Guide to the Dr. Nathaniel M. Sims collection of Sims and Hitchcock family papers, 1797-1993
(bulk 1906-1945)

Naval War College (U.S.). Naval Historical Collection
686 Cushing Road
Newport, RI 02841-1207
Tel: 401-841-2435
email: nhc@usnwc.edu
Website: https://usnwcarchives.org/

Published in 2018

Collection Overview

Title:	Dr. Nathaniel M. Sims collection of Sims and Hitchcock family papers
Date range:	1797-1993, (bulk 1906-1945)
Creator:	Sims family
Extent:	10.5 linear feet (21 archival boxes, 1 half archival box, 1 oversize box)
Abstract:	This collection consists of correspondence, logbooks, photographs, publications, and other papers relating to the Sims and Hitchcock families, particularly Admiral William S. Sims, his wife Anne Hitchcock Sims, and her father Ethan Allen Hitchcock. These papers detail the families’ personal lives and relationships as well as the careers of Adm. Sims and Ethan Allen Hitchcock.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Naval War College (U.S.). Naval Historical Collection
Collection number:	MSC-354

Scope & content

This collection consists of correspondence, ephemeral materials, logbooks, photographs, publications, and other papers relating to the Sims and Hitchcock families, particularly Admiral William S. Sims, his wife Anne Hitchcock Sims, and her father Ethan Allen Hitchcock. These papers detail the families’ personal lives and relationships as well as the careers of Admiral Sims and Ethan Allen Hitchcock. This collection serves as a great example of the dedication of the entire Sims family to preserve and honor the legacies of Admiral Sims and the Hitchcock family for future generations.

Correspondence includes letters sent and received by Ethan A. Hitchcock, Anne H. Sims, William S. Sims, William S. Sims, Jr. and other members of the Sims and Hitchcock families. The majority of the original correspondence is of a personal nature detailing various aspects of family matters, daily activities, travel, and social interactions. Ephemeral materials include invitations to attend event at the White House, programs from dinners and ceremonies, and address and guest books maintained by both Admiral and Mrs. Sims. Logbooks and navigation volumes from the 1890s were written by Sims with the intention of using them as instruction for future junior officers. Photographs consist of loose photographs of members of Sims and Hitchcock family, with the majority being of Admiral Sims and his acquaintances throughout his entire naval career.

The bulk of this collection is comprised of four sets of typewritten transcriptions of Admiral Sims’s letters. These transcriptions were used by Anne H. Sims, William S. Sims, Jr, and Elting E. Morison in order to compile a complete set of all of Adm. Sim’s correspondence and to use in developing a comprehensive biography on Sims. The original letters for these transcriptions are most likely found within the William Sowden Sims papers in the Naval Historical Foundation Collection at the Library of Congress.

The first set of transcriptions are of Sims’s letters sent and received from 1876 to 1925. Five sets of this transcription were made and given to even child of Adm. Sims. The second set of transcriptions were arranged in alphabetical order (most likely by Mrs. Sims) by either name or subject. An index to the subjects is included. The third set of transcriptions were those that were kept and maintained by Mrs. Sims. Many of these letters include her notations about what to include in a biography and items she considered to be important. The last set of transcriptions includes handwritten annotations, most likely from Elting E. Morison while he was composing his biography, Admiral Sims and the Modern American Navy, published in 1942. The dates listed in the inventory for these transcriptions and others refer to the actual date of the letter, not the date that the transcription was completed.

Access Points

Subject Names

Subject Organizations

Subject Topics

Military

Document Types

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in alphabetical order by genre, then by folder title. In cases where the folder title is a person’s name then it is arranged in alphabetical order by last name.

Biographical note

William Sowden Sims (1858-1936) was born on October 15, 1858, in Port Hope, Ontario Province, Canada to Alfred William (1826-1895) and Adelaide Sowden Sims (1835-1914). He was the eldest of six children: Louisa Peacock (b. 1861), James Peacock (1862-1863), Alfred Varley (1864-1944), Mary S. (b. 1868), and Adelaide Clarke (1874-1967). The Sims family lived in Canada until 1872 and then moved to Orsbisonia, Pennsylvania.

