Historical Documents

Dr. Goel collects historical documents as a hobby. He has donated manuscripts and collections to Amherst College, Dickinson College, Forest History Society, Harvard Law School, Minnesota Historical Society, Princeton University, and Yale University. Collection highlights are described below.

Amherst College

Ravi D. Goel Collection of George Hibbert Driver (AC 1900). Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library. George Hibbert Driver (Amherst BA 1900, Amherst MA 1904, Yale Bachelors Divinity 1905, Harvard Masters Sacred Theology 1940) was a remarkable poet, preacher and theologian. Driver collection Part I (2015) includes Driver’s poetry archive and a manuscript copy of “A Fare of Poems.” Part II (2019) includes Driver’s sermons and were donated to honor Amherst College’s 2021 bicentennial anniversary. (Amherst Library finding aid | ProtectingSight blog post)

Dickinson College

Ravi D. Goel Collection of Herbert Wing, Jr. Papers. Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections. Dickinson Professor Herbert Wing Jr. (Harvard AB 1909, Wisconsin PhD 1915) enjoyed a lifelong connection and elder statesman-like status among Dickinson’s faculty, students, and alumni. The collection includes letters to Professor Wing’s family while they lived in Carlisle, PA. Also included are Professor Wing letters regarding college life and affairs. The letters span the years 1915-1952 and complement the Wing archives at Dickinson. (Dickinson College finding aid)

Forest History Society

Ravi D. Goel Collection of John R. Neetzel Papers, Library and Archives, Forest History Society, Durham, NC, USA.  John. R Neetzel (University of Minnesota BS Forestry 1929, University of California MS Forestry 1930) corresponded with numerous giants in American forestry.  The collection includes a poem which Bob Marshall — an early forester, conservationist, and co-founder of The Wilderness Society — writes to forestry icon Raphael Zon. (Forest History Society finding aid)

Harvard Law School

Ravi D. Goel Collection of correspondence related to a memorial for Justice Louis D. Brandeis and the United States Supreme Court, 1942-1960. Historical & Special Collections, Harvard Law School Library. US Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis entered Harvard Law School in 1875 at the age of 18. Despite poor eyesight, he graduated as the 1877 valedictorian and held the highest GPA in Harvard Law School history for more than eight decades.  The collection includes memorial resolutions distributed by a committee led by Brandeis’ former law clerk, Harvard Law Vice Dean, and Judge Calvert Magruder (Harvard Law 1916). Also included are unrelated and fascinating correspondence regarding the attacks on the US Supreme Court in the mid-1950s. Judge Mendon Morrill (Harvard Law 1926) was a key correspondent in these latter exchanges. (Harvard HOLLIS finding aid | Protecting Sight blog post)

Minnesota Historical Society

Ravi D. Goel collection of Samuel James Renwick McMillan family papers, 1818-1956, Minnesota Historical Society. Samuel James Renwick McMillan was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania and moved to Minnesota in 1852. Minnesota became the 32nd US state on May 11, 1858 and McMillan was named the first judge of the newly formed Minnesota District Court. McMillan served as the Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court (1864 -75) and US Senator from Minnesota (1875-87). The Samuel James Renwick McMillan collection includes photos, letters, transcribed documents, and printed publications from 1818 to 1956.  These papers span five generations and include connections to the Revolutionary War and the controversial Battle of Wounded Knee (1890). Included is one of the only known photos of Medal of Honor recipient Albert McMillan (Princeton 1884) as a young man. (Minnesota Historical Society finding aid | ProtectingSight blog post)

Princeton University

Dala’il al-hayrat’s “Guide to Happiness” (believed 17th century) MSS. Princeton Islamic Manuscripts Collection. (Donated in July 2021; not yet available online)

Yale University – Beinecke Library

  1. Ravi D. Goel Collection of Frederic Taber Cooper. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. American editor, literary critic and author Frederic Taber Cooper (1864-1937) was Harvard AB 1886, Columbia LLB 1887, AM 1891, PhD 1895, and an NYU associate professor of Latin and Sanskrit (1895-1902).  The Frederic Taber Cooper collection includes a draft fragment from Frank Norris’ acclaimed novel, The Octopus. (Yale Library finding aid | ProtectingSight blog post)
  2. Ravi D. Goel Collection of John J. Slocum Papers Relating to James Joyce. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. John Jermain Slocum (Harvard AB 1936), was a diplomat, book collector, literary agent, and scholar. He was among the pre-eminent James Joyce collectors in the 20th century. The Slocum letters and correspondence are filled with “Joyceana after Joyce” among the leading Joyce collectors of the early 20th century. The details complement archives throughout the United States, Ireland, and Joycean world. (Yale Library finding aid | ProtectingSight blog post)

Yale University – Irving S. Gilmore Music Library

Ravi D. Goel Collection of Reuven Kosakoff (MSS 130). Irving S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University.  Reuven Kosakoff (1898-1987) was born in New Haven and studied at the Yale School of Music from 1908-1913. He then studied at the Institute of Musical Art (later the Julliard School) and in Europe with Artur Schnabel. (Yale Library finding aid)

Yale University – Manuscripts & Archives

  1. Ravi D. Goel Collection on Yale (RU 1081). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.  200+ documents related to Yale history from the 1700s to present day.  The collection includes documents related to Yale’s 1st student (Jacob Heminway 1704), 1st Chinese student (Yung Wing 1854), 1st Native American student (Henry Roe Cloud BA 1910 MA 1914), and 1st African American PhD candidate (Edward Bouchet BA 1874, PhD 1876). (Yale Library finding aid | ProtectingSight blog post)
  2. Ravi D. Collection on Henry Roe Cloud (MS 2008). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. Henry Roe Cloud, a Ho-Chunk Native American & member of the Winnebago tribe of Nebraska, is the first known Native American to graduate from Yale College (BA 1910, MA 1914).  The collection includes his Yale degrees, private papers, numerous photos (including his Elihu Club delegation photo), and the original manuscript of his famous 1915 essay, “From Wigwam to Pulpit: A Red Man’s Own Story of His Progress from Dark to Light.”  There is rich material for a Yale senior essay in just this collection. (Yale Library finding aid | ProtectingSight blog post | Yale Club Washington DC Symposium Presentation (YouTube))
  3. Ravi D. Goel collection on Philip Dodson Sprouse, 1939-2019. US Ambassador Philip D. Sprouse (Cambodia) was well connected with many giants of American diplomacy. He wrote the final report after he accompanied Gen. George C. Marshall to China in 1945-47, a fact documented in his 1977 New York Times obituary. His papers include highly sensitive issues regarding postings around the world. He appears to be quite close to Secretary of State Dean Acheson (Yale 1915). The collection includes a carbon copy of a letter, introducing Sprouse, which Secretary Acheson sent to the King of Cambodia. (Yale Library finding aid)
  4. Yale Skull & Bones Delegation of 1966 Photo Album. Includes former Secretary of State John F. Kerry, Fedex founder Fred Smith, Vietnam War hero Richard Warren Pershing, and map collector David Rumsey among many luminaries of a most extraordinary Skull & Bones (Russell Trust Association) delegation. (Yale Library finding aid | ProtectingSight blog post)

Presentations

1. Yale Class of 1993 25th reunion exhibit in May 2018:

2. The Frederic Taber Cooper collection includes a fragment from Frank Norris’ novel The Octopus:

3. The Henry Roe Cloud collection highlights: