had been always been impressed with Peckham as a student, offered him the position of Assistant Curator of the library. Within a year Peckham had become the head curator, holding this post until 1945. In little time he essentially created the Manuscript Division, making it a separate department of the library. The Clements Library had first opened its doors in 1923. When Mr. Clements was active, funding for the library was plentiful and the University's library had amassed an extensive collection of Revolutionary era manuscripts, journals, documents, pamphlets, and books, along with a huge assortment of atlases and maps. In the process, the library's collection had become much greater than collections of older institutions, and Peckham devoted much time to sorting and organizing these documents. Under his management, the library provided a rich environment of archival knowledge and education for students and scholars pursuing the study of early American history. When the Great Depression came, however, William Clements suffered severe financial loss and subsequently made out his will, reluctantly asking that the university purchase the valuable collection of manuscripts. Clements died in 1934. An optimistic Adams, still the library's director, saved the collection by prevailing upon Tracy W. McGregor, who had joined the Library's Committee of Management the year before Clements' death. McGregor donated $100,000 to the library, saving the collection from sale and ultimate dispersal among the private sector. Manuscript findings In 1937 the Clements Library acquired a collection of manuscripts and papers belonging to British Generals Thomas Gage and Sir Henry Clinton, and to American General Nathanael Greene and other such revolutionary notables. Most of the documents were untouched, still in original packages and bundles. It was the most notable collection of Revolutionary War documents ever acquired by an American library at one time. Peckham was given the rare opportunity of being the first person to oversee, sort, and manage this abundance of historical material. Under Peckham, the library had established an international reputation as a leading institution for the study of the Revolutionary War and British Colonial America, and in the process established professional standards for the management of manuscripts. Peckham worked closely with Carl Van Doren on his Secret History of the American Revolution (1941), editing documents from the Clinton Papers that revealed Benedict Arnold's treason. In 1937 he was a founding member of the Society of American Archivists. He was the first person to unfold,