Conrad Totman Papers
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> Scope and Contents of the Collection
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Scope and Contents of the Collection
Conrad Totman as a boy. The Conrad Totman Papers chronicle not only the life of Conrad Totman, but also the lives of those who influenced him. The bulk of the collection documents Totman's education and profession as a scholar and teacher of Japanese history. Documents such as report cards, essays and notes show his progression as a student, and documents such as tests, lecture notes and evaluations show his progression as a college professor. Dispersed throughout is a treasure trove of information on Japan in general, and particularly on his specialties: early modern Japan and forestry and environmental management. Professional correspondence and other documents reveal a network of other highly educated Japan and Asian specialists, engaging in discourse aimed to support, challenge, and improve each other's scholarly output. An enormous, highly influential, and cherished, part of Totman's life is his family, and the Totman clan is well represented in this collection. Reams of genealogical material document the rich heritage of the Totman family, including the transcribed love letters and diaries of his paternal grandmother and alphabetized biographies of Totman ancestors, among many others. Illuminating the stories told in other parts of the collection, such as those in the large cache of highly descriptive personal letters to family members, are the many photographs spanning Totman's entire life and beyond. This collection, on the one hand, documents Conrad Totman's life, liberties, and pursuits of happiness. On the other, it is a monument to his unceasing desire to inform others at the highest level possible. The final physical organization of this collection was made with every attempt to preserve the initial organization arranged by Totman himself. Save for a few shifts, the majority of the collection is still organized into subjects that Totman devised. He even included, in many instances, handwritten notes, further explaining connections and/or historical context for that particular grouping. Personal characteristics are also apparent in the collection. Never one to waste, Totman's reprints and loose transcriptions of documents such as professional correspondence are usually printed on used paper. The loose transcriptions of messy or lost documents are indicated by the word "converted" written in the upper right-hand corner. Thus, conflicting information on the reverse of a document can always be nullified by examining the context of the surrounding group of documents. Also, while a large portion of this collection is about Japan, very little is in Japanese without any translation or explanation in English. This collection is organized into four series: |