Scope and Content Note
The papers of Thomas Oliver Selfridge (1836-1924) span the years 1852-1926, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1858-1880. The papers are distributed over his life span and closely document his career and his interests. The collection is organized into five series: Logbooks, Journals, and Notebooks; Letterbooks and Letterpress Books; Correspondence; Subject File; and Miscellany.
The Logbooks, Journals, and Notebooks series and Letterbooks and Letterpress Books cover the years from 1854 to 1885. The Correspondence file includes letters to and from J. P. Benjamin, John Luke Porter, John B. Jervis, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Edward Knight Collins, and T. O. Selfridge's father, Thomas Oliver Selfridge, Sr.
Included in the collection are maps, correspondence, drawings, and other material pertaining to the United States Darien Exploring Expeditions of 1870, 1871 and 1873, which were headed by Selfridge in 1869-1874. Correspondents on the subject include Daniel Ammen, Edward Knight Collins, George Davidson, W. W. Evans, Gustavus Vasa Fox, James Bicheno Francis, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Benjamin Peirce, and J. Dutton Steele. Also in the collection are correspondence and reports documenting Selfridge’s court-martial in 1888. Other special topics include the sinking of the USS Cumberland by the USS Merrimac in 1862 and the purchase of the John T. Pickett Papers (Records of the Confederate States of America) in Canada in 1872.