Sims was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy from Pennsylvania in 1876. After graduation in 1880, he served on the USS Tennessee and later the USS Swatara, where he was promoted to ensign. Between 1882 and 1897, he served on USS Yantic, Saratoga, USS Philadelphia, USS Charleston, and the receiving ships Colorado and Richmond. In 1887, he received permission from the Navy Department to live in Paris for a year, where he perfected his French and absorbed French culture. This experience qualified him for an appointment as naval attaché to Paris, France; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Madrid, Spain in 1897, a position he held until 1900. During this time, he collected intelligence on Spain’s preparation for war and studied the gunfire systems of foreign navies.

In 1900, Sims was assigned to the China Station with the USS Kentucky, the Navy’s newest battleship. For the next two years, he continued to observe and report on the superiority of a new system of British naval gunnery that used the continuous aim method of firing developed by Royal Navy Captain Percy Scott (1853-1924). Sims felt that the U.S. Navy’s gunfire systems had deficiencies that imperiled the service’s effectiveness as a fighting force. After his pleas to the Bureau Chiefs and the Secretary of the Navy were ignored, Sims wrote directly to President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) about this in November 1901. President Roosevelt recalled Sims from China in 1902 and appointed him Inspector of Target Practice after the Atlantic Fleet had scored poorly in target practice. Sims held this position for six and a half years and also served as a naval aide to the president during the last two years of this assignment.

As a reward for his loyalty and service, Sims was named commanding officer of the Navy’s premier battleship, USS Minnesota. He held this post for two years until he was detached for instruction at the Naval War College as a member of the 1911 Summer Conference. He continued as a student in the 1911-1912 Long Course and remained on staff through June 1913. Following his tenure at the Naval War College, he assumed command of the Destroyer Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet and worked to devise new tactical maneuver doctrines for destroyers.

After a year as commanding officer of USS Nevada, Sims was selected as president of the Naval War College in February 1917 and promoted to rear admiral. The college closed two months later when the United States entered World War I and Sims was sent to London to act as a liaison with the Royal Navy. Soon after he was appointed Commanding Officers, U.S. Naval Forces in European waters as a vice admiral. In order to combat the heavy losses of merchant shipping from U-boat attacks, he devised a plan to use destroyers as escorts. The convoy system worked remarkably well and cut shipping losses in half. He directed the operations of nine admirals under his command and worked harmoniously with the other allied powers while sanctioning the laying of the North Sea Mine Barrage.

When the war was over, Sims returned to Newport and the presidency of the Naval War College, where he remained until he retired in 1922 at the age of sixty-four. During his tenure at the college, he increased the number of faculty and students and defended the college as a citadel of naval thought and intellectual training in warfare. He spent the last fourteen years of his life in Boston, where he wrote, lectured, and testified before Congress regarding what he considered deficiencies in the Navy. In 1921, Sims won the Pulitzer Prize for Victory at Sea, a factual and reasoned account of World War I. William S. Sims died on September 28, 1936, in Boston and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Throughout his distinguished career, Admiral Sims received the following medals: Spanish Campaign Medal, Philippine Campaign Medal, Mexican Service Medal, Victory Medal, Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (Great Britain), Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor (France), Grand Cordon, Order of the Rising Sun (Japan), Grand Cordon, Order of Leopold (Belgium), and Grand Officer of the Crown of Italy. He refused to accept the Distinguished Service Medal because he objected to the Navy’s policy of awarding medals to undeserving officers.

He also received honorary degrees from the following universities: Yale, Harvard, Tufts, Columbia, Pennsylvania, Cambridge (England), McGill (Montreal, Canada), Queens (Kingston, Canada), and from Williams, Union, and Juniata Colleges, and the Stephens Institute.

