Harry Shepard Knapp Papers, 1874-1924: Finding Aid

Biographical Chronology of Harry Shepard Knapp

1856

• On June 27, is born in New Britain, Connecticut to Frederic and Mary Eunice (Burritt) Knapp.

1878

• On June 26, graduates from the United States Naval Academy.
• Is attached to U.S.S. Pensacola.

1880

• Is appointed a Midshipman in the United States Navy.

1882

• Is commissioned an Ensign.

1889

• Is promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade).

1894

• Is promoted to Lieutenant.

1898

• During the Spanish-American War, serves aboard U.S.S. Dorothea of the North Atlantic Fleet as Executive Officer.

1901

• Is promoted to Lieutenant Commander.

1905

• Is promoted to Commander.

1906

• Is detailed to the Army War College.

1907

• Is appointed Chief of Staff of the Pacific Fleet.

1908

• Assumes command of U.S.S. Charleston.

1909

• Is promoted to Captain.
• Is detached from U.S.S. Charleston.
• Is assigned to duty as a member of the Navy General Board.

1910

• Assumes command of U.S.S. Tennessee.

1911

• Assumes command of U.S.S. Florida.

1912

• Is assigned to duty as a member of the Navy General Board.

1914

• Is appointed a member of the Joint State and Navy Neutrality Board with Dr. James Brown Scott and Captain James H. Oliver.

1916

• Is promoted to Rear Admiral.
• In November, is appointed military governor of Santo Domingo and commander of the Atlantic Fleet Cruiser Force.

1918

• In November, is sent to the Paris Peace Conference as a naval expert and delegate to the inter-allied commission on aeronautics.

1919

• Assumes command of U.S. Naval Forces in European waters with the rank of Vice Admiral.

1920

• On June 27, is transferred to the Retired List.
• Travels to Haiti to conduct a four-month investigation of affairs and defend American military occupation.

1921

• Attends the first, and later second, session of the Institute of Politics at Williamstown, Massachusetts.

1922

• Consults with the General Board of the Navy during the Washington Naval Conference.
• Receives an honorary degree from Trinity College.

1923

• On April 6, dies in Hartford, Connecticut.

Description of Contents

The Harry Shepard Knapp Papers, comprising 1.83 linear feet of documentation, span from 1874 to 1924. While spanning the entirety of Knapp's career in the United States Navy, the Knapp Papers focus primarily on Knapp's time at the Naval Academy, mandatory sea service following graduation, and diplomatic mission to Haiti following his retirement.

The Knapp Papers consist of dispatches, photographs, notebooks, journals, certificates, journal articles, a news clippings, and a letter.

Nearly half of the Knapp Papers are composed of various journals and notebooks written by Knapp. These volumes include two navigation notebooks spanning Knapp's final year at the Naval Academy and first two years at sea. Another product of this time period, Knapp's journal of his experiences aboard U.S.S. Pensacola, offers lengthy entries on the progress of the War of the Pacific (1879-1884) between Chile and Peru. A final volume, the Watch-, Quarter-, and Station-Bill of U.S.S. Dorothea dates to Knapp's service as her Executive Officer during the Spanish-American War. Another sizeable portion of the collection's textual documents, namely dispatches and a letter, date from a diplomatic and investigative mission to Haiti undertaken by Knapp during the American military occupation of Haiti, shortly after his official retirement from the Navy.

In addition to textual documents, the collection also includes a number of photographs. Consisting mostly of portraits in the form of cabinet cards and cartes-de-visite, the photographs are primarily of Knapp's Naval Academy classmates. A number of portraits of other midshipmen and U.S. Navy officers, as well as several group portraits, are unidentified.

The collection is rounded out by several of Knapp's certificates and his obituary, as well as two of his published writings on the Washington Naval Conference and the Panama Canal.

Arrangement

The Harry Shepard Knapp Papers are arranged alphabetically by document type.

Access and Use

Access

Access is unrestricted.

Copyright and Permission

The Harry Shepard Knapp Papers are the physical property of Nimitz Library. Copyright belongs to the authors or creators of the works