1848-1935
Guide to the Collection
Restrictions on Access
The Moorfield Storey papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@nbbinggan.com.
Abstract
This collection consists of papers of lawyer and author Moorfield Storey of Boston, Massachusetts, including correspondence, business and legal papers, writings, and scrapbooks.
Biographical Sketch
Moorfield Storey (1845-1929) was a lawyer and author in Boston, Massachusetts. He served as private secretary to Charles Sumner from 1867-1869 and practiced law in Boston from 1869-1929, becoming a senior member of the firm of Storey, Thorndike, Palmer, and Dodge. He also served as president of the American Bar Association in 1896, as well as the Anti-Imperialist League, Massachusetts Civil Reform Club, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Thursday Evening Club, Game Club, and Good Government Association, and as an overseer of Harvard College in 1872-1888 and 1892-1910.
Collection Description
The papers of Moorfield Storey include original correspondence, typescript letters, business and legal papers, writings, a copy of his autobiography, a facsimile of Gen. George Washington's accounts (1775-1783), and scrapbooks. In addition to papers documenting Storey's interest in anti-imperialism and civil service reform, the collection contains scrapbooks related to Philippines independence, as well as Native American and African American civil rights. Also included are typescript diary extracts of Fiske Warren enclosed in a letter that Warren sent to Storey, 1903. Correspondents include Charles Francis Adams, Gamaliel Bradford, Phillip P. Chase, Francis Ward Chandler, Richard Henry Dana, Henry Herbert Edes, Marcus Perrin Knowlton, John Torrey Morse, Charles Sumner, Charles Moorfield Storey, Gertrude Cutts Storey, Erving Winslow, and George Fred Williams.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Charles M. Storey, 1969. Additions from Palmer and Dodge, November 1994.
Restrictions on Access
The Moorfield Storey papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@nbbinggan.com.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Loose correspondence and other papers, 1848-1935
This series contains correspondence and other papers of Moorfield Storey, including his correspondence with Charles Francis Adams and other Adams family members; unverified typescripts of letters apparently copied out of Storey's letterbooks; and speeches, essays, and miscellaneous other writings by Storey.
This box includes Storey's autobiography (#20).
II. Letterbooks, 1894-1929
This series consists of 32 letterbook volumes (in cases) containing typescript copies of Storey's outgoing correspondence.
III. Scrapbooks, 1850s-1928
This series consists of nine scrapbook volumes kept by Moorfield Storey, mostly newspaper clippings on topics of interest to him, such as African American civil rights, Philippines independence, civil service reform, and anti-imperialism.
Scrapbooks 1, 2, 3, and 5 are housed in cases, and the others are stored in two document boxes. Scrapbooks 1-7 were numbered in that order by Storey.
This volume includes invitations, ephemera, miscellaneous writings, and newspaper clippings. Many of the invitations are undated.
This scrapbook consists mostly of clippings concerning the Philippines and World War I.
This scrapbook contains a small number of newspaper clippings.
Preferred Citation
Moorfield Storey papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.
Persons:
Organizations:
Subjects:
Materials Removed from the Collection
Loose pamphlets, serials, and bound volumes of miscellaneous pamphlets collected by Moorfield Storey have been removed to the MHS printed collections.