Three U.S. ships bore his name. The destroyer USS Sims (DD-409) was launched in 1939 and sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942. The destroyer escort USS Sims(DE-154, then APD-50) was commissioned in 1943 and served during World War II. The third USS Sims (DE-1059) was commissioned in 1970 and served with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean.

William S. Sims married Anne Erwin Hitchcock (1875-1960), the eldest daughter of Ethan Allen (1835-1909) and Margaret Dwight Collier Hitchcock (1840-1912), on November 21, 1905, in Washington, DC. The couple enjoyed a close, supportive relationship and had the following children: Margaret H. Hopkins (b. 1907), Adelaide Fiske (b. 1910), William Sowden (b. 1912), Anne H. Morison (b. 1914), and Ethan A. H. Sims (1916-2010).

Ethan Allen Hitchcock (1835-1909) was the youngest son of Henry Hitchcock (1792-1839), a successful lawyer and Supreme Court judge, and Anna Erwin (1803-1854). Hitchcock married Margaret Dwight Collier Hitchcock in 1869 and besides Anne Hitchcock Sims, they had two other daughters: Sarah Collier Shepley (1870-1957) and Margaret Dwight Hitchcock (1878-1926). Ethan Allen Hitchcock was involved in mercantile pursuits in St. Louis, Missouri, before moving to China to work for Olyphant & Company in China from 1855 to 1872. President William McKinley appointed Hitchcock an envoy and then later as the first ambassador to Russia, a position he held until 1898 when he was recalled to serve as the Secretary of the Interior in the presidential cabinet. He remained in this position until 1907 serving under both President McKinley and President Theodore Roosevelt. Hitchcock died on April 9, 1909 in Washington, D.C.

Chronology

Date		Event
1859		Born October 15, in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada
1880		Graduated, U.S. Naval Academy
1880-1882		USS Tennessee (Screw frigate)
1882		Promoted to Midshipman
1884		Promoted to Ensign
1889-1893		Saratoga (Schoolship)
1893-1894		USS Philadelphia (C-4)
1894-1896		USS Charleston (C-2)
1897		Naval attaché, Paris and St. Petersburg
1897-1900		Naval attaché, Madrid
1900-1901		USS Kentucky (BB-6)
1902		Promoted to lieutenant commander
1902-1908		Inspector of Target Practice
1905		Married November 21, to Anne Hitchcock
1907		Promoted to Commander
1908-1909		Naval Aide to the President of the United States
1909-1911		CO, USS Minnesota (BB-22)
1911-1913		Student and later a staff member, Naval War College
1913-1915		CO, Destroyer Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet
1915-1916		CO, USS Nevada (BM-8)
1917		Promoted to Rear Admiral
1917		President, Naval War College and Commandant, Second Naval District
1917-1918		CO, U.S. Naval Forces, European Waters
1919		Returned to the rank of Rear Admiral
1919-1922		President, Naval War College
1920		Victory at Sea published
1922		Retired from the U.S. Navy
1925		Temporary duty with Bureau of Navigation and Aircraft Board
1930		Commissioned Admiral on the retired list
1936		Died, September 28

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Access is open to all researchers, unless otherwise specified.
Use of the materials:	Material in this collection is in the public domain, unless otherwise noted.
Preferred citation:	Author, “Title,” Page or Date. Dr. Nathaniel M. Sims collection of Sims and Hitchcock family papers, MSC 354, Box number, Folder number. Naval Historical Collection, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
Contact information:	Naval War College (U.S.). Naval Historical Collection 686 Cushing Road Newport, RI 02841-1207 Tel: 401-841-2435 email: nhc@usnwc.edu Website: https://usnwcarchives.org/

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Gift of Dr. Nathaniel M. Sims, grandson of Admiral William S. Sims, 2017 Mar 27 (Ms.Ac.2017.1).
Custodial history:	Prior to being in the possession of Dr. Sims, parts of this collection were maintained by other Admiral and Mrs. Sims’s children: William S. Sims, Jr. and Anne Sims Morison.Throughout April 2016, this collection was appraised by Peter C. Sorlien to determine valuation. As a result of this monetary appraisal, two inventories were produced by Sorlien. For access to these inventories please contact NHC staff at nhc@usnwc.edu.
Processing information:	This collection was processed and arranged according to current archival standards in 2018 by Elizabeth Delmage.


ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Delmage.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Elizabeth Delmage, 2018 Sep 13.
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS).

Additional Information

Related material:	Papers of Ethan Allen Hitchcock, HITCH, National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. Anne Sims Hopkins collection of Sims family papers, MSC 352. Naval Historical Collection, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I. William S. Sims papers, MSC 168. Naval Historical Collection, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I. William Sowden Sims paper, MSS53645, Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Please contact NHC staff at nhc@usnwc.edu for information on other collections relating to the Sims and Hitchcock families.
Separated material:	For a list of rare books that were separated from this collection to be included in the Rare Books Collection at the Naval Historical Collection please contact NHC staff at nhc@usnwc.edu.
Location of originals:	Original William S. Sims letters may be found in the Naval Historical Foundation Collection at the Library of Congress and the original letters for Ethan A. Hitchcock are located at the National Archives at College Park.

Inventory

Box 1, Folder 1-2

Biographical information: Hitchcock family

1993 and undated

Box 1, Folder 3

Biographical information: Henry Hitchcock

1902 Mar 25

Box 1, Folder 4

Biographical information: Kittredge family

1957 and undated

Box 1, Folder 5

Biographical information: Anne H. Sims

undated

Box 1, Folder 6

Biographical information: William S. Sims

1936 and undated

Box 1, Folder 7

Biographical information: Sowden family of Port Hope, Canada

1977-1994

Box 1, Folder 8

Clippings: Ethan A. Hitchcock and family

1897, 1909

Box 1, Folder 9

Clippings: Reviews of Elting Morison's biography of Admiral Sims

1942

Box 1, Folder 10-11

Clippings: William S. Sims

1908-2003 and undated

Box 1, Folder 12

Clippings: William S. Sims (collected by himself)

undated

Box 1, Folder 13

Correspondence: Christmas cards

1918-1919 and undated

Box 1, Folder 14

Correspondence: Christmas cards from Admiral Jellicoe

1919, 1932

Box 1, Folder 15

Correspondence: Anne "Nan" Camacho

1957 May 22-Sep 23

Box 1, Folder 16

Correspondence: Envelopes from letters sent to Anne H. Sims from William S. Sims
Contents Note: It does not appear that the original contents of these envelopes are found within this collection.

1906-1935 and undated

Box 1, Folder 17-18

Correspondence: Ethan A. Hitchcock
Contents Note: Includes letters from James R. Garfield, John Hay, General Ethan A. Hitchcock, Herbert Hoover, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and William H. Taft.

1865 Apr 2-1907 Feb 2 and undated

Box 1, Folder 19

Correspondence: Hitchcock family

1797 Feb 1-1865 Mar 21

Box 1, Folder 20

Correspondence: Henry Hitchcock

1885 Dec 11-1900 Nov 8

Box 1, Folder 21

Correspondence: Margaret Dwight Collier Hitchcock
Contents Note: Includes letters from John Hay, Theodore Roosevelt, William T. Sherman, William H. Taft

1867 May 6-1909 Apr 9

Box 1, Folder 22-25

Correspondence: Anne Sims Morison

1938-1946

Box 2, Folder 1

Correspondence: Elting E. Morison

1940 Jul 20-1945 Jan 8

Box 2, Folder 2-3

Correspondence: Sarah Hitchcock Shepley

1901 Mar 10-1909 Apr 18, 1940 Sep 16-1941 Mar 2, 1943 Nov 20

Box 2, Folder 4-7

Correspondence: Anne H. Sims
Contents Note: Includes letters received from Tracey B. Kittredge, Olave Baden Powell, Elihu Root, Edith Kermit Roosevelt, William S. Sims and family, William H. Taft. Also found are correspondence about Mrs. Sims' attendance at the christening and commissioning ceremon

circa 1905-1956 Dec 27 and undated

Box 2, Folder 8

Correspondence: Anne H. Sims and Winston Churchill
Contents Note: Comprised of letters addressing the return of Adm. Sims's binoculars to Mrs. Sims.

