Dr. Nathaniel M. Sims collection of Sims and Hitchcock family papers (MSC-354)

This collection consists of correspondence, ephemeral materials, logbooks, photographs, publications, and other papers relating to the Sims and Hitchcock families, particularly Admiral William S. Sims, his wife Anne Hitchcock Sims, and her father Ethan Allen Hitchcock. These papers detail the families’ personal lives and relationships as well as the careers of Admiral Sims and Ethan Allen Hitchcock. This collection serves as a great example of the dedication of the entire Sims family to preserve and honor the legacies of Admiral Sims and the Hitchcock family for future generations.

Correspondence includes letters sent and received by Ethan A. Hitchcock, Anne H. Sims, William S. Sims, William S. Sims, Jr. and other members of the Sims and Hitchcock families. The majority of the original correspondence is of a personal nature detailing various aspects of family matters, daily activities, travel, and social interactions. Ephemeral materials include invitations to attend event at the White House, programs from dinners and ceremonies, and address and guest books maintained by both Admiral and Mrs. Sims. Logbooks and navigation volumes from the 1890s were written by Sims with the intention of using them as instruction for future junior officers. Photographs consist of loose photographs of members of Sims and Hitchcock family, with the majority being of Admiral Sims and his acquaintances throughout his entire naval career.

The bulk of this collection is comprised of four sets of typewritten transcriptions of Admiral Sims’s letters. These transcriptions were used by Anne H. Sims, William S. Sims, Jr, and Elting E. Morison in order to compile a complete set of all of Adm. Sim’s correspondence and to use in developing a comprehensive biography on Sims. The original letters for these transcriptions are most likely found within the William Sowden Sims papers in the Naval Historical Foundation Collection at the Library of Congress.

The first set of transcriptions are of Sims’s letters sent and received from 1876 to 1925. Five sets of this transcription were made and given to even child of Adm. Sims. The second set of transcriptions were arranged in alphabetical order (most likely by Mrs. Sims) by either name or subject. An index to the subjects is included. The third set of transcriptions were those that were kept and maintained by Mrs. Sims. Many of these letters include her notations about what to include in a biography and items she considered to be important. The last set of transcriptions includes handwritten annotations, most likely from Elting E. Morison while he was composing his biography, Admiral Sims and the Modern American Navy, published in 1942. The dates listed in the inventory for these transcriptions and others refer to the actual date of the letter, not the date that the transcription was completed.