Catalog Record:
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.
The papers of Charles Julius Allen and Grace Elizabeth Allen were given to the Library of Congress by Grace Elizabeth Allen in 1973 and by her nephew, Charles K. Allen, in 1977.
The collection was processed in 1981. The finding aid was revised in 2009.
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Some maps have been transferred to the Geography and Map Division. Photographs have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Charles Julius Allen and Grace Elizabeth Allen Papers.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Charles Julius Allen and Grace Elizabeth Allen is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Charles Julius Allen and Grace Elizabeth Allen are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Charles Julius Allen and Grace Elizabeth Allen Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Charles Julius Allen (1840-1915) graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1864. He served in the army corps of engineers until 1904, including in the Military Division of West Mississippi and Department of Louisiana, 1864-1866, during the Civil War period. Allen was in charge of defenses of Washington, D.C., during the Spanish-American War. He was promoted to brigadier-general in 1904 and retired at his request that same year. He died in 1915.
Grace Elizabeth Allen, his daughter (1886-1976), was educated at Columbia Hospital in Washington, D.C., the New York School of Social Work, and Columbia University. She engaged in welfare work in North Carolina and for the United States government and served on behalf of the American Red Cross.
The papers of Charles Julius Allen (1840-1915) and Grace Elizabeth Allen (1886-1976), father and daughter, span the years 1865-1976 and consist of correspondence, diaries, family histories, personal reminiscences, notes, clippings, and printed matter.
Charles Allen, a brigadier general on his retirement, spent much of his life in the United States Army Corps of Engineers. His papers contain correspondence and other items from his Civil War service, plus later material that he retained and collected as part of an unpublished Allen family history. Included are personal reminiscences of Allen’s life in the military, especially as a cadet at the United States Military Academy, as an engineer in the army corps of engineers, and during the Civil War at Mobile Bay, Alabama, August 1864, and in the Mobile Campaign, March-April 1865.
The papers of Grace Allen consist mainly of diaries started by her parents in her infancy and kept throughout her life. They include references to her service with the American Red Cross, to Washington, D.C., and New York social life, including observations about Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, to her world travels, and to various world, national, and local affairs. Also included are letters from George S. Patton (1885-1945), with whom the Allen family had a long association, written during World War II.
This collection is arranged according to name of family member and therein by type of material.