Riggs Family papers
Collection Scope and Content
This collection contains family photographs (including daguerreotypes and tintypes), travel photographs, books, artwork, personal accessories, draft manuscripts, newspaper clippings, and correspondence. The materials date from 1672-2006, with the bulk of the collection ranging from 1870-1939. The records are related to the Riggs family, including Thomas Riggs, territorial governor of Alaska (1918-1921), and family members connected to the Riggs National Bank of Washington, D.C. However, there are no materials that discuss the business affairs of the Riggs Bank (Please see the PNC-Riggs Bank Collection for business records).
The Thomas Riggs material contains family photographs in Alaska from 1914-1925, newspaper clippings relating to his governorship, and some business correspondence from 1922-1947.
Photographs include portraits of Riggs family members, particularly E. Francis Riggs Sr. and his children, and are prevalent in both framed and unframed formats. Travel photographs represent the late nineteenth century Middle East and Asia, early twentieth century Europe, a U.S. cross-country trip, and World War II in North Africa.
The draft manuscripts consist of multiple drafts of “The Riggs Family of Maryland: a Genealogical and Historical Record” by John Beverley Riggs and a single draft of “Remarks on Some of the Oldest Maps in America” by Frederic Kunstmann.
Riggs genealogy is recorded in the seventeenth century “Baxter’s Christian Directory” and in John Beverley Riggs’ draft manuscripts of “The Riggs Family of Maryland.”
Dates
- 1672-1987
- Majority of material found within 1870 - 1939
Creator
- Riggs, John Beverley (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.
Historical or Biographical Note
John Beverley Riggs (1918-2006), author, curator, archivist, and historian, gathered the materials in this collection. He graduated from The George Washington University in 1939, and later attended Yale, writing his doctoral dissertation on “The Acquisition of Foreign Archival Sources for American History to the Year 1949” in 1955. His published works include The Riggs Family of Maryland: A Genealogical and Historical Record (1939), Documentary Sources for Historic Preservation: Manuscripts (1964), A Guide to the Manuscripts in the Eleutherian Mills Historical Library (1978), as well as studies of early Maryland landowners and society.
The members of the Riggs family represented in this collection include three of the sons of businessman and banker Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853): George Washington Riggs, Jr. (1813-1881), partner in Corcoran and Riggs; Lawrason Riggs (1814-1884); and Elisha Riggs, Jr. (1826-1881), another partner in Corcoran and Riggs (which became Riggs & Co. in 1854).
George Washington Riggs, Jr.’s son Elisha Francis Riggs, Sr. (1851-1910) became a partner of Riggs & Co. in 1876 and remained involved until 1896, when the bank incorporated to become the public Riggs National Bank; he married Medora Thayer Riggs (1852-1915) and had three sons: George Washington Riggs, Jr. (1880-1883), who died in infancy; Elisha Francis Riggs, Jr. (1887-1936), who served in the U.S. Army; and Thomas Lawrason Riggs (1888-1943), who served as a medic in World War I and was later ordained a priest.
Also represented in the collection are Thomas Riggs, Jr. (1873-1945), another Riggs family member and governor of Alaska from 1918-1921, his wife Renee Coudert Riggs (1892-?), and their son Thomas (Tommy) Riggs Jr. (1915-1953).
Extent
36.5 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection contains family photographs (including daguerreotypes and tintypes), travel photographs, books, artwork, personal accessories, draft manuscripts, newspaper clippings, and correspondence. The materials date from 1672-2006, with the bulk of the collection ranging from 1870-1939. The records are related to the Riggs family, including Thomas Riggs, territorial governor of Alaska (1918-1921), and family members involved with the Riggs National Bank of Washington, D.C. Family historian John Beverley Riggs amassed these materials and gave them to his niece Miriam Ely Riggs.
Series
Organized into 3 series: Photographs and prints, Personal artifacts, and Paper documents.
Physical Location
Materials may be stored off-site, and may require additional retrieval time. Please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.
Other Finding Aids
Please see the PNC-Riggs Bank Collection for business records. http://www.gwu.edu/gelman/spec/ead/ms2239.xml
Acquisition Information
Purchased from Miriam Ely Riggs 2007 (Accession 2007.60). Gift of Miriam Ely Riggs 2007 (Accession 2007.75) (Accession 2007.76).
- Alaska Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Alaska -- Pictorial works Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Ambrotypes Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Black-and-white photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Cabinet photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Card photographs (photographs) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Carte-de-visite (card photographs) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Cased photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Daguerreotypes (photographs) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Middle East -- Pictorial works Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Riggs family
- Riggs, Elisha
- Riggs, Elisha Francis
- Riggs, George Washington
- Riggs, Thomas
Source
- Riggs, Miriam Ely (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Riggs Family papers, 1672-2006
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University
- Date
- 2007 and 2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University Repository
