Justin H. Smith:

An Inventory of His Collection at the Benson Latin American Collection

Biographical Note

Born 1857 in Boscawen, New Hampshire; died 1930 in Brooklyn, New York. Educated at Dartmouth (B.A. 1877; M.A. 1881) and Union Theological Seminary (1879-1881). Smith worked for Charles Scribner's Sons publishers 1881-1883 and Ginn & Co. 1883-1898 (becoming a partner in 1890); he was Professor of Modern History at Dartmouth 1899-1908. He resigned his professorship in 1908 to pursue historical research, and published The Annexation of Texas in 1911 and The War with Mexico in 1919. For the latter he received the Pulitzer Prize for 1920 and the first Loubat Prize in 1923. From 1917 to 1923 Smith was chairman of the Historical Manuscripts Commission of the American Historical Association.

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Scope and Contents Note

Transcriptions accumulated by Smith in the preparation of his works on the annexation of Texas and the U.S.-Mexico war of 1846-1848, as well as notes for publications, teaching, and speeches; page proofs from The War with Mexico; correspondence; a diary; and assorted material.

Transcriptions are of documents in archives, libraries, and private holdings in the United States, Mexico, Spain, France, England, and Cuba. They include excerpts from the correspondence of U.S. ministers, consuls, and Spanish agents in Mexico (1825-1848); diplomatic correspondence with England and France on relations between Mexico and the U.S. (1830-1848); reports of U.S. agents and others in Texas (1836-1845); reports of U.S. military operations in Mexico, California and New Mexico (1846-1848); materials about political, social, economic, and military conditions in Mexico from 1844 to 1848; letters from Antonio López de Santa Anna relating to the U.S.-Mexico war; and diaries and memoirs of participants and others. A few items relate to Smith's 1903 work, Arnold's march from Cambridge to Quebec, 1775-1776.

Correspondence dates from 1878 and 1897-1929 (bulk 1915-1929). Some letters pertain to the publication of Smith's works on Texas and Mexico; the rest concern various personal and professional matters. The diary dates from 1914-1920; although it consists of only 11 leaves, it contains entries relating to Smith's travels in pursuit of research, his progress in writing The War with Mexico, and his professional and social activities.

The date span covered by the information in the papers is 1825-1848; however, because the papers are comprised primarily of transcripts of archival holdings and of notes made by Smith, the papers physically date from 1878-1929.

Most materials are in English, with some items in Spanish.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Justin H. Smith Collection, 1878-1929, Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Acquisitions Information

The Justin H. Smith Collection was received by the Benson Latin American Collection from two sources. Twenty bound volumes of transcripts, as well as assorted other materials, were presented to UT by Galveston bookdealer, Michael M. Russell, in 1931. In 1980, the Antiquarian Society of Boston donated seven packages of note cards and one bound index.

Processing Information

The Justin H. Smith Collection was arranged into five series and described by staff members of the Benson Latin American Collection and of the Mexican Archives Project. The Mexican Archives Project staff completed the processing of the collection in April 1995.

Find aid initially prepared by the Mexican Archives Project, April 1995.

Alternate Form Available

The bulk of the materials are also available on microfilm in the Benson Latin American Collection.

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Other Finding Aids

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Series and Container List

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