The Volwiler mss., 1898-1958, consist of material collected by Albert Tangeman Volwiler, 1888-1957, historian, on Benjamin Harrison, president of the United States from 1889-1893 for a biography. Volwiler taught history at Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio in the 1920's, taking a leave from 1925-1926 to teach at Indiana University. In 1934 he was appointed professor of history at Ohio University and was head of that department from 1947-1955. He was the author of George Croghan and the Westward Movement, 1741-1782 and The Correspondence Between Benjamin Harrison and James G. Blaine, 1882-1893 among other books. He pursued his research for the Harrison biography for many summers, but died in 1957 before completing the work.
The collection is organized into the following series: I. Correspondence; II. Research and notes; III. Drafts; IV. Miscellaneous. An inventory is available.
The correspondence includes Volwiler's concerning his research and copies of Harrison's letters. There are also eight original letters, 1898-1899, from Harrison to his clerk Everard F. Tibbott (see: II. Research and notes. Subjects. Venezuela. Correspondence).
Gift. 1967, 1991
Collection size: 3,648 items