Sheldon family papers and photographs

Collection

Identifier: Coll. 4282

Staff Only

Scope and Content note

This collection documents the Sheldon family’s summer trips to Maine’s Katahdin region in the first half of the 20th century, through both written accounts and photographs. Contents include correspondence, diaries, calendars, maps, photographs, photo albums, and negatives.

Dates

1900 - 1973
Majority of material found within 1920 - 1951

Creator

Sheldon family (Family)

Access

Unrestricted

Copyright

Access to collections at Maine Historical Society is not an authorization to publish. Rights and reproduction requests may be submitted in writing to the MHS Image Services Coordinator or Research & Administrative Librarian, subject to format.

Biographical note

Harrison Tweed Sheldon was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1883. After graduating from Yale University in 1905 and Yale Law School in 1908, Harrison practiced law in New Haven until his death in 1933.

In his late teens, Harrison began journeying to Maine’s Katahdin region for camping, canoeing, and fishing trips. When he and Alice Cooper Stanton (1879-1967) married in 1915, the two chose the Katahdin area for their honeymoon. In 1916, their daughter Anne Dudley Sheldon (1916-2003) was born in New Haven, Conn., and the family continued their tradition of Maine vacations, even after Harrison’s death. Alice and Anne together, and then Anne on her own, journeyed regularly to the Katahdin region for canoeing and fishing trips through at least 1951. In 1952 Anne married Dr. William Swift, Jr., and became Anne Dudley Sheldon Swift.

Extent

1.5 Linear Feet (4 boxes + 1 oversize folder)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series.

1. Papers, 1915-1973
2. Photographs, 1900-1951

Physical Location

Items in shared collection oversized box are housed in O.S. Box 18.

Provenance

Gift of William H. Swift, March 16, 2024 (acc. no. 2024.037).

Separated Materials

The following related material was separated and can be found in the MHS Library collection.

Maine invites you: a publication of the Maine Publicity Bureau, Inc., 10th ed., ca. 1944, Call No. 917.41 M284i
Map of the region near Kidney Pond in Piscataquis County and the state of Maine: compiled from maps of the Appalachian Mountain Club and from other data, Map F 1370
Katahdin region map, Map F 1371
Maine geological survey, Map F 1372
Map of northern Maine: specially adapted to the uses of lumbermen and sportsmen, Map F 1373
Map of Kidney Pond Region Piscataquis County Maine 1913, Map FF 964 cp. 2
Map of Moosehead Lake and northern Maine: embracing the headwaters of the Penobscot, Kennebec and St. John rivers, specially adapted to the uses of sportsmen and lumbermen, Map F 598 cp. 2-4

Processing note

The collection arrived well organized and arranged in clearly marked and labeled folders. During processing, original order and folder titles were largely retained, though some folders were combined, and clarifications were added to differentiate titles where possible. Post-its and strips of paper used to identify material and dates were removed and information transferred to folder titles or scope and content notes. Many photos arrived sleeved together in groups, separated by slips of paper. These photos were removed from sleeves and arranged individually, though groupings were retained in arrangement. Oversize maps and photographs were housed in a shared collections oversize box (see inventory). A Maine travel guide already present in the Library’s collection was not retained; see Separated Material for the call number of its duplicate. Published, unaltered maps were also separated and added to the Library’s map collection; see Separated Material for a list of map titles.