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Series VIII: Henry H. and Maria Burroughs Livingston Papers, 1840-2003

 Series
Call Number: GEN MSS 680, Series VIII

Scope and Contents

Description of the Papers

The series contains some correspondence and personal papers, but is largely composed of research files assembled by Henry and Maria Livingston on family history and other topics. He was directly involved in the Livingston Manor Tercentenary celebrations of 1986, and collected historical material on Livingston homes and estates in the Hudson Valley, in addition to Oak Hill. Also here are files of reference material and correspondence about the family compiled by Columbia County Historian Walter V. Miller (1903-1980) and his successor Elaine Bohnsack Liepshutz (1920-2001); they appear to be the historians' own correspondence files, and their presence in the family papers is not explained. In addition, Liepshutz's files contain sets of photocopies of translations from the Dutch of letters between Robert Livingston (1654-1728) and his wife Alida Schuyler Van Rensselaer (1656-1729), and letters to the Livingston from others including Steven van Cortlandt. See the subseries Livingston Family History Files for further information about these transcripts.

The Personal Papers subseries holds several files of material documenting Henry Livingston's training and tour of duty in the United States Army Air Corps.

Dates

  • 1840-2003

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

From the Collection:

The materials are open for research.

Boxes 161-162: Restricted Fragile Material. Consult Access Services for further information.

Arrangement

Series VIII is organized into four subseries: Correspondence, Personal Papers, Livingston Family History Files, and Other Subject Files.

Extent

7 Linear Feet ((18 boxes) + 1 broadside folder)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Biographical/Historical note

Henry H. Livingston (1918–2008)

Henry Hopkins Livingston Jr. was born in New York City on March 16, 1918, the son of Henry Hopkins Livingston (1887-1960) and Mary Eleanor Curran Livingston. He was educated at Friends Seminary in New York and the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut (1936), before graduating from Yale University in 1940 and receiving a Certificate of Transportation from Yale in 1941. During World War II, Livingston served in the United States Army Air Corps (1941-1946) with tours of duty with Air Transport in North Africa and the Middle East. After discharge, he spent a decade with the Boston and Maine Railroad and then the Maine Central Railroad, followed by positions with the investment banking firms of Morgan Stanley, Clark Dodge, Kidder Peabody, Brown Brothers Harriman, and Paine Webber, before retiring in 1996. Henry Livingston died on November 25, 2008.

Maria May Burroughs Livingston (1919–)

In January 1942 Livingston married Maria May Burroughs (b. April 8, 1919), daughter of Richard H. and Isabel Black Burroughs of Richmond, Virginia. The great-granddaughter of the painter Frederic Edwin Church, Oak Hill's northern neighbor, she attended the Collegiate School in New York, and graduated from Sweet Briar College in 1940. The couple had four children: Isabel Church Livingston (b.1943), Henry H. Livingston III (b.1945), Richard H. B. Livingston (b.1947), and Catharine Van Brugh Livingston (b. 1949, married Robert Edmonds).

The Livingstons maintained a home in New York City in addition to Oak Hill.

Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

Location

121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours

Access Information

The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.