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John Pendleton Kennedy papers

 Collection
Identifier: PIMS-0058

Scope and Contents

The John Pendleton Kennedy papers, 1812-1896, contain documents related to Kennedy's varied personal and professional interests, including documents related to the founding and early years of the Peabody Institute.

The papers have been organized into five series. Series 1 contains 34 volumes of manuscript correspondence between Kennedy and his wife, Elizabeth Gray; his publishers; and his associates in public affairs and literature. Series 2 contains an extensive collection of Kennedy's journals, notes, and speeches. Series 3 includes clippings and scrapbooks that relate to politics, history, and literature. Series 4 contains manuscripts of Kennedy's books, including the two-volume manuscript of Swallow Barn. Series 5 includes miscellaneous business documents and legal papers collected by Kennedy over his career.

As an author, statesman, and attorney, Kennedy was well connected to other figures in American cultural and political life in the 19th century. Included in his voluminous correspondence are letters from John Quincy Adams, George William Brown, Henry Clay, Charles Dickens, C.J.M. Eaton, Millard Fillmore, Washington Irving, Andrew Jackson, Elisha Kane, Robert E. Lee, George Peabody, Matthew C. Perry, Edgar Allan Poe, William M. Thackeray, Daniel Webster, Robert C. Winthrop, and many more.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Boles, John B. A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the John Pendleton Kennedy Papers. Baltimore: Peabody Department of the Enoch Pratt Library, 1972.

Griffin, Lloyd W. "The John Pendleton Kennedy Manuscripts." Maryland Historical Magazine, 48 (December 4, 1953): 327-336.

Merriken, Linda Ann. "A Catalog and Index of the Journals and Letters of John Pendleton Kennedy." Master's thesis, Catholic University of America, 1969.

Dates

  • Creation: 1812-1890

Creator

Language of Materials

The bulk of the materials are in English. Some clippings are in French.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for use at the Arthur Friedheim Library Archives. Contact peabodyarchives@lists.jh.edu for more information.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions. It is not necessary to seek our permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that we have made available for use, unless Johns Hopkins University holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish or perform materials in this collection must be submitted in writing to the archivist of the Arthur Friedheim Library.

Biographical / Historical

John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870) was an author, politician, lawyer, and original trustee of the Peabody Institute. Born in Baltimore, Kennedy attended Baltimore College, graduating in 1812. In 1814, Kennedy joined the U.S. Army and fought in the War of 1812 in the United Company of the 5th Baltimore Light Dragoons. Shortly after the war, Kennedy was admitted to the bar, but was more interested in literature than practicing law. He wrote several historical novels, including Swallow Barn, or A Sojourn in the Old Dominion, published in 1832. Some acquaintances and friends of his included George Henry Calvert, James Fenimore Cooper, Charles Dickens, Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, William Gilmore Simms, and William Thackeray. Kennedy sometimes used the pen name Mark Littleton.

Kennedy was also a politician. He was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1820 and served two terms. In 1838, as a member of the Whig Party, he was elected to the first of his three nonconsecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. As a congressman, he sponsored the appropriation that underwrote Samuel Morse's successful experiment with the magnetic telegraph between Baltimore and Washington in 1844. As secretary of the navy under President Millard Fillmore from 1852 to 1853, Kennedy organized several important naval expeditions, including Commodore Matthew C. Perry's voyage to Japan. Kennedy supported the Union during the Civil War as a member of the Unionist Party, advocating for national compromise. In 1863-1864 he backed a motion to end slavery in Maryland and wrote pro-Union letters (under the pen name Paul Ambrose) published in the National Intelligencer.

Kennedy was close friends with George Peabody, supporting him in his mission to bring education in the arts and humanities to Baltimore and shaping the original plans for the Peabody Institute, with the inclusion of a scholarly library, an academy of music, and an art gallery. Kennedy drafted Peabody's letter to the founding trustees of the Institute on February 12, 1857. As vice president (1857-1860) and president (1860-1870) of the Board of Trustees, Kennedy worked with Charles James Madison Eaton and other trustees to outline a formal plan for building the Peabody Library and Academy of Music. He was also influential in establishing St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the U.S. Naval Academy Band, and protecting the historic city of St. Mary’s City, Maryland.

(Biographical note revised in 2024 by Matt Testa based on John B. Boles, A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the John Pendleton Kennedy Papers [Baltimore: Peabody Department of the Enoch Pratt Library, 1972]. and additional online and internal sources. See also James D. Dilts, The Great Road: The Building of the Baltimore and Ohio, the Nation's First Railroad, 1828-1853 [Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1993].)

Extent

4.75 Cubic Feet (1 half-size legal box, 1 full-size letter box, 116 bound volumes)

Abstract

John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870) was an author, politician, lawyer, and original trustee of the Peabody Institute. The John Pendleton Kennedy papers, 1812-1896, contain correspondence, manuscripts, scrapbooks, and other documents related to Kennedy's varied personal and professional interests, including documents related to the founding and early years of the Peabody Institute.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in five series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1812-1896
Series 2: Journals, notes, and speeches, 1829-1868
Series 3: Clippings and scrapbooks, 1840-1865
Series 4: Manuscripts
Series 5: Miscellaneous

Other Finding Aids

A detailed index to correspondence in the Kennedy papers exists offline. Please contact the Peabody Archives for more information.

Custodial History

The Kennedy papers were delivered to the Peabody Institute Library upon his death in 1870 and unopened until at least 1900, in accordance with Kennedy's will. At the time of microfilming in 1972, the Peabody Library was a branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library system. The papers were transferred to the newly formed Peabody Archives (now part of the Arthur Friedheim Library) in the 1980s.

Existence and Location of Copies

A microfilm set of the collection produced in 1972 is available at multiple libraries: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/21206990

Processing Information

Processed by multiple staff members of the Peabody Institute Library from 1900 to the 1970s. Information on binding, arrangement, processing is partially documented in John B. Boles, A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the John Pendleton Kennedy Papers (Baltimore: Peabody Department of the Enoch Pratt Library, 1972).

Correspondence indexed by J.V. Ridgely in 1992. Additional processing and arrangement by Kerri Sheehan and Matt Testa in 2017.

This collection is predominantly made up of bound volumes, including books, manuscripts, and collections of correspondence. Each individual volume is categorized as an item within a series and listed in the finding aid according to a unique call number on the spine or housing. The call numbers were likely assigned during microfilming in the early 1970s.

The documents within items 9 and 10 in Series 5 (call numbers 77a and 77b) have been taken out of their original housing. Each of the accordion files was filled with documents organized under specific months. These documents have been taken out of the files, but left in original order. Each folder corresponds with the month those documents were filed within.

Title
Guide to the John Pendleton Kennedy papers
Author
Kerri Sheehan
Date
2017
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2024-02-01: Biographical note edited for accuracy, context, and style, and to remove aggrandizing and unclear language. Processing information note expanded. The previous edition of this finding aid is available upon request.

Repository Details

Part of the Peabody Archives Repository

Contact:
Peabody Institute
1 E. Mount Vernon Place
Baltimore MD 21202 USA