Table of Contents
Scope and Contents of the Collection
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Ebenezer Meriam Letters on Onondaga Nation Education
An inventory of his letters at Syracuse University
Overview of the Collection |
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| Creator: | Meriam, Ebenezer, 1794-1864. |
| Title: | Ebenezer Meriam Letters on Onondaga Nation Education |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1852-1858 |
| Quantity: | 1 folder (SC) |
| Abstract: | 12 letters to Ebenezer Meriam, pamphleteer and philanthropist, concerning his support for the schools for Oneida and Onondaga Nation children in Central New York |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: |
Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center |
Biographical History
Ebenezer Meriam (1794-1864) was a white New York meteorologist, pamphleteer, and philanthropist who contributed regularly to the schools for Oneida and Onondaga Nation children in Central New York.
Samuel J. May (1797-1871), a white graduate of Harvard University, a Unitarian clergyman, and social activist. Although his primary interest was in civil rights and particularly abolition, he also raised funds to help build a meeting house and school for the Onondaga Nation and arranged government funding for a teacher.
The Onondaga Nation School began as Onondaga Indian School around 1850, and under an agreement with New York State, it started as a one room schoolhouse on Kennedy Road on the far eastern border of the Nation. In 1910, the school relocated to a two-story house on the present site on route 11A. In 1940, a fire demolished the building, and a brick building was erected to take its place. While the school is exclusively for Onondaga Nation students, in 1954 the school entered into a contract with New York State to be part of the LaFayette Central School District. Although there have been disagreements between the Nation and LaFayette about school leadership and control over the curriculum, that partnership remains today.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Ebenezer Meriam Letters on Onondaga Nation Education consists of twelve letters to Ebenezer Meriam. Eight are from Samuel J. May; the remainder are from Archibald Campbell, New York Deputy Secretary of State; E.W. Leavenworth, New York State Secretary's office; Charles E. Mix, Acting Commissioner for the Office of Indian Affairs; and J.D. Torry, missionary. The letters concern Meriam's support for a school for Oneida and Onondaga Nation children in Central New York.
Arrangement of the Collection
Letters are arranged alphabetically by correspondent (by chance this also happens to be a chronological ordering).
Restrictions
Access Restrictions
The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.
Use Restrictions
Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
Subject Headings
Persons
Corporate Bodies
Subjects
Genres and Forms
Occupations
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Ebenezer Meriam Letters on Onondaga Nation Education,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
Purchase, 2007.
Finding Aid Information
Created by: MRC
Date: 19 Jul 2007
Revision history: 7 Sep 2023 - title of collection and biographical history revised in accordance
with conscientious description guidelines (DTF)
Inventory
| Correspondence | |||||||||||
| SC 196 | Campbell, Archibald 1852 | ||||||||||
| SC 196 | Leavenworth, E.W. 1854 | ||||||||||
| SC 196 | May, Samuel J. 1855-1857 | ||||||||||
| SC 196 | Mix, Charles E. 1858 | ||||||||||
| SC 196 | Torry, J.D. circa 1852-1858 | ||||||||||