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The papers in the Fred Wildon Fickett Collection relate primarily to his life and activities from 1876 through 1890. A significant portion of the collection concerns his military career, especially his stay in Alaska and his participation in the exploratory expedition under Henry Allen in 1885. Papers prior to his entrance into the Army in 1882 concern his education and his brief teaching career. The papers of the period after he left Alaska deal with his postings in Oregon, Maine, and Texas; his marriage; his brief service with the Weather Bureau; and the beginning of his legal career. There are only a few items which document his life in Texas and Arizona after 1890.
The Fred Wildon Fickett Collection is divided into nine series. They are: I. Diaries and Journals; II. Notes, Notebooks, Speech; III. Education, Legal, and Miscellaneous Papers; IV. Military and Pension Papers and Reports; V. U. S. Weather Bureau Papers; VI. Correspondence; VII. Miscellaneous Printed Material; VIII. Photographs; IX. Artifacts; X. Fickett and Lord Family Genealogy Papers; XI. Related Papers; and XII. Fickett Collection Copies. The correspondence is divided into five sub-series: the letters of Fred W. Fickett and Nellie Lord Fickett, miscellaneous Fickett correspondence, miscellaneous third party correspondence, and transcribed and copied correspondence. In addition, a set of copy negatives of the original photographs is maintained with the collection. The series are described in the section of this guide entitled, "Series Descriptions." Most of the documents in each series are arranged in chronological order.
A number of items have not been reproduced in the microfiche publication of this collection. All new additions to the collection received after the preparation of the microfiche are of course not included. The "Transcribed and Copied Correspondence" (VI.D) was not filmed; however, copies of unique transcribed letters for which an-original did not exist in the collection, were interfiled with the original correspondence for the convenience of those using the collection. Series X through XII were added after the collection was filmed.Also, envelopes have not been copied. The related papers and the copies from the Fickett collection are included as an aid to research.
The two most important bodies of documents are Fickett's "Diaries and Journals" (Series I) and his letters (Series VI.A). His diary for 1880-1888 presents an extensive amount of information and is the most basic record in the collection. The "Diaries and Journals" series also contain the original journals maintained by Fickett on the Allen Expedition as well as his handwritten copy. Fickett's letters to his fiancé, Nellie Lord, are both personal and comprehensive and are at times more descriptive than the diaries. The diaries and correspondence provide insight into life in Alaska, especially Sitka, in the mid 1880's. His feelings for his fiancé are a frequent topic while other subjects represented are his military training, education, his legal studies, courtship, and marriage. His military career is outlined in Series IV.
Nellie Tibbetts Lord Fickett is represented by over forty letters (Series VI.B) and two notebooks. Her letters provide her perspective on their relationship as well as her social life and her interests. Unfortunately, her letters cover only about one year of their correspondence.
The writing of the Allen report and other studies on the expedition was a matter of concern and interest to Fickett. In addition to being mentioned in his journal and letters, the collection includes both a draft and published copy of Allen's report (Series IV.C). Various items in the series on notes (Series II) were apparently compiled for the preparation of the report and/or for Fickett's thesis.
Alaska, the land and its inhabitants, is represented through the collection. Fickett's observations, besides being found in diaries and letters, are also located in various writings: his Master's paper, an article, and a speech. In addition, the photographs (Series VIII) depict various scenes and people including acquaintances of Fickett, military personnel, residents of Sitka, and people from the Arctic region. All of the artifacts (Series IX) were acquired by Fickett in Alaska.
The Fred Wildon Fickett Collection is an interesting body of research materials. While relatively narrow in overall time span, it nonetheless contains valuable (detail on Alaska, the Allen Expedition, a soldier's life, and on Fickett and his wife. The extent and variety of the materials over the short span of years concerning Alaska is matched by a good amount of detail. The papers will prove useful to a variety of research scholars.