Henry Wight Diman Papers (Mss. Gr. 161)

The Henry Wight Diman papers consist of news articles, official and personal correspondence and documents, agendas or journals, handbills and programs in both English and Portuguese. Beginning with his boyhood in Bristol, Diman’s confided his thoughts and summaries of noteworthy events to bound volumes labeled agendas or journals. These are the most interesting part of his papers, and span the period 1850-1884, with the exception of the years 1865-66, 1868, 1870-71, 1875-76, 1879, and 1881. The extant years provide a wide range of observations and opinions, marked by a particular attention to politics and his social life. The vignettes of Bristol are especially appealing, with numerous references to social activities, family and friends, ship launchings, politics, fires and railroad construction. Also of interest are the descriptions of Cuba and its people, climate, and politics, and the notes kept during his European sojourns. The account of his service on the gunboat Kineo, provides some interesting passages, especially those devoted to the ebb and flow of shipboard life. The journals dating from consular years are represented by numerous entries describing official business performances attended, dinners and parties, and excursions to visit friends and points of interest. Although postings to Oporto and Lisbon, Portugal were not first tier appointments, Diman nonetheless met figures of both enduring and ephemeral importance. Exemplary of these, he recounts meetings with Lady Franklin, the widow of the iconic arctic explorer Sir John Franklin, and Henry Morton Stanley, the noted reporter and African explorer. Another personality of note was the Finnish explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld. Nordenskiöld visited Portugal in the spring of 1880 following the completion of his expedition in the ship Vega. The Vega was the first ship to traverse the entire Northeast Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the arctic coasts of Europe and Asia.

Of less fame, but an intriguing person was Daniel Sickles, American minister to Spain was arguably the most memorable. A controversial Union general during the American Civil War, Sickles lost a leg at Gettysburg while trying to extricate his troops from an exposed and tenuous position of his own making. His efforts were rewarded with the Congressional Medal of Honor. Prior to the war, he earned the distinction of being the first man acquitted of murder on the grounds of temporary insanity. His victim was Philip Barton Key, son of the composer of the Star Spangled Banner.

Other noteworthy items are found in the collection. Henry’s materials include a journal from the Marble Club, a group composed of Bristol natives, all boyhood friends, who used the club as a vehicle for maintaining their friendship even when separated by thousands of miles. Also noteworthy are two transit letters designating Diman as consul in Oporto and Lisbon and signed by Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant respectively, and a collection of posters and handbills proclaiming various theatrical and athletic events. Henry’s older brother, J. Lewis Diman (1831-1881) is represented by his European journals, obituaries, and selected speeches. J. Lewis was a graduate of Brown University, a respected clergyman, and long time professor of History and Political Economy at his alma mater.

The materials in this collection are generally in good condition. Some, including the diaries do exhibit the affects of embrittlement and iron gall ink.