![]() Background: The discovery of the papers of the Marquis de Lafayette in a fifteenth century French chateau was an event of great excitement, widely reported in the press. The papers were discovered in 1956 by the late Count René de Chambrun, Cleveland State University acquired a copy of the microfilm in 1997; the donation was funded through the French/American History Endowment Library Fund, thanks to the efforts of its major benefactor, John Horton, a personal friend of Count René de Chambrun, with whom he shared an interest in French and American history. Cleveland and Washington, D.C. are the only two locations in North America, at present, where the microfilm collection may be consulted. The papers are owned by a private foundation established by Count René de Chambrun, the Josée and René de Chambrun Foundation, to administer Chateau La Grange and other family properties. The papers found at La Grange are not the whole of the Lafayette family papers. As reported in the Library of Congress Information Bulletin, it is known that many of Lafayette's papers were removed during the nineteenth century to Chavaniac, a family estate located in the Auvergne region of France, and eventually acquired by Cornell University in 1964. Count René de Chambrun was aware of the collection at Cornell, and there are references to it throughout the microfilm. Description of the Collection: The La Grange microfilm collection comprises some 6,400 feet of microfilm, on 65 individual reels; there are 50,000 sheets covering 25,000 items. However, it must be noted that the entire collection has not been filmed. A representative number of documents from the collection has been transcribed and translated for this website, and is presented along with other images. A rare item is Martha Washington's letter to Lafayette following the death of her husband in which she writes of her "irreparable loss." Also included is an early draft of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, in Lafayette's handwriting; Lafayette's account of the Battle of Yorktown, which decided the outcome of the American Revolution; examples of stationery from the era of the French Revolution; Lafayette's marriage contract; and correspondence from Lafayette's wife, Adrienne, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry. Prizewinning essays from a competition based on the Lafayette microfilm collection at Cleveland State University in 2001, are also included. Particularly noteworthy is the paper by June K. Burton, Ph.D., "Two 'Better Halves' in the Worst of Times." She concluded that Adrienne Lafayette died of lead poisoning as a result of medicine administered by her physician, and not, as historians have thought, as a result of illness suffered while sharing her husband's imprisonment. This is an excellent example of original work produced when students and researchers have access to primary source material. Using the collection: The microfilm is housed in Cleveland State University's Special Collections area. The Finding Aid prepared by the Library of Congress is the starting point for researchers using the collection. The Finding Aid, available on Reel #1 of the microfilm and on the Internet, is an outline, reel-by-reel, mf the contents of the microfilm. The scope notes and content notes are in English; the contents of each reel are listed in French. However, the researcher should be aware that the Finding Aid is not a complete listing of every document filmed. In addition to the Finding Aid, there is a system of Folders which the researcher will find useful, available only on the microfilm. Each reel of microfilm is sub-divided into folders, following the Count's classification system. There are introductory notes to each folder, in French, which may be quite extensive, detailing the folder contents with comments on the more significant items. Many documents have been selectively transcribed and typed, in French, with extensive commentary and annotations. French history has been more thoroughly treated than American history. It is apparent the task was left unfinished. There are notes throughout, that certain folders are "Not Filmed." Anyone needing access to material beyond what is contained in the microfilm must apply to the Josée and René de Chambrun Foundation, which owns the papers at Chateau La Grange. References: “The Story Behind CSU’S Lafayette Collection OR: How a French aristocrat brought two ‘Ohio Sons’ together,” by Tama Lea Engelking, Associate Professor of French at Cleveland State University, 2004. "Microfilmed Lafayette Papers Now Available at Library of Congress." News from The Library of Congress Public Affairs Office, July 3, 1996. http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/1996/96-100.html "Secrets of the American Revolution: Lafayette Papers to be Available at LC in 1996," by James Hutson. Library of Congress Information Bulletin, September 18, 1995. "Lafayette's Revolution Revelations; Library of Congress to Film Historical Papers," by Sarah Booth Conroy. Washington Post, September 11, 1995. "Museum Planned for Lafayette Papers; Archivist Already at Work on the Letters." The Historical New York Times (1857-Current file); June 19, 1956; ProQuest Historical Newspapers Online, 2004. |
Cleveland State University Library Special Collections Cleveland Memory Project |