1941 Mar 31-1951 Feb

Box 2, Folder 9-10

Correspondence: William S. Sims
Contents Note: Includes letters received from his wife and children, Theodore Roosevelt, and William H. Taft. Letters sent to his family and other acquaintances are also included. Of particular interest is a letter written by Sims in mirrored handwriting.

1901 Jul 22-1934 Sep 4 and undated

Box 2, Folder 11-14

Correspondence: William S. Sims, Jr.
Contents Note: Includes letters received from his brother-in-law, Elting E. Morison who wrote the first biography of Adm. Sims.

1916 Sep 14-1980 Nov 18

Box 3, Folder 1-3

Correspondence: William S. Sims, Jr.
Contents Note: Includes letters sent to his family while serving in World War II.

1939 Apr 17-1940 Mar 25, 1984 Oct 9-1994 Aug 27

Box 20, Folder 1

Drawing: Unidentified ship by Sherman Morss

undated

Box 20, Folder 2

Ephemera: Address book
Contents Note: Maintained by Admiral Sims while stationed in London.

circa 1917-1918

Box 3, Folder 4

Ephemera: Address book

1936

Box 3, Folder 5

Ephemera: Calling cards

undated

Box 3, Folder 6

Ephemera: Camp Sims stamp
Contents Note: Camp Sims was a private naval camp for boys on Prudence Island, R.I. during the summer of 1919.

1919

Box 3, Folder 7

Ephemera: Christmas programs

undated

Box 20, Folder 3

Ephemera: Dinner parties
Contents Note: Lists of guest and menus from dinner parties held by Anne H. Sims in Newport, R.I.

1919-1922

Box 3, Folder 8

Ephemera: Drawing, "Westward-Ho, 1579; Eastward-Ho, 1917"

circa 1917

Box 3, Folder 9

Ephemera: Eagle hut, American Y.M.C.A., London program

circa 1918

Box 3, Folder 10

Ephemera: Ethan Allen (SSBN 608) launching, program

1960 Nov

Box 3, Folder 11

Ephemera: Farewell luncheon given in honor of Adm. Sims by Americans in London, under the auspices of the American Luncheon Club

1919 Mar 14

Box 20, Folder 4-5

Ephemera: Guest books
Contents Note: Includes autographs of many high rank naval officers.

1902 Jul 27-1919 Aug 22

Box 3, Folder 12

Ephemera: Guest book

1943-1945

Box 3, Folder 13

Ephemera: Invitation book

1912-1915

Box 3, Folder 14-17

Ephemera: Invitations
Contents Note: Includes invitations to the White House by the Roosevelts.

1906 Jan 1-1909 Feb 18, 1932 Apr 17 and undated

Box 4, Folder 1

Ephemera: Lecture series program

1935

Box 20, Folder 6

Ephemera: List of letters and other messages received on the death of William S. Sims

1936

Box 4, Folder 2

Ephemera: List of people who received copies of "Naval Losses of the Great War," by T. B. Kittredge

circa 1921

Box 4, Folder 3

Ephemera: Lists

undated

Box 4, Folder 4

Ephemera: London events attended by Adm. Sims
Contents Note: Twenty-fifth anniversary of the marriage of King George V and Queen Mary, American Luncheon Club in London, and Princess Patricia's wedding

