Ernest Samuels (1903-1996) Papers

The Ernest Samuels Papers comprise 16 boxes of material spanning the years 1918-1977. The bulk of the collection, however, falls between 1942 and 1971, during Samuels' tenure as a faculty member in Northwestern University's English Department. Some material relating to his days as a student at the University of Chicago, his law practice in El Paso, Texas, and his tenure as a teacher at Bryant Stratton College in Chicago and Washington State University at Pullman is also included. The Samuels Papers have been arranged in five general categories: biographical materials, correspondence, academic files, published and unpublished writings and research files.

The biographical materials include vita, news releases, autobiographical sketches an miscellany; clippings; reviews of Samuels' books; and various memorabilia such as programs, book jackets, pamphlets, invitations and other miscellaneous personal materials.

The correspondence is divided into two categories: general correspondence, arranged chronologically, and subject correspondence, arranged alphabetically by folder title. The general correspondence includes routine letters between Samuels and various Northwestern administrators like Franklyn Bliss Snyder, J. Roscoe Miller, Robert H. Strotz, Simeon Leland and Payson S. Wild. Correspondence with prominent individuals is partially indexed (see pages 4-5). Some correspondence regarding Samuels' doctoral dissertation and other subsequent research is included with the general correspondence, rather than with the research correspondence. The subject correspondence includes correspondence with various colleagues, publishers and officials of professional organizations as well as correspondence concerning lectures, speeches, awards and committees that Samuels served on. Correspondence with prominent individuals included in the subject correspondence has also been partially indexed (see pages 5-6).

The academic files include grade books for courses Samuels taught at Northwestern, unbound grade book pages, a few course syllabi, examinations and student papers. Samuels' lecture notes, most of which are undated, are also included. The lecture notes are arranged alphabetically by title.

Samuels' published and unpublished writings include a copy of the edition of Business English Units, published by Bryant Stratton College. Later editions were titled Business English Projects and published by Prentice Hall. Samuels' doctoral dissertation, which served as the basis for his book The Young Henry Adams, is also included here.

The book introductions were prepared for new editions of Henry Adams' works that Samuels edited, abridged or contributed notes and appendices. Samuels' speeches files include note cards and texts of speeches or lectures he delivered. Included among Samuels' student materials are copies of The Pyramid, the literary magazine produced by his college fraternity, Tau Delta Phi, which he wrote for and edited for one year.

The research files include correspondence relating to Samuels research on Henry Adams career including correspondence with members of the Adams family, acquaintances of Henry Adams, and curators and librarians of various repositories that held Adams family materials. Members of the Adams family that Samuels corresponded with include Henry Adams' nephews Charles Francis and Henry Adams and his niece Louisa Thoron. Also included in this category are Samuels research notes for his doctoral dissertation, notes on writing biography and miscellaneous notes; and transcriptions, photocopies and published materials utilized in preparing the Adams biography.