The New England Society’s Archives include a wide range of materials dating back to the organization’s founding in 1805. Documents include Membership Rolls, internal organizational documents, Annual Reports, Annual Dinner Orations and press articles.

A selection of materials from the Archives has been posted as PDFs below. The New England Society provides this access to its archival materials for scholarship and research purposes only. Reproduction and distribution of these documents or any part thereof is prohibited without the written permission of the New England Society in the City of New York.

The New York Public Library and the New York Historical Society also have New England Society archival material in their collections.

NES recently undertook the difficult task of completing a survey of its archival holdings and historic materials, which included items in the NES office, the New York Public Library and the New York Historical Society. We are currently seeking assistance as we try to increase the amount of archival materials in the NES office. Learn more about this project and how you can help here.

For more information regarding the New England Society archives or to schedule an appointment, email a request to nes@nesnyc.org.

Archival Highlights

• The New England Society's First Annual Dinner, The Weekly Visitor, or Ladies' Miscellany, December 28, 1805. Press coverage of the first NES Dinner held on December 21, 1805 at the City Hotel on Broadway to commemorate the 185th anniversary of the Pilgrims' landing at Plymouth Rock.
• New England Society Songs, December 22, 1806. Two Songs were written to celebrate the 186th anniversary year of the Pilgrim's landing.
• Woman or Wine: An Epistle to the President of the New England Society, Flaccus (Thomas Ward), The Knickerbocker, August 1842. This poem publicly protests the proposal of Joseph Hoxie, President of the New England Society, to invite women to Society events.
• Beginnings of the New England Society of New York, Woolsey Rogers Hopkins, Magazine of American History, 1884. An overview of the founding and early history of the Society.
• Forefathers' Day: The Landing of the Pilgrims Commemorated, The New York Times, December 23, 1885. Press coverage of the 70th Annual NES Dinner held on December 22, 1885 at Delmonico's.
• Press Coverage of The Pilgrim Statue Dedication, 1879 - 1885. The dedication of The Pilgrim statue in June 1885 generated a tremendous amount of press coverage leading up to and after its unveiling.
• Order of Exercises from the Pilgrim Statue Dedication, June 6, 1885. New York City Mayor William Russell Grace officially accepted the gift of the bronze Pilgrim statue, which stands near the East 72nd Street Entrance of Central Park, from NES President Stewart L. Woodford.
• The New England Society in the City of New York, Winthrop Packard, New England Magazine, January 1908. Article about the early history of the Society.
• New England Society in the City of New York 1805-1957, Horace McK. Hatch, April 1957. History of the Society’s first 152 years. Note: this book was recently updated and revised, and is available for purchase in the NES Store.

Orations and Addresses

• A Toast to the New England Society, December 1805. The eighteen toasts made at the Society’s First Annual Dinner.
• Mark Twain, The Weather of New England, December 1876. Address delivered by Mark Twain at the Society’s 71st Annual Dinner.
• Ulysses S. Grant, Annual Dinner Remarks, December 1880. Address delivered by Union Army Commander and former U.S. President at the Society’s 75th Annual Dinner.
• The New England Society Orations, Addresses, Sermons, and Poems delivered before the New England Society in the City of New York, 1820-1885. Collected and Edited by Cephas Brainerd and Eveline Warner Brainered,published in 1901 by the New England Society in two volumes. The books feature addresses from prominent speakers who spoke at the New England Society. A selection, available in PDF format, follows:
  • Rufus Choate, The Age of the Pilgrims the Heroic Period of our History, 1843 and Daniel Webster, The Landing at Plymouth, 1843. An address, delivered at the Society’s Annual Dinner in 1843, celebrating the contributions of the Pilgrims by Rufus Choate, United States Senator from Massachusetts, and the response from Daniel Webster, statesman and orator.
  • Daniel Webster, The Constitution and the Union, 1850. Daniel Webster, statesman and orator, delivered this address on the importance of the Union at the Society’s Annual Dinner in 1850.
  • William Maxwell Evarts, The Heritage of the Pilgrims, 1854. William M. Evarts, founder and President of the New York Bar Association, Secretary of State and United States Senator from New York, discoursed on the Pilgrim’s legacy at the Society’s 1854 Annual Dinner.
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Oration, 1855 and John Pierpont, D.D., The Pilgrims of Plymouth, 1855. At the Society’s 1855 Annual Dinner, Dr. Oliver W. Holmes, physician and author, spoke about the New England heritage, he was followed by clergyman and poet, Dr. John Pierpont.
  • Richard Salter Storrs, The Puritan Scheme of National Growth, 1857. Dr. R. S. Storrs, clergyman, addressed the Society’s Annual Dinner in 1857 with his thoughts on the Puritan’s strategy for social and political organization.
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oration and Response, 1870. Noted essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered his last public address in New York at the Society’s Annual Dinner in 1870. He compared the early days of the country with the current state of affairs.
  • George William Curtis, Oration, 1885. On June 6, 1885, the Society unveiled its gift of The Pilgrim statue in Central Park. In honor of the event, political reformer and author, George William Curtis, spoke during the Society’s evening festivities about the historical roots of Puritanism.

A complete listing from Volume I and Volume II of The New England Society Orations, Addresses, Sermons, and Poems delivered before the New England Society in the City of New York, 1820-1885 is detailed below. Orations and addresses not available as PDFs from the Society can be accessed by linking to the two volumes through the Open Library.

Contents of Volume I:

• Woolsey Rogers Hopkins: Beginnings of the New England Society of New York, 1884
• Gardiner Spring, D.D., A Tribute to New England, 1820
• Remarks on the Charges made by the Rev. Gardiner Spring, D. D., against the Religion and Morals of the People of Boston and its Vicinity, 1821
• John Broderick Romeyn, The Duty and Reward of Honouring God, 1821
• Philip Melancthon Whelpley, "The Memory of the Just is Blessed", 1822
• Samuel L. Knapp, Address, 1829
• Leonard Bacon, Address, 1838
• Robert C. Winthrop, Address, 1839
• Charles Brickett Hadduck, The Elements of National Greatness, 1841
• George B. Cheever, The Elements of National Greatness, 1842
• Rufus Choate, The Age of the Pilgrims the Heroic Period of our History, 1843
• Daniel Webster, The Landing at Plymouth, 1843
• George Perkins Marsh, Address, 1844
• Charles Wentworth Upham: The Spirit of the Day and its Lessons, 1846

Contents of Volume II:

• Jonathan Prescott Hall, Discourse, 1847
• Horace Bushnell, The Founders, Great in their Unconsciousness, 1849
• Daniel Webster, The Constitution and the Union, 1850
• George S. Hillard, The Past and the Future, 1851
• William Adams, Address, 1852
• Mark Hopkins, The Central Principle, 1853
• William Maxwell Evarts, The Heritage of the Pilgrims, 1854
• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Oration, 1855
• John Pierpont, The Pilgrims of Plymouth, 1855
• Richard Salter Storrs, The Puritan Scheme of National Growth, 1857
• Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oration and Response, 1870
• George William Curtis, Oration, 1885

Documents are added to this section on a regular basis, so please check back.