Scope and Content Note
The papers of Reginald Rowan Belknap (1871-1959) span the years 1784-1929, with the bulk concentrated in the period 1900-1929. The collection consists chiefly of correspondence, but includes financial and legal records, photographs, printed matter, and other papers organized in two series: Correspondence and Miscellany.
Most of the Correspondence is with family members reflecting the personal life of a twentieth-century naval officer. There are letters to and from Belknap’s mother, his wife, his brother, and other members of his immediate family. Subjects include social, family, and service matters, with little mention of the important incidents and events in which Belknap was involved from the 1890s until after World War I. The letters of his wife, Julia P. Averill Belknap, are especially voluminous.
The Miscellany includes financial and legal records, which in part document Belknap’s financial standing for 1904-1915. There is no material concerning Belknap’s published books, nor is there documentation for the period 1930-1959 when Belknap became involved in patriotic and civic affairs. Two writings in the series describe Julia Belknap’s experiences as a bride in the Far East at the turn of the twentieth century.