Nathaniel Bright Emerson Papers

This collection contains the papers of Hawaiian physician and author Nathaniel Bright Emerson (1839-1915). The subjects covered in this collection are: Emerson family history; the American Civil War and army hospitals; Hawaiian ethnology and culture; the Hawaiian revolutions of 1893 and 1895; Hawaiian politics; Hawaiian history; Polynesian history; Hawaiian mele; the Hawaiian hula; leprosy and the leper colony on Molokai; and Hawaiian mythology and folklore.

The papers consist of the following series:

1. Research Material (Boxes 1-10), consists of eight sub-series: Emerson/Peirce Family Papers; Hawaiian Antiquities; Hawaiian Revolutions of 1893 and 1895; Long Voyages of the Ancient Hawaiians; Medical Papers; Mele; Pele and Hiiaka: A Myth from Hawaii; and Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: The Sacred Songs of the Hula. Each sub-series is arranged alphabetically by author and title. Included in this series are: notes, wills, legal papers, land deeds, marriage certificates, obituaries, biographical sketches, essays, and short stories collected or written by Emerson. The series also includes material by other individuals including Sarah Eliza Pierce Emerson, Oliver Pomeroy Emerson, Arthur Webster Emerson, William R. Castle, and Robert William Wilcox. This material covers the following subjects: Emerson and Peirce family history; Hawaiian ethnology and culture; the Hawaiian revolutions of 1893 and 1895; Hawaiian history; Hawaiian mele; leprosy and the leper colony on Molokai; Hawaiian mythology and folklore. This series contains research material and notes collected by Emerson for his monographsUnwritten Literature: The Sacred Songs of the Hula and Pele and Hiiaka: A Myth from Hawaii. The collection includes several handwritten and typewritten drafts of both monographs with handwritten edits by Emerson. These drafts include material that Emerson took out of the final versions and allow the reader to follow Emerson's progression in his writing and Hawaiian translations. The material on the revolutions of 1893 and 1895 includes statements and affidavits given by the men involved in the political uprisings. This series also contains photographs and ephemera.

2. Manuscripts (Boxes 11-16), are arranged alphabetically by author and title. Included in this series are short stories, essays, notes for and outlines of short stories, poetry, diaries, book reviews and speeches by Emerson. There are a few items written by other individuals. This material covers the following subjects: Hawaiian mythology and folklore; Hawaiian history; Hawaiian race relations. Three of Emerson's diaries were written during the American Civil War and give great detail of his experience in the war, including his long stays at army hospitals after he was wounded at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. This series also contains ephemera.

3. Correspondence (Boxes 17-24), is arranged alphabetically by author. This series includes 699 pieces of correspondence by Emerson, the majority of his family, William R. Castle, Abraham Fornander, Frederick Webb Hodge, Davida Malo, S. Percy Smith and many others. There are 59 letters written by Emerson while he was a member of the First Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. In these Nathaniel letters, Emerson gives detailed accounts of camp life, his experience in battle, and his long stays at army hospitals after he was wounded in battle; Emerson spent several weeks in different hospitals, including the Fitz-Hue House, the Patent Office Hospital, and the Ascension General Hospital. The post-civil war letters discuss Emerson's life on the East Coast, his experience in medical school and the opening of his private practice in New York City. The letters after 1878 discuss Emerson's work on Molokai with the lepers. He often mentions Hawaii's government and the country's political problems and scandals. Emerson's correspondence continues up to a few days before his death.

4. Ephemera (Boxes 25-26), are arranged alphabetically by author and title. Included in this series are: newspaper clippings; journals; published articles collected by Emerson; canceled checks; receipts; issues of the Hawaiian periodicals The Independent (1907),The Friend (1914), and Punahou Reporter (1872). This series also includes an index card file of the items in the original collection, some of which are not included among the Emerson Papers.

5. Thirteen individually housed bound volumes (EMR 1311-1323), are arranged alphabetically by author and title. Included in this series are complete typed copies, with the author's autograph corrections, of Hawaiian Antiquities, Pele and Hiiaka: A Myth from Hawaii and Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: The Sacred Songs of the Hula. Also included are three copies of published monographs by Emerson, a copy of The History of the First Regiment (Massachusetts Infantry), from the 25th of May, 1861 to the 25th of May, 1864: Including Brief References to the Operations of the Army of the Potomac by Warren H. (Warren Handel) Cudworth, 1825-1883, a scrapbook, a medical journal, a volume containing leprosy cases, and three letter sheet books containing copies of letters and drafts of short stories by Emerson.