1918-1919

Box 4, Folder 5

Ephemera: Menu, lunch at Winter Palace

1899 Jan 6

Box 0, Folder 1

Ephemera: Naval War College organizational chart

1921 Aug 26

Box 4, Folder 6

Ephemera: Navy Day, Newport, R.I., with an address by Col. Theodore Roosevelt on "The American Navy"

1913 Jul 2-3

Box 4, Folder 7

Ephemera: Notes on Nelson's Victory oak block, 1919 Mar 21

undated

Box 0, Folder 2

Ephemera: Notice to the Public poster

undated

Box 4, Folder 8

Ephemera: Phrases made from newspaper headlines by William S. Sims

undated

Box 4, Folder 9

Ephemera: The Pilgrim's Dinner in honour of Admiral Sims, Savoy Hotel

1919 Mar 21

Box 4, Folder 10

Ephemera: Poem transcribed by Anne H. Sims

undated

Box 4, Folder 11

Ephemera: Police passes for presidential inauguration

1909 Mar 4

Box 4, Folder 12

Ephemera: Postcards from Russia

circa 1897

Box 4, Folder 13

Ephemera: Receipt for payment for a copy of "Promotion by Selection," by Adm. Sims signed by Adm. Ernest J. King

1935 Dec 4

Box 4, Folder 14

Ephemera: Registry of war guests in WWII for Sunday lunch or at other times

1942-1947

Box 4, Folder 15

Ephemera: Signature cards

1913-1935

Box 4, Folder 16

Ephemera: William S. Sims' appointment as an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George

1918 Dec 31

Box 4, Folder 17

Ephemera: The Soldier's Psalm

undated

Box 4, Folder 18

Ephemera: Typewritten pictures and sketches by William S. Sims

1920 and undated

Box 4, Folder 19

Ephemera: U.S.S. Admiral W.S. Sims (AP-127) commissioning

1945 Sep 27

Box 4, Folder 20

Ephemera: U.S.S. Melville flagship envelope

undated

Box 4, Folder 21

Ephemera: U.S.S. Minnesota at sea, menu
Contents Note: This menu has an illustration of Sims on it by Henry Reuterdahl.

1910

Box 4, Folder 22

Ephemera: U.S.S. Sims (DE-154) commissioning

1943 Apr 24 and undated

Box 4, Folder 23

Ephemera: Welcoming dinner in honor of Rear Admiral and Mrs. William S. Sims (includes poem)

1922 Oct 30

Box 21, Folder 1

Logbooks: Computation of distances on the Great Circle Steam Routes, from Fastnet and Bishops Rock to Sandy Hook

1883 Jan

Box 21, Folder 2-3

Logbooks: Drill tables and key nos. 1-2

1890

Box 21, Folder 4

Logbooks: Elements of navigation book and journal
Contents Note: Includes printed "Gunnery drill book for the new armaments, United States Navy," prepared under the direction of the Bureau of Navigation, 1893 along with Sims's handwritten notes on gunnery and navigation.

1893

Box 21, Folder 5

Logbooks: Journal on navigation

1890-1892

Box 22, Folder 1

Logbooks: U.S.S. Swatara
Contents Note: Maintained by Sims while serving onboard as a midshipman. Includes notes and drawings on steam ships taken by Sims while a student at USNA.

1883 Jan 10-1885 Nov 14

Box 4, Folder 24

Photographs: Aspinwall, U.S.C.

undated

Box 4, Folder 25

Photographs: Battle action ship damage

undated

Box 4, Folder 26

Photographs: Battleships in review

1915

Box 4, Folder 27

Photographs: Edwards family

undated

Box 4, Folder 28

Photographs: German warships (unidentified)

undated

Box 0, Folder 3

Photographs: Guild Hall, London - formal dinner

circa 1910

Box 4, Folder 29

Photographs: Harbor at Charlotte Amalie

1981 Dec

Box 4, Folder 30

Photographs: Hitchcock family

undated

Box 0, Folder 4

Photographs: Hitchcock family
Contents Note: Includes images from their time abroad in Hong Kong and Russia

undated

Box 4, Folder 31

Photographs: Hitchcock family in Hong Kong

circa 1860-1870

Box 4, Folder 32

Photographs: Hitchcock family in Russia

1897-1899

Box 4, Folder 33

Photographs: Jellicoe family

circa 1918 and undated

Box 4, Folder 34

Photographs: Nelson Day church parades, Cardiff, England

1918 Oct 20

Box 4, Folder 35

Photographs: Portraits given to Admiral Sims
Contents Note: Contre Amiral Jean Etienne, Frederick George Wright, and Rear Admiral Charles L. Hussey

