W.W. Curtis Diaries, 1865-1913

The papers of William Willis Curtis consist mainly of diaries, notebooks, and correspondence. The diaries and notebooks contain a partial record of events, accounts, and miscellany of which most was kept during the period in Japan, mainly Osaka, Sendai, and Sapporo. Series VII and Series XI contain records related to missionary work in Japan. Curtis was involved in operating boys’ schools and, in the 1890s, he worked in prisons. After 1900, the family letters in Series V. Letters and Miscellany are primarily letters written by Curtis to his family and relatives while he was traveling for the Industrial Mission of Alabama (IMA). The correspondence, which includes letters written by Mrs. Curtis and the Curtis children, concern family history and relatives, Oberlin, and the work of William Curtis. Series VIII contains accounts written by Curtis while working for the IMA (1905-07, 1912).

Note: Entry taken from William E. Bigglestone’s unpublished “[preliminary] Guide to the Oberlin College Archives,” which was prepared as individual entry sheets in a three-ring binder during the early 1980s.