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Charles Kuhlman Papers, 1896-1959

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Kuhlman, Charles, 1872-1959
Title
Charles Kuhlman Papers
Dates
1896-1959
Quantity
2.6 linear feet
Collection Number
Collection 1043, MtBC, us (collection)
Summary
The Charles Kuhlman Papers consist of letters, research notes, literary manuscripts and printed materials and are arranged according to Kuhlman's activities. His correspondence refers to his life as a farmer as well as to his historical scholarship, primarily on the French Revolution. The biographical materials on Kuhlman discuss both his personal and professional endeavors and contain miscellaneous personal writings, newsclippings and Fay Kuhlman's writings on Kuhlman's life. Kuhlman's teaching materials contains outlines for the teaching of European History and a list of "suggestions" he composed to introduce new approaches for examining this history.
Repository
Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Languages
English, French, German
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Biographical Note

Charles Kuhlman was born on January 15, 1872 in Davenport, Iowa and served in the Nebraska militia as a lieutenant. He attended the University of Nebraska, received a Master's Degree in History in 1897, and continued his historical studies in Europe. In 1900, he received a PhD. from the University of Zurich. After spending the next three years doing research in Germany and France, Kuhlman returned to teach history at the University of Nebraska and was appointed head of European History. Kuhlman taught for only one year before retiring due to an increasing deafness. Kuhlman became a farmer and in his spare time he continued to study and write history. In 1916, Kuhlman moved to Billings, Montana where he became interested in the events surrounding the Battle of Little Bighorn. With the exception of the unpublished essay Kuhlman wrote in reaction to Colonel Hughes' Custer history and a copy of his work done for the Encyclopedia Britannica, Kuhlman's Western Americana scholarship was purchased by Michael J. Koury and later sold to Brigham Young University. Charles Kuhlman's interest in military tactics and revolt remained a central focus in his historical research. His earlier scholarship concentrated primarily on the Jacobin cause and other revolutionary societies of the French Revolution. Kuhlman continued to revise his earlier writings through the 1950s, hoping to publish a definitive text on Jacobin history. Charles Kuhlman died in Billings, Montana in 1959.

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Content Description

The Charles Kuhlman papers consist of letters, research notes, literary manuscripts and printed materials and are arranged according to Kuhlman's activities. His correspondence refers to his life as a farmer as well as to his historical scholarship, primarily on the French Revolution. The biographical materials on Kuhlman discuss both his personal and professional endeavors and contain miscellaneous personal writings, newsclippings and Fay Kuhlman's writings on Kuhlman's life. Kuhlman's teaching materials contains outlines for the teaching of European History and a list of "suggestions" he composed to introduce new approaches for examining this history. Kuhlman's research materials has been divided into 3 subseries according to document type. Subseries 1, Notes, contains Kuhlman's notes taken as a Master's and PhD. student and come from both secondary and primary sources. His list of scholarly goals, written in the early twentieth century, is contained in Box 2, file 14. Kuhlman's notes are written in 3 languages; English, French and German. Subseries 2, Writings, contains Kuhlman's unpublished writings. An early draft of his dissertation essay on Mably and his larger work, an untitled history of French revolutionary societies, shows the evolution of Kuhlman's scholarship. Subseries 3, Historical Documents and Journals, contains primarily published, academic writings on the French Revolution. Journals are largely written in French. Kuhlman's notes on the texts are indicated by [marginalia] following the journal citation. Kuhlman's Published Manuscripts relate primarily to the Jacobin Club. The final series in the collection contains photographs of Kuhlman from 1903 to 1957 as well as a turn-of-the-century photograph and postcard of the La Chambre des Députés in Paris.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Series 1 Correspondence, 1911-1957

Series 2 Biographical Materials, circa 1956-1959

Series 3 Teaching Materials, 1903-1904

Series 4 Research Materials, 1896-1959

Subseries 1 - Notes

Subseries 2 - Writings

Subseries 3 - Historical Documents and Journals

Series 5 Published Manuscripts, 1900-1911

Series 6 Photographs, circa 1903-1957

Acquisition Information

Professional papers created or collected by Dr. Charles Kuhlman relating to the French Revolution were donated to Special Collections by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Fred (Fay) Kuhlman of Bearcreek, Montana on May 23, 1973.

Processing Note

This collection was processed 2009 March 3

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Farmers-Nebraska
  • Historians
  • History teachers-Nebraska-Lincoln
  • Jacobins-France-History

Personal Names

  • Kuhlman, Charles, 1872-1959-Biography
  • Mably, abbé de, 1709-1785

Corporate Names

  • Club des Jacobins-History
  • University of Nebraska (Lincoln campus)-Faculty
  • University of Nebraska (Lincoln campus)-Students

Geographical Names

  • Europe-History-Study and teaching
  • France-History-Revolution, 1789-1799
  • France-History-Revolution, 1789-1799-Societies, etc

Form or Genre Terms

  • Research (document genres)

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Kuhlman, Fay, 1906-1975 (creator)

Kim Allen Scott, 2009
December 29, 2016

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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