Scope and Contents Historical financial instruments, such as bonds, stock certificates, treasury notes, checks and a land patent, many bearing decorative engraved vignettes and associated with prominent events and persons in financial and political history. Some of the items include: a 1782 bond issued by France's King Louis XVI, secured by taxes on alcohol and salt, which were bitterly resented by the common people and contributed to the outbreak of the French Revolution; a 1795 certificate for...

Scope and Contents The Donner Family Collection consists of newspaper articles, artifacts, books, correspondence, photographs, articles, journals, newsletters, brochures, notes, photocopies, posters, land grants and deeds, videocassettes, cassette tapes and CD-ROMs. The material pertains to the family of George Donner, who left Sangamon County, Illinois in 1846 to emigrate to California. After a series of mishaps and delays, they and their emigrant party were trapped by heavy snow and faced starvation in the...