Science at Harvard University, 1846-47: a case study of the character and functions of written documents

This paper explores surviving documentation and what it reveals about the underlying social structure and relations in a historic time and place. The mid-nineteenth century is chosen as a period prior to modern bureaucracies so that documents are not found in defining filing systems. Some six hundred documents are studied individually and characterized collectively. They are examined not to tell a story, however, but for evidence of their creation and maintenance and of their physical types, functional characteristics, and relations between authors and recipients. The study reveals the fruitfulness of such an orientation to documents, which complements traditional historical uses that emphasize document content.