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Arthur Miller kept a diary for every year from 1866 to 1900. Most of these
can be found in the collection.
Victor Miller collected the letters of Civil War soldiers including this
one, from "Eddie" Hodgekins to his father, dated January 17, 1864, "Camp
near Stevensburg, Va."
Marcella Miller Du Pont and two of her friends wrote and illustrated
a nature journal when they were children.
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Collection
Overview
Creator: Miller Du Pont family
Title: Miller Du Pont family papers
Inclusive Dates: 1862-1974
Size: 3.5 linear ft.
Processed By: Finding aid and Web
version prepared by Robin Beran, October 2000; revised October 2003
Scope
and Content
The Miller Du Pont Collection contains the materials of Arthur
Miller and his children Victor A. Miller and Marcella Miller Du
Pont. The collection covers the years from 1862 to 1972. The earliest
material consists of 83 letters written by Joseph Edward "Eddie"
Hodgekins, a Union soldier, to his family between the years 1862
and 1865. Victor Miller had a life long interest in the Civil War.
At his death, his substantial library of books, letters, and other
Civil War-related items was donated to the University of Denver.
Besides the Hodgekins letters, there are 11 letters from Captain
C.L. Fales to his sister Adelaide Fales Adams; a letter from General
Johnston to General Sherman dated July 14, 1863 asking for a brief
truce in order to bury the dead; a collection of signatures of people
involved in the Civil War; an official report of the Battle of Shiloh;
and other miscellaneous items.
Arthur Miller’s diaries and rent books, the majority of which are
written in shorthand, cover the years 1866 to 1912. These were saved
by his son Roland and eventually were donated to the University
of Denver by Arthur Miller and Marcella Miller Du Pont. The diaries
begin when Arthur Miller was attending school in Michigan and continue
as he taught school, traveled to New York to be a court reporter,
lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana where he met and married his first
wife, moved to Denver, and became a successful businessman. The
collection includes the transcripts of the diaries from 1880 and
1881. Of particular interest in these years are Arthur Miller’s
descriptions of his relationship with his wife and child as well
as his opinion of the court cases he was handling and the events
surrounding those cases.
Marcella Miller Du Pont’s papers take up the chronology in 1932
with the first copies of letters from H.L. Mencken to Mrs. Du Pont.
These letters marked the beginning of a decade and a half of correspondence.
Series III, Box 4 holds a nature journal created by M.M. Du Pont,
Genevieve Kassler Brock, and Mary Frances Spaulding Brock when they
were young. The most recent material includes a variety of personal
papers relating to Marcella Du Pont’s social life including her
summers spent in the East. This collection was at one time housed
in the Marcella Miller Du Pont room in Mary Reed Library. It is
now held in the Department of Special Collections in Penrose Library
at the University of Denver.
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