlain, John Calhoun, 1838-1867 -- Correspondence (Person)
- Chamberlain, Joshua, 1800-1880 -- Correspondence (Person)
- Chamberlain, Thomas D. -- Correspondence (Person)
- Evans, Ira Hobart, 1844-1922 -- Correspondence. (Person)
- Farrington, Sarah Chamberlain, 1836-1921 -- Correspondence. (Person)
- Hutchins, Georgie O. -- Correspondence (Person)
- Little, George Thomas, 1857-1915 -- Correspondence. (Person)
- Webster, William E. -- Correspondence. (Person)
- Chamberlain family (Family)
- Bowdoin College -- Faculty. (Organization)
- Bowdoin College. Office of the President (Organization)
- United States. Army. Maine Infantry Regiment, 20th (1862-1865) (Organization)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Collection
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine 04011 Repository