Ulysses Grant's papers move to Mississippi school

[JimKindred]

Ulysses Grant's papers move to Mississippi school

Jan 28, 9:44 AM (ET)

By JIM SUHR

CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) - Mississippi might seem like an unlikely place to honor Ulysses S. Grant.

After all, the Union general's military victory at Vicksburg helped turn the tide of the Civil War against the state and the rest of Dixie.

But after a legal dispute with an Illinois school, Mississippi State University has become the new home of 90 file cabinets stuffed with hundreds of thousands of pages of documents and memorabilia about Grant and some of his descendants.

The collection - one of the biggest involving Grant - had been a source of pride for Southern Illinois University for more than four decades until a falling out between that Carbondale school and the group that owns the items, prompted by sexual harassment claims against the man who oversaw the collection.

Mississippi State considers the stash a big deal when it comes to bragging rights. Presidential libraries didn't begin springing up until the mid-20th century. That made certain universities home to the papers of earlier presidents, including those of the Republican, hard-drinking Grant, who was president from 1869 to 1877.

"It's an incredible collection of amazing things," ranging from original Grant documents to the Grant family's Bible, said John Marszalek, a Civil War scholar and Mississippi State history professor emeritus who's now shepherding the collection.

"All my colleagues are just beside themselves, saying, 'Man, how'd you get so lucky?'" added Marszalek, a biographer of William T. Sherman, the Union general who was among Grant's closest friends.

"This Grant collection is going to be a star on campus."

Full Story here - http://apnews.myway.com//article/200...D96070PO0.html

[Cpt Boone]

Re: Ulysses Grant's papers move to Mississippi school

Jim,

Saw this the other day in the Sun Herald. It is a great thing to have in our state. (Not sure if this brings us up from the bottom, or lowers us even more.):wink_smil It is interesting as his greatest feat, The Vicksburg Campaign, was in this state and now his papers reside here. I wonder how he would feel. Thanks for posting.