Scope and Contents

The collection was created when two collections in the Speciacl Collections archives were combined. These two are the Charles Aldrich Collection and the Peggy LeBold Collection.

Scope and Contents From the Collection: Two autograph collections already in Special Collections, those of Charles Alrich and Peggy LeBold, were combined into one collection in 2016. Each one was sparsely described so their catalog entries did not tell the full story of the riches inside. Hundreds of letters from well-known individuals, prized for the signatures at the bottom, have been collected and preserved. Charles Aldrich was active in archives in Iowa, helping to establish the Iowa Historical Department. A newspaperman, he founded the Hamilton Freeman paper in Webster City, Iowa. He also had an interest in ornithology and was a founding member of the American Ornithological Union. He broke his collection down into the following seven categories: Authors, Artists and Editors; Iowa Autographs; Reformers, Philanthropists, Educators, Clergymen, Scholars; Rossetti Collection; Scientists; Soldiers, Sailors, and Explorers; and Statesmen and Lawyers. The Rossetti collection is the collection of William...