Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Finding Aid for the Townsend Harris Papers, 1855-1892
839
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Townsend Harris Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1855-1892
Collection number: 839
Creator:
Harris, Townsend, 1804-1878
Extent:
1 oversize box
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Townsend Harris (1804-1878) was born in Sandy Hill, New York. In 1855, he was appointed U.S. Consul General to Japan. He negotiated
commercial treaties with Siam in 1857 and Japan in 1858. After the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, he resigned and returned
to New York City. The collection consists of a microfilm copy of the original journal and letters of Townsend Harris, the
first U.S. Consul to Japan, from the original manuscript at the College of the City of New York.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including
copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds
the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
Additional Physical Form Available
A copy of the original version of this online finding aid is available at the UCLA Department of Special Collections for in-house
consultation and may be obtained for a fee. Please contact:
- Public Services Division
- UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
- Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
- Box 951575
- Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
- Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific Time)
- Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of College of the City of New York.
[Identification of item], Townsend Harris Papers (Collection 839). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
1720364
Harris was born October 3, 1804 in Sandy Hill, New York; at age 13 started work at a dry goods store in New York City; joined
his father and brother in business importing china; elected as a Democrat to the Board of Education in 1846, where he successfully
led the fight for a free college which later became the College of the City of New York; purchased a trading ship, sailed
to California, and undertook voyages in the Pacific and Indian Oceans which ended in financial disaster; in 1855 he was appointed
U.S. Consul General to Japan; negotiated commercial treaties with Siam in 1857 and Japan in 1858; after the election of Abraham
Lincoln in 1860, he resigned, returned to New York City, became a War Democrat, and joined the Union League Club; spent his
remaining years concerned with temperance, Christian missions, and foreign affairs; he died on February 25, 1878.
Collection consists of a microfilm copy of the original journal and letters of Townsend Harris, the first U.S. Consul to Japan,
from the original manuscript at the College of the City of New York.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Harris, Townsend, 1804-1878--Archives.
Consuls--United States--Archival resources.
Diplomatic and consular service, American--Japan.
Journals (accounts).
Microfilms.