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Lulu Stillman Papers
SC20652

Quantity: 19 boxes (6 cu. ft.)
Access: Open to research
Acquisition: Information available upon request
Processed By: Helene Gold, Intern, University of Albany, SUNYA, September 1996

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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.

Box and Folder List:

Box Folder Description
    Series 1: Stillman 
    Stillman correspondence, reports, transcripts 1922-1949 
1922 
  1923-1927 
  1930-1932 
  1933-1939 
  1940-1947 
  1948 
  7-9  1949 
    Stillman correspondence, reports, transcripts 1950-1959 
1-2  1950 
  1951 
  1952-1953 
  1954 
  6-7  1955 
  1957-1958 
  1958 
  10-12  1959 
    Stillman correspondence, reports, transcripts 1960-1963 
1-3  1960 
  4-5  1961 
  1962 
  1962 
  8-11  1963 
    Stillman correspondence, reports, transcripts 1964-1968 
1-2  1964 
  3-4  1965 
  1966 (includes photo) 
  6-8  1966 
  9-10  1967 
1968 
    Indian Affairs correspondence, reports, transcripts 1919-1949 
  1919-1922 
  3-4  1922 
  1923 
  1924 
  1925-1926 
  1927 
  1929 
  10  1931-1935, 1939 
  11  1945-1949 
    Indian Affairs/Everett Report 
Indian Affairs correspondence, reports, transcripts 1950-1954 
  1955-1960 
  1969 
  Everett Report (original documents), Dept. of Justice 
  Everett Report (original document), draft of final report, notes 
    Everett Report documents and correspondence 1919-1925 
Everett correspondence, documents 1919-1925 
  Everett Report original document, July 27,1920 
  Everett Report documents 1920 
  1920 
  1922-1924 
  Report of the New York State Indian Commission to Investigate the Status of the American Indian in New York (exact copy of the Everett Report submitted March 17, 1922) 
  "America Europeanized," Attorney Geo. Decker, 1925 (annotated) 
    Series 2: Upton 
    Congressional Documents/Colonial History 
Annotated Congressional Document 1929-1930 
  Congressional Document 1929-1930 
  Annotated Congressional Document 1948 
  Congressional Document 1961 
  Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. VIII, edited by E. B. O'Callaghan, 1857, 817 pages 
    Manuscript 
Typed manuscript: The Everett Report in Historical Perspective (notes, table of contents, preface, foreword, introduction) 
  Ch. 1,2 
  Ch. 3 
  Ch. 4 
  Ch. 5 
  Ch. 6 
  Ch. 7 
  Index, Appendix 
    Serials 
  Saturday Review (Sept. 4, 1971 and Nov. 25, 1978)
Arizona Highways (Oct. 1981) 
  10  America: History and Life (vol. 1, no. 1, 1964) 
  11  The New Yorker (Nov. 6, 1978) 
  12  Conservationist (Jan./Feb. 1976)
Harper's (June 1973) 
  13  The American Way (June 1972)
Wassaja: The Indian Historian (vol. 3, no. 1) 
    News Clippings and Serials 
10  News clippings, 3 copies "Akwesasne Notes", reports, programs 
  Catalogues, news clippings, notes, 1 copy Wassaja 
  "The First Americans" (study guide to the videotape series) 1978 (2 copies) 
  "Iroquois Culture, History, and Prehistory" (proceedings of the 1965 conference on Iroquois research) 
  "Akwesasne Notes" (vol. 6 no. 4, vol. 6 no. 5) 
  Indian culture and affairs - news clippings (1941-1960) 
  Indian culture and affairs - news clippings 
  Citizenship rights - news clippings, letters to the media 
    News clippings, Upton Correspondence, Serials 
11  Helen Upton correspondence, 1977-1984 
  Helen Upton correspondence, 1985-1986 
  News clippings, notes, miscellaneous Upton correspondence 1950s-1970s 
  News clippings, articles, reports 1950s-1970s 
  News clippings, publications (re: Iroquois) 
  News clippings, maps, publications (re: bingo, Iroquois) 
  News clippings, articles, photocopied maps and correspondence (land claims), photos 
  The American Historical Review (vol. 80 no. 3, June 1975) 
    Research material
The Everett Report in Historical Perspective (galley proof) 
12  Iroquois treaties and related news clippings 
  Upton research notes and materials 
  Research materials - articles - litigation (highlighted) 
  Galley proof: The Everett Report in Historical Perspective, Helen Upton 
  Galley Proof: The Everett Report in Historical Perspective: preface, introduction, Ch. 1 
  Ch. 2, Ch. 3 
  Ch. 4, Ch. 5 
  Ch. 6, Ch. 7 
  Conclusion, appendix, bibliography, notes, index 
    Indian Affairs, Land Claims 
13  Maps of Indian Lands 
  Tuscaroras (N.Y.) Land Issue - correspondence, news clippings, 1960 
  Tuscaroras (N.Y. )Land Issue - correspondence, news clippings, 1961-1963 
  Land Claims - research notes, legislation, litigation, essays 
  Indian Land Claims Commission/attempts to obtain Everett Report, 1965 
  Land Claims, treaties, status of New York Indians 
  Land Claims - news clippings, notes, 1975-1985 
  Land Claims - litigation, news clippings, articles, correspondence, 1975-1985 
  Indian Land claims cases 
  10-11  Indian Affairs - jurisdiction bills, news clippings, notes, 1945-1950 
  12  Indian Affairs - research notes, articles, U.S. v. Boylan + Moyers case, 1915 - ? 
    Indian education, reports, publications 