1917-1919

Box 4, Folder 36

Photographs: Scene for "Q-Ships"
Contents Note: Shows the recreation of a meeting between Admirals Sims and Jellicoe

1928

Box 5, Folder 1

Photographs: Anne H. Sims

circa 1875-1960

Box 5, Folder 2

Photographs: Anne H. Sims with her children

circa 1909-1922

Box 5, Folder 3

Photographs: Sims family

1935-1951 and undated

Box 0, Folder 5

Photographs: Sims family

1917-1922

Box 5, Folder 4

Photographs: Sims family children

circa 1914-1918

Box 5, Folder 5

Photographs: Sims family photograph album

circa 1940s-1950s

Box 0, Folder 6

Photographs: Sims family residence - 93 Rhode Island Ave., Newport, R.I.

circa 1917

Box 5, Folder 6-9

Photographs: William S. Sims

circa 1875-1933

Box 0, Folder 7

Photographs: William S. Sims

circa 1918-1935

Box 5, Folder 10-11

Photographs: William S. Sims, Anne H. Sims and their family

circa 1916-1935

Box 5, Folder 12

Photographs: William S. Sims and his children

circa 1916-1925

Box 5, Folder 13

Photographs: William S. Sims and President Theodore Roosevelt
Contents Note: Five photographs showing President Roosevelt onboard a Navy ship taking leave of Captain Hugo Osterhaus at Hampton Roads, VA with Sims observing.

1907 Dec 16

Box 0, Folder 8

Photographs: William S. Sims with Nicholas Butler, Henry P. Davidson, General John J. Pershing, Bishop Charles H. Brent, Herbert Hoover, and William B. Parsons at Columbia University

1920 Jun 1

Box 5, Folder 14

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - London

1922

Box 5, Folder 15

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - London with Admiral Bayley

1921

Box 5, Folder 16

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - Washington investigation

circa 1921

Box 5, Folder 17

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - World War I

circa 1917-1918

Box 5, Folder 18

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - World War I, Admiralty House (Queenstown, Ireland)

1917 May

Box 5, Folder 19

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - World War I, Army-Navy baseball games

1918

Box 22, Folder 2

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - World War I, Inter-Allied Conference

1918 Sep 14

Box 22, Folder 3

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - World War I, London

1917

Box 22, Folder 4

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - World War I, return to Newport

1919 Apr

Box 5, Folder 20

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - World War I, ships escorting President Wilson to Brest, France

1918 Dec 13

Box 22, Folder 5

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - World War I, visit by Admiral Sims and Princess Louisa at St. John's Boys School, Ealing, England
Contents Note: Adm. Sims and the Princess raised both an American flag and the Union Jack to recognize the joint Anglo-American program to train aviation mechanics.

circa 1917

Box 22, Folder 6

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - U.S. Naval War College

circa 1917-1922

Box 5, Folder 21

Photographs: William S. Sims's career - U.S.S. Minnesota

circa 1910

Box 6, Folder 1-2

Photographs: William S. Sims, Jr. photograph albums
Contents Note: Two photograph albums compiled by William S. Sims, Jr. which include snapshots and clippings detailing his experiences at the Weaver School (Middletown, R.I.), St. George's School (Newport, R.I.), and South Pond Cabins (Fitzwilliam, N.H.).

1920-1926

Box 7, Folder 1-2

Photographs: Sowden family home, Port Hope, Canada

1983, 1994 Sep 7

Box 7, Folder 3

Photographs: Submarines at Harwich
Contents Note: Official British navy photographs

1918 Nov 24

Box 7, Folder 4

Photographs: Surrender of the German fleet
Contents Note: Official British navy photographs

1918 Nov 21

Box 7, Folder 5

Photographs: Lillian M. (Thompson) Tennant
Contents Note: She was Adm. Sims's private secretary during the war

1945-1947 and undated

Box 7, Folder 6

Photographs: United States Naval Academy, class of 1880

circa 1880

Box 7, Folder 7-9

Photographs: United States Naval Academy, class of 1880 student portraits
Contents Note: 62 individual photographs of members of the class of 1880. The majority are identified on the verso of the photograph.

circa 1880

Box 0, Folder 9

Photographs: U.S.S. Constellation (reproduction)

undated

Box 0, Folder 10

Photographs: U.S.S. Minnesota (BB-22) crew and officers

1909

Box 0, Folder 11

Photographs: U.S.S. Mohican
Contents Note: Image of four sailors on deck.

1888

Box 7, Folder 10

Photographs: U.S.S. Admiral W.S. Sims (AP-127) launch

1945 Jun 4

Box 7, Folder 11

Photographs: U.S.S. Sims (DD-409)

1939 Jul 6

Box 8, Folder 1

Photographs: U.S.S. Sims (DE-154) christening and commissioning

1943 Apr 24

Box 8, Folder 2

Photographs: U.S.S. Swatara and U.S.S. Tennessee

undated

Box 8, Folder 3

Photographs: U.S.S. W.S. Sims (DE-1059)

circa 1964

Box 8, Folder 4

Photographs: Warships at harbor

undated

Box 0, Folder 12

Photographs: World War I
Contents Note: Includes images of an injured French soldier, a gathering of the American Officers Club in London, and a poster: "What the Navy is doing," showing Sims with Rear Admiral McKean and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1917

Box 8, Folder 5

Photographs: World War I - U.S. Naval Base Cardiff; Marines vs. Blue Jackets rugby game

1918 Nov

Box 22, Folder 7

Publications: Crossword puzzle book and related correspondence
Contents Note: Correspondence and crossword puzzles written by Sims and his son, William S. Sims, Jr. They had puzzles published in New York and Boston papers when crossword puzzles were first becoming popular.

1924-1925

Box 8, Folder 6

Publications: Exhibition of war portraits, the National Art Committee

1921

Box 8, Folder 7

Publications: Mail and censorship regulations for U.S. Naval Forces operating in European waters (approved by William S. Sims)

1918 Jun 1

Box 8, Folder 8

Publications: Military Order of the World War National Bulletin

1936 Oct, Nov

Box 8, Folder 9

Publications: The Naval Academy Association of New York, vol. 3 no. 4
Contents Note: Includes a letter from Mrs. Sims

1937 May

Box 8, Folder 10

Publications: Report of the speeches at the Independence Day Dinner, The American Society in London (copy)

1918 Jul 4

Box 8, Folder 11

Publications: A Welcome to all American Soldiers and Sailors by Ian Hay

1918

Box 8, Folder 12

Transcriptions: Hitchcock family letters

1897 Jul 11-1898 Feb 9

Box 8, Folder 13

Transcriptions: Hitchcock family letters sent during stays in France and Russia

1897 Jul 27-1898 Oct 2

Box 8, Folder 14

Transcriptions: Margaret Collier Hitchcock letters sent from Hong Kong
Contents Note: Transcriptions by Anne Sims Morison in October 1980.

1869-1870

Box 8, Folder 15

Transcriptions: Anne Sims Morison, News Bulletin from Peterborough

1938 Sep 29-1939 Aug 16

Box 8, Folder 16

Transcriptions: William S. Sims's dictations to William S. Sims, Jr. (incomplete)

undated

Box 8, Folder 17-19