President Abram Winegardner Harris -- Signed Letter From Booker T. Washington, June, 1897

These records document Abram Winegarden Harris’ tenure as president of the Maine State College of Agriculture and the Mechanical Arts, which later become the University of Maine, from September 1893 to December 1901. The majority of the series is correspondence to and from Harris on a range of subjects including: war enlistments of students, advertising and magazine renewals, engineering experiment substations, the Free Homestead Bill, establishing a forestry school, moral behavior of students, tax exemption, the place of women and religion at the University, admissions, college expenses, correspondence with the publisher W.R. Farrington, various individuals and businesses with the name Fernald including faculty, regarding fraternity housing, agriculture education, and regarding the Maine State Legislature. There is also a folder of correspondence featuring Harris' secretary E.A. Balentine and a folder containing signed letters from various academics, politicians, judges, and local figures. There is a letter to Harris from Booker T. Washington regarding the need for "colored teachers in industrial and agriculture departments" at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.

Also, includes biographical information on Harris from his appointment (1893) to resignation (1901).

Box 1 includes note stating that the photographs have been transferred to University Photo Archives.