Harold E. Staples papers concerning U. S. and Canadian emigration and immigration
Overview
Research papers of Harold E. Staples concerning migration between Canada and the U. S.
Dates
- 1913-1916
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
Extent
.25 linear feet (1 box)Includes typescript letters to Harold E. Staples responding to his inquiries concerning emigration and immigration. Letters are from the U.S. Dept. of Labor, the Minnesota State Board of Immigration, Canada Dept. of the Interior, and the Alberta Dept. of Agriculture. The collection also contains papers assembled by Staples for his research, including typescript tables and charts, autograph manuscript notes, clippings, and other papers. Papers chiefly concern emigration and immigration between the U.S. and Canada, 1890-1915; and the acquisition of farm land by Americans in Canada and by Canadians in the United States, notably in Alberta and Minnesota; also contains a history of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.
Biographical / Historical
Harold Elmer Staples was born June 9, 1892 in Brattleboro, Vermont. He was awarded the A.B. in 1914 and the LL.B. in 1917, both from Harvard University. While an undergraduate in Professor Frederick J. Turner's course entitled "History of the West," he began a study of the migration of Americans to Canada and the reverse migration from Canada to the United States. In 1915 he received a small grant to allow continuation of the study. During this time, he visited state immigration bureaus in Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, and Wisconsin as well as Dominion and Provincial and Canadian Pacific Railway immigration offices in Canada. After receiving his law degree, Staples moved to Providence, Rhode Island where he joined the law firm of Tillinghast, Collins, and Tanner. In 1925 he was appointed Fourth Assistant Attorney General of the State of Rhode Island. He later returned to Tillinghast, Collins, and Tanner, becoming a partner in 1926. He was active in many civic organizations, including the American Council for Nationalities Service where he was a director. The Council was interested in all aspects of immigration and resettlement.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by name of author or title.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
No accession number. Gift of unknown donor; received: 1917 July 5.
Forms part of the collection of Western Americana manuscripts at Houghton Library, collected under the auspices of the Harvard Commission on Western History.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
- Title
- Staples, Harold E. Harold E. Staples papers concerning U. S. and Canadian emigration and immigration, 1913-1916: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02416
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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