This partially describes the materials held in the G. Waldo Dunnington Collection at the Cammie G. Henry Research Center.  The collection is currently being processed, and we will add detail as it becomes available.  In the meantime, if you have questions, contact the Archivist, Mary Linn Wernet

Cammie G. Henry Research Center,
Northwestern State University of Louisiana Libraries
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-4585
Email:  wernet@nsula.edu

The G. Waldo Dunnington Collection contains correspondence, photographs, clippings, pamphlets, publications, oversized materials and three-dimensional items.  The bulk of this material deals with Dunnington’s lifelong research into Carl Friedrich Gauss.  There are also items that document the personal life, professional life and ancestry of Dunnington himself.

 Items related to Gauss include a substantial amount of correspondence between Dunnington and Gauss’ relatives in both Germany and America during the 1940’s to 1960’s.  Of particular interest are several original letters from Gauss, most of which are written to his second wife.  Many of these letters have been translated into English.  Also present are photographs, sketches and lithographs of Gauss and other contemporary German scientists, scholars and writers.  The bulk of the pamphlets and publications present, many of which are authored by Dunnington, deal with similar subjects.  Many drafts of Dunnington’s most extensive work on Gauss, his biography of Gauss, are also included.  Other publications in the collection concern math and science research, literature studies and German culture and history.  Clippings and other news items on Dunnington’s Gauss research can also be found.  Oversized and three-dimensional items include a plaster bust and framed portrait of Gauss, various prints relating to German history and culture and two mathematical models owned by Dunnington. 

Materials on Dunnington’s personal life include correspondence, printed material and photographs concerning genealogy research, education career, religion and the town of Bowling Green, Missouri, his birthplace.  Offering a glimpse into Dunnington’s professional life are materials in similar format relating to his military and teaching career, as well as his work as a translator in the Nuremberg War Trials.  Of particular interest among these items is a certified copy of Adolph Hitler’s will, which was acquired by Dunnington during his work at the war trials.

The Collection:

Letters (originals, transcriptions, and photo reproductions in German and English) from Carl Fredrick Gauss, family members, and close associates (1794-1916)

Typescript and notes on the Gauss book by C. Waldo Dunnington (ca. 1950s)

Research correspondence between G. Waldo Dunnington and the Gauss family (1940s-1960s);

Pamphlets pertaining to Germany, Mathematics, and Gauss (1940s-1960s);

Articles by Dunnington concerning Gauss and his work (1940s-1960s);

2 plaster busts of Gauss;

1 framed portrait of Gauss;

1 framed print of Gauss;

1 framed portrait of Dunnington.

Some details of the above: 

Notes about Gauss

Two letters from Helen dated 1 August 1911

List and unsigned letter

Fragmentary recent writings, manuscript

Four page typed translation and 1 label

One page typed translation of an 1802 item

Two page transcription of a letter from Chantel to Pernety, 27 Nov 1806

1807 C.F. Gauss letter Letter (signed)

1807 Perthes letter

Three ms transcriptions of letters Reinhart to Gauss, n.d.

Photostat C.F. Gauss letter, transcription, translation,

Transcription & translation of 1811 C.F. Gauss letter

Transcription & translation of 1815 C.F. Gauss letter

Four C.F. Gauss 1816 transcriptions & translations

Translation of an 1818 C.F. Gauss letter to Minna

Transcription & translation of an 1821 C.F. Gauss letter Date

Transcription of an 1822 Edward Everett letter

Transcription of an 1823 C.F. Gauss letter

Typed transcription of an 1824 C.F. Gauss letter

Transcription of an 1825 Gauss letter to Pfaff

Transcriptions & two translations, misc. letters

Transcription of an 1833 C.F. Gauss letter

Transcription of an 1835 Eugene Gauss letter

Transcription of a  C.W. Gauss letter dated 24 March 1835

Transcription, translation 1836, 1837 letters Richard Parish to Winfield Scott

Typed transcription of 1840 C.F. Gauss letter

Transcription of 1841 letter of  Chas. W. Gauss

Transcription of an 1842 letter from C. F. Gauss

Transcription of 1842 letter Gauss to Fries & note

Photostat, translation, 1844 letter of C.F. Gauss

Transcription & translation 1845 letter Theresa Gauss to Eugene Gauss

Transcription & translation 1846 letter C.F. Gauss to son Eugene

Transcription & translation 1850 Theresa Gauss to Eugene Gauss

Transcription & translation 1851 letter of C.F. Gauss

Transcription of 1852 letter M. Moarevieff to C.F. Gauss

Transcription, 1852 letter from C.F. Gauss

Letter (signed) C.F. Gauss 7 April 1853

Photostat, transcriptions, translations, Asa Grey & Gould letters

Translation 1856 letter from J. Liouville

Transcription, C.W. Gauss letter, 18 Oct. 1859

Transcription, 1892 letter from Ernst Schering to Herr Gauss

1901 typed letter Robert Gauss to Win. T. Gauss

Letter (signed) R. Gauss 1912 & other correspondence. with Florian Cajori.

1912 Robert Gauss to Felix Klein letter carbon copy

Listings on cards

Seems to be an original 1794 mathematical item

A list

Letter (signed)  n.d. C.F. Gauss to Frau Waldeck & translation

Letter (signed) c. 1810 C.F. Gauss to Minna & translation

Letter (signed) from C.F. Gauss to Minna 1816 & translation

Letter (signed) .C.F. Gauss to Minna & typed translation 1815

Letter (signed) C.F. Gauss to Minna & typed translation 1811

Letter (signed) C.F. Gauss to Minna & typed translation 1816

Letter (signed) C.F. Gauss to Minna & typed translation 1816

Letter (signed) C.F. Gauss to Minna & typed translation 1818

Letter (signed) C.F. Gauss to Minna & typed translation & commentary 1816

Letter (signed) Theresa Gauss to Eugene (2 letters) & translation 1855

Letter (signed) C.W. Gauss 1835

Letter (signed) Charles Wm. Gauss 1841

Letter (signed)  C.W. Gauss 1859

Handwritten booklet 1831

List covering years 1815—1846

2 lists covering years 1808—1822

Handwritten list covering years 1812—1854

Dunnington’s correspondence with various colleges

1902 correspondence

1903 correspondence

Handwritten copy of 1856 obituary of C.F. Gauss

Bibliography and other material written in German

Catalog of Gauss 1ibrary, manuscript book

Return to Gauss Main Page