14  Education on reservations - correspondence, 1925-1951 
  National Indian Education Association - publications 
  The Indian Today in New York State (State Interdepartmental Committee on Indian Affairs)
Indian Teacher Training Model (New York State Indian Education Coalition) 
  Indian Education - notes, essays, etc. 
  Indian Education, jurisdiction documents, 1972-1975 
  Onondaga Indians - reports, bibliographies, articles (1956-1957) 
  Education and Land Claims - reports, essays 
  Annual Report of New York State Interdepartmental Committee on Indian Affairs 1972-1973. Chapter 4, Raw Deal: The Iroquois of New York View the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 
  "New York State History Network" (vol. 3 no. 1 and vol. 3 no. 2) Indians - catalogue no. 177 The Mohawk Valley and the American Revolution, New York State Historic Trust 
  10  Nations Within a Nation, prepared by A.T. Anderson (American Indian Policy Review Commission) United States Indian Policy, Francis Paul Prucha 
  11  Mohawk Resource, Mary MacDonald and Philip H. Tarbell 
    Committee Reports, Government Documents, Reports 
15  Report and Notes on Legislative Committee on Indian Affairs (1940s-1950s) 
  The Indian Today in New York State (State Inter-departmental Committee on Indian Affairs), 1956 (2), 1964
Manual of Indian Affairs and Procedures
(New York State Dept. of Social Welfare), 1954 
  Annotated pamphlets and newsletters relating to New York Indians (1920-1958) 
  Annotated Congressional documents 
  Indian Act - Canadian Government document (6/6/1946) 
  Indian Affairs - Canadian Government document (6/6/1960) 
  Report of the New York State Assembly Subcommittee on Indian Affairs. March 1971, part 1 
  Report of the New York State Assembly Subcommittee on Indian Affairs, March 1971, part 2 (with maps and notes) 
  Final Report of the Pilot Planning Program for the Indians in New York State, May 1974 
  10  "The Downfall of the Iroquois of New York State", student paper, 1972 
    Court Cases, Documents 
16  Kinzua Dam - correspondence, documents 
  L.C. Kellogg case - correspondence, reports, transcripts, 1924-1932 
  Franklin County Court - State of New York v. Frank Swamp and Peter Gorrow - brief, exhibits (1921?) 
  Litigation, documents - Deere v. St. Lawrence River Power Company, State of New York v. Danny White 
  Indian Commission - Deere v. the St. Lawrence River Power Company, Correspondence 1925-1929 
  Deere v. the St. Lawrence River Power Company 
  Edward Everett brief for the Whitney Case 1923 Seneca/Weisto Land Lease 1944 
  New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Altona Citizens Committee v. the Town of Altona (1978 ?) part 1 
  Part 2 
  10  Part 3 
  11  State of New York v. Danny White, brief - Complaint of the chiefs of St. Regis Mohawk Reservation for removal of intruders upon tribal land United States of America v. Consolidated Wounded Knee - Cases 
  12  United States v. the Oneida Nation of New York, et al. 
    Court Cases 
17  U.S. District Court (Northern District of New York) - State of New York v. Danny White, et al., 1974 
  2-3  U.S. District Court (Northern District of New York) State of New York v. Danny White, et al. 1974 
  U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit - State of New York v. Danny White, et al., 1975 
  U.S. Court of Appeals - State of New York v. Danny White, etc. (proof copy), 1975 
  United States Claims Court - Navajo Tribe v. U.S., 1986 (p. 1-60) 
  United States Claims Court - Navajo Tribe v. U.S., 1986 (p. 61-120) 
  State of New York v. H. Boots, D. Deer, D. George, E. Oakes, R. Powless, K. Thompson 
  Digest of Rebuttal Exhibits, Oneida Nation (1784-1857) 
  10  U.S. Court of Appeals case - Passamaquoddy Tribe, v. R. Morton (Secretary, Dept. of Interior), State of Maine, 1975 Indian Claims Commission Case - Munsee Indians v. U.S. 1971 
  11  Hawthorn Files (1960s) 
18  New York State Indian tribes - cases, publications (photocopied) 
  Cayuga Nation v. U.S. (1971-1980), litigation and documents 
  United States Claims Court - Navajo Tribe v. U.S., 1986, p. 121-186 
  Oneida Indian Nation court cases, 1973-1974 
  Supreme Court case - Oneida County, New York v. Oneida Indians of New York, 1984-1985 
  Supreme Court Case - Oneida Indian Nation of New York v. Oneida County, New York, 1972 
    Publications, Indian Health Care Documents, Dissertation 
19  Saturday Night: Canada's Magazine of Business and Contemporary Affairs (4/11/1959), petition to the prime minister of Canada, Document Canada as Responsible to the Six Nations 
  A Vision of Wealth: Speculators and Settlers in the Genesee County of New York, 1788-1800, W.H. Siles, U. Mass., 1978 - dissertation, (title-p.29) 
  p. 30-102 
  p. 103-164 
  p. 165-228 
  p. 229-288 
  p. 289-341 
  p. 342-372 
  An Attempt to Improve Health Care: How Did It Fail?" (Mohawks at St. Regis) - Katherine Pac, 1973 
  10  Completed surveys - New York State Indians Healthcare (1974-1975) 
  11  Documents, reports - New York State Indians Health Care 
Last Updated: February 15, 2022