Family papers, 1826-1864

Physician and professor of "Negro Medicine" at the University of New Orleans. Early letters, 1826-1843, concern Cartwright's medical career. Papers, 1844-1860, include letters from John A. Quitman, Jefferson Davis, John Slidell and others discussing contemporary politics, attitudes toward slavery, and the need for an emphasis on regional values in Southern education. Cartwright's manuscript writings consist of a treatise on "camp dysentery" and a prescription for its cure, and published pamphlets discuss his racial theories. Other papers consist of correspondence, 1850-1864, between Cartwright's wife, his daughter Mary, and her husband, William Alexander Gordon, concerning family matters and Confederate civilian experiences. Cartwright's two volume diary, entitled "Travels in Europe," 1837, gives impressions of Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and France,...