Lulu Stillman Papers
SC20652

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Historical Note

Lulu Stillman served as stenographer for Assemblyman Edward Everett from January, 1920 until sometime into the latter part of the decade. Everett served as chairman of the New York State Indian Commission (1919-1922) whose purpose was to investigate the status of Indian welfare and land rights in New York State.

Republican Assemblyman Edward Everett of St. Lawrence County was appointed to the commission by Speaker of the Assembly Thaddeus C. Sweet, who himself was a member of the commission. Shortly after the commission was formed, Everett was nominated chairman after several other candidates declined the offer. Over the next four years, the commission visited Indian reservations and met with tribal leaders from around the state in an effort to gain information concerning land disputes. Treaties between the Six Nations and the state and federal governments were reviewed as their legality and legitimacy came into question. The ultimate goal of the commission was to discover (through verbal histories and examination of the treaties) the land claim status of the New York Indians. Although many maltreatments and injustices were discovered as a result of these investigations, no action was taken since the commission's goal was strictly to report its findings from which future decisions could be made.

The findings of the commission were described in the Everett Report which documented the signing of a treaty with the United States government in 1784. This treaty was noted by the commission not only as a legally binding document but one which lead to the inescapable conclusion that the original six million acres of land ceded to the Indians by the United States government in 1784 reflected their current land status. The finished report was given to Mrs. Stillman for circulation among members of the commission for their signatures; the members were either unable or refused to sign the findings, leaving Everett's solitary signature. The report was presented to the legislature on March 17, 1922 only to be rejected for filing. It wasn't until 1971 that the report was finally released in relation to an attempted land transfer between New York State and the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation. Lulu Stillman was credited for preserving the only remaining record of the report from which the 1971 transcript was made.

Following her work on the Everett report, Mrs. Stillman remained active in New York State Indian affairs, serving as a liaison between several Indian nations and state and federal governments. Mrs. Stillman was also employed at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as a stenographer. She later donated her papers to Helen Upton (1914-1993), professor emeritus, Russell Sage College, Troy, N.Y. Ms. Upton used the papers in her research, eventually publishing The Everett Report in Historical Perspective: The Indians of New York.

Scope and Contents Note

This collection is comprised chiefly of correspondence and documents related to legislation and litigation resulting from or as a continuation of the New York State Indian Commission (1919-1920). As Everett's stenographer, Stillman retained copies of most of the material produced by or related to the commission. (Many of the original documents are either missing or unavailable.) This collection is most noted for containing an annotated draft and related documents of the final Everett Report submitted to the legislature on March 17, 1922 and much of Everett's correspondence from this period.

The collection is split between two series of papers: the first seven boxes originated with Lulu Stillman; the remaining boxes reflect the work and research of Helen Upton. Series 1 contains the Stillman correspondence (1922-1968) and related Everett commission materials, while Series 2 contains a great deal of Upton's research material.

Helen Upton added her own research material to this collection after receiving it from Mrs. Stillman. Her materials include Indian Committee reports from the 1970's, Reports on the educational and health care status of New York Indians, many court cases (mainly pertaining to New York State land claims), hundreds of newspaper clippings, her own gallery proof copy of The Everett Report in Historical Perspective, and a related doctoral dissertation.

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