Collection Guide
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Shapiro (L. Dennis) Collection
mssShapiro
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: L. Dennis Shapiro collection
Identifier/Call Number: mssShapiro
Physical Description:
27 Linear Feet
(21 flat boxes, 1 oversize flat box, 1 half document box, 1 artifact box)
Date (inclusive): 1776-2015
Abstract: This collection contains over 500 items of original material primarily from U.S. presidents George Washington to Barack Obama,
collected and assembled by electronics engineer, inventor, and philanthropist L. Dennis Shapiro (1933-2021). The bulk of presidential
material is for John Quincy Adams, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Warren G. Harding. The collection also contains material
for cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, presidential spouses, and a small number of items relating to explorers, British
politicians, and royalty. Material is primarily correspondence; the collection also contains documents, ephemera, photographs,
and engraved portraits.
Language of Material: Materials are mostly in English, with a small number of items in French.
RESTRICTED. Available with curatorial approval. Requires extended retrieval and delivery time.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. L. Dennis Shapiro collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
On deposit from L. Dennis and Susan R. Shapiro, December 2019, September 2020, January 2021.
Nine Adams family items from original deposits gift of Susan R. Shapiro, January 2022 (Box 1, Folders 1-8; Box 21, Folder
2).
Addenda gift of Susan R. Shapiro, February 2022 (Box 20, Folders 21-23; Box 23, Folder 10).
Eleven Adams family items from original deposits gift of Susan R. Shapiro, January 2023 (Box 1, Folders 9-19).
L. Dennis Shapiro (1933-2021) was an electronics engineer, inventor, philanthropist, and collector of historic manuscripts.
He graduated from MIT in electrical engineering and served in the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s. Shapiro founded the company
Aritech, which was sold to ADT in 1975, and was chair for 28 years and CEO for 10 years of Lifeline Systems, later acquired
by Royal Philips Electronics. Along with his wife Susan R. Shapiro, a retired partner at the law firm Ropes & Gray, LLP, he
founded the Shapiro Center for American History & Culture at The Huntington in 2019. The Shapiro Center was created to advance
scholarship, knowledge, and understanding of American history and culture—especially of the early Republic and of the nation's
founders and leaders. It also promotes use of The Huntington's library collections in this field.
Brief Biographical / Historical notes for the creators or subjects in the L. Dennis Shapiro collection appear in the container
list in the first entry for each individual or topic.
The L. Dennis Shapiro collection contains over 500 items of original material primarily from U.S. presidents George Washington
to Barack Obama from 1776 to 2015. The bulk of presidential material is for John Quincy Adams, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
and Warren G. Harding. There are also a number of items for John Adams, James Monroe, Franklin Pierce, Theodore Roosevelt,
William Howard Taft, and Harry S. Truman. The remaining presidents have fewer than five items each. In addition, the collection
contains material for various cabinet members, especially Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin; Supreme Court justices;
several presidential spouses including Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, and Eleanor Roosevelt; and a small number of items relating
to famous explorers, British politicians, and royalty. Also present are 40 items, mostly correspondence, pertaining to American
statesman and financier Bernard M. Baruch.
Material is primarily correspondence; the collection also contains documents, ephemera, photographs, and engraved portraits.
Most items in this collection have brief Scope and Contents notes at the item level.
Items relating to John Quincy Adams cover a large timespan and mostly concern domestic politics and foreign relations. Several
letters were written from St. Petersburg while serving as minister to Russia; many letters were written during his tenures
as president and congressman. Several items relate to horticulture.
Franklin D. Roosevelt material contains correspondence with lawyer Basil O'Connor and others, and nearly 100 letters between
Roosevelt and Charles Engelhard Sr., from 1934 to 1942, primarily regarding monetary policy, gold and silver prices, and foreign
events. Also present are several items relating to power, dams, and rural electrification including letters to Frank B. McNinch,
chairman of the Federal Power Commission and the Federal Communications Commission. In addition, Roosevelt material includes
notes written by him and by Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins that discuss plans for social security.
Much of the Warren G. Harding correspondence is with attorney and postmaster (James) French Crow of Marion, Ohio concerning
Ohio activities and Harding's properties there. Also present are Harding estate documents and a souvenir photo album of his
1923 Alaska tour.
The bulk of Albert Gallatin's correspondence is from his tenure as Secretary of the Treasury from 1801 to 1814; many of these
items pertain to maritime matters.
The collection also contains several items relating to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, particularly to the cases of Thomas
Sims and Shadrach Minkins, both fugitives from slavery who were captured in Boston. The material documents efforts by U.S.
Marshal for the District of Massachusetts Charles Devens Jr. to recover expenses incurred during the extradition of Sims and
during prosecutions against those who were charged with helping Minkins escape from jail. Items include correspondence and
notes signed by both presidents Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce, and two abstracts of compensation for the guards involved
with lists of names and amounts owed.
The L. Dennis Shapiro collection was processed by Melissa Haley 2020-2021 as part of the American Presidential Papers Project.
This is an artificial collection assembled by the collector over time. Some small groupings of material acquired together
were retained as groups for provenance purposes during processing. Materials were rehoused and framed items were removed from
their frames.
Items marked
autograph indicate the item is in the handwriting of the author of the letter or document. A
docket generally refers to an item's label created at the time for filing purposes.
Franking indicates the presence of an authorized signature for mailing purposes.
The number of pages for each item is noted in parentheses in item-level Scope and Contents notes.
In August 2022, Melissa Haley processed the addenda (gift of February 2022).
This collection is arranged alphabetically by individual or subject.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Presidents -- United States
Presidents -- United States -- Correspondence
Engravings (prints) -- United States
Letters (correspondence) -- 18th century
Letters (correspondence) -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century
Photographs -- United States -- 20th century
Adams, John, 1735-1826
Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848
Baruch, Bernard M. (Bernard Mannes), 1870-1965
Gallatin, Albert, 1761-1849
Harding, Warren G. (Warren Gamaliel), 1865-1923
Monroe, James, 1758-1831
Pierce, Franklin, 1804-1869
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972
United States. Fugitive slave law (1850)