The papers of Alfred Mordecai (1804-1887) span the years 1790-1948 with the bulk of material dating between 1833 and 1887. The collection is organized in three series, Diaries , General Correspondence and Related Matter , and Miscellany , which document a lengthy military career that included Mordecai’s work on the development and organization of pre-Civil War weapons systems. Included in the papers are several diaries and journals kept by Mordecai during official trips to Europe and Mexico.

Athough the diaries vary in the amount of detail they provide, they document many aspects of his settlement of war claims in Mexico in 1853, his report on military tactics used in the Crimea War as a member of the United States Military Commission to Europe in 1855-1857, and his work as an engineer with the Imperial Mexican Railway in 1865-1866. More information on his travels, including his trip to Europe in 1840 to study weapons development and manufacture, can be found in letters to his wife and sister and other writings located in General Correspondence and Related Matter .

Mordecai’s personal and professional correspondence is mounted in two sets of bound volumes. Material in these volumes, which also includes drafts of writings, printed essays and addresses, assorted diagrams, news clippings, genealogy charts, maps, photographs, and marriage announcements, is arranged in approximate chronological order although there is some overlap between volumes. There is considerable chronological and subject overlap between the two sets. Mordecai’s correspondence consists chiefly of letters to his wife, Sara Anne Hays Mordecai, and to his sisters and daughters, and concerns personal family matters, though the papers also include some professional correspondence pertaining to his military and professional career. Prominent correspondents include Jefferson Davis, Miriam Gratz, Rebecca Gratz, Mary C. Longstreet, and Owen Wister.

The Miscellany series includes unbound calling cards, certificates, essays and addresses, genealogical material, greeting cards, maps, pamphlets, photographs, poems, postcards, and sermons.