Lewis R. Freeman papers

The collection focuses on Lewis Freeman's travel writings from the early 1900s through the 1950s, and includes unpublished book and article manuscripts, published articles in printed journals, and correspondence with various agents and publishers regarding Freeman's writing submissions. The collection also includes some personal manuscripts, photographs, and diaries.

The correspondence includes personal letters from British Military Secretary Sir Douglas Brownrigg (1919-1921); a letter from L.A. Huffman regarding ordering photographs (1922); a letter from photo artist Byron Harmon regarding Freeman's travel photographs (1925); and reviews and fan mail from various correspondents regarding Freeman's published books and articles. Navy correspondence includes a letter from the Lords Commissioners of the British Admiralty granting Freeman the rank of Temporary Honorary Lieutenant RNVR aboard the H.M.S. President (1917); a letter from Richard W. Gruelick of the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence regarding Freeman's joining of a fleet sailing from Hawaii for an Australia-New Zealand Cruise (1925); a letter from R.S. Berkey of the U.S.S. California inviting Freeman to come aboard by favor of Admiral Pratt (1929); a letter from H.V. Butler of the U.S.S. Texas passing on edits made by Admiral Wiley to one of Freeman's forthcoming articles (1929); a letter from N.W. Camanole of the U.S. War Department asking for Freeman's cooperation in supplying his knowledge as an "authority of the Far East"; and a letter from S.C. Godfrey of the War Department's Mississippi River Commission, which includes 8 photographs taken on the U.S. tender boat Willow. Also included is correspondence and maps from the Hillman-Long Company regarding Freeman's oil leases in Orange County, California (1936-1937). There are a few pieces of correspondence written by Freeman, including two extensive letters to the Secretary of the Explorers Club (1946). Much of the correspondence consists of responses – both of acceptance and rejection – from various publications in response to Freeman's proposed books and articles. Correspondents include The Authors' League of America, Bus Transportation , The Daily Telegraph, Dodd, Mead and Company, Fox Film Corporation, The Hudson's Bay Company, The Illustrated London News, the Italy America Society, the League of American Pen Women, The Livingston Enterprise, the London Joint City and Midland Bank Limited, The London Times, National Geographic, Popular Mechanics, and Sunset Magazine.

The miscellaneous manuscripts and ephemera include personal items such as Freeman's passport (1916-1917), Colombian identity card (1930), and various song lyrics and poems; naval dispatches sent by Freeman during his time aboard the U.S.S. California, the U.S. Submarine Holland, the U.S. Destroyer Litchfield, and the U.S.S. Saratoga (c.1929); a group of destroyer reports from the British Admiralty (1916-1918); sheet music composed by Freeman and Helen Lurens Gaut (1924); excerpts from various publications; a copy of the introduction to Freeman's photographs for "The Feet of the Young Men"; and 46 pieces of newspaper clippings and printed ephemera.

The photographs in Box 2 include those for Freeman's articles "Amazon Navigation" and "Rubber," one of a tree at Cedar Breaks National Park in Utah, a scene of an Indian village at Walpi on the Colorado River, a portrait photograph of Freeman by G. Maillard-Kesslere, a posed portrait of the Delta Phi Club (1895), navy photographs of Freeman and Commander Ramsoy, and a photograph of Freeman on an unidentified tundra.

The diaries include those of Freeman's trips to Alaska (1898-1900) and the Canadian Rockies (1916), as well as undated accounts of travels to Colombia and throughout South America, to the Marquesas and the South Seas, along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, and brief accounts of trips to Wisconsin and Grand Rapids.

The essays and articles consist of typed copies of Freeman's stories, many of which were later published. Some of the articles are accompanied by photographs, several of which were also used in later publications. The articles focus on Freeman's extensive travel experiences, including his trips to India, the South Pacific, South America, Canada, Cuba, along the Mississippi River, Samoa, Hawaii, China, French Polynesia, and Indonesia. Other topics covered in the articles include Rudyard Kipling, World War I (including the British Red Cross in Italy and battles over Serbia), naval events, new forms of electricity, the Guayaquil and Quinto Railway, the conditions of Chinese immigrants in ship steerage, the Shanghai Plague Riot, hunting in British East Africa, and the use of whale meat.

The unidentified book notes include manuscript pages and notebooks containing fragments of writings apparently to be used in constructing book texts. The pencil manuscript for When Kalu Blooms contains original drafts for portions of the book, although significant sections (including chapters 6-13) are not included. The typed book manuscripts consist of annotated typescripts and galley proofs for portions of Afloat and Aflight in the Caribbean, Boating Arctic Rivers, Caribbean Jungle Jaunts, Discovering South America, Dogs and Dog-Fights, Many Rivers, Marquesan Nocturne (2 versions of the complete manuscript), Waterways of Western Wandering, and When Kalu Blooms.

The publications include articles that appeared in printed journals and other publications. Some of the many and widely varied topics the articles explore are bus travel, boating American rivers, railroads in Asia, Africa, and South America, hydro-electricity, industrialization in Italy, polo and tennis in California, World War I, the future of Jerusalem, business opportunities in the Philippines, Turkey's relationship to Asia, and flight exploration. While most of the articles were written by Freeman, there are also a few pieces by other authors, including R.J. Bjierstedt, Arthur James, Angus McGregor, Moacir Simardi, and Gino Speranza, as well as an interview with Freeman that appeared in Andean Air Mail and Peruvian Times (1942). Some of the publications include The Atlantic Monthly, World Today, Motor Boating, Bus Transportation, The American Review of Reviews, Outing Magazine, The Outlook, The Los Angeles Times, The Pacific Monthly, Popular Mechanics Magazine, Overland Monthly, The Sportsman, Andean Air Mail and Peruvian Times, and The Sportsman Pilot.