Scope and Content Note
The papers of Ainsworth Rand Spofford (1825-1908) span the period 1819 to 1970, with the bulk of the material dating from 1860 to 1899. The papers consist chiefly of correspondence during the years Spofford was librarian of Congress, and include items of personal and family correspondence. Correspondents include Susan B. Anthony, George Bancroft, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William T. Sherman, Mark Twain, and Walt Whitman.
The remainder of the Spofford Papers consists of biographical material, some of Spofford's published writings, a bibliography of his writings, one notebook containing listings of sermons and discourses and another listing histories of counties and towns in the United States, a speech and an essay, an address by James P. Adams, autographs, newspaper clippings, photographs, and memorabilia. Also included is a letter of appointment as librarian of Congress signed by Abraham Lincoln and William Henry Seward in 1864.