There is no restriction on access to the Plimpton Collection of French and Indian War Items for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.

Requests for permission to publish material from the Plimpton Collection of French and Indian War Items should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

[Identification of item], in Plimpton Collection of French and Indian War Items [Box #, folder #], Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library

The Plimpton Collection of French and Indian War Items was presented to Amherst College in 1927 by publisher, author, book collector, and then President of the Board of Trustees, George Arthur Plimpton (AC 1876). According to his wishes, a considerable amount of the collection was made readily available to the public on a permanent exhibition held at the Lord Jeffery Inn (Amherst, Mass). Approximately 185 items remained on display at the Inn for decades but, when losses began to occur in the early 1970s, the collection was transferred back to the Amherst College Archives.

Although a printed guide to the exhibition was compiled by J.C. Long and published by the college in 1934, it no longer represents the collection in its entirety. The collection grew substantially over the years through contributions made by Plimpton's son, Francis T. P. Plimpton (AC 1922), and amounts today to over 700 items. When given to the college, the papers were accompanied by a handwritten card index with full descriptions of its items. However, in order to accommodate new acquisitions and manuscripts not described before, the collection was reorganized in 2009 into 16 series which expand on the original 13 subject classifications. For preservation purposes, every item was individually foldered and relabeled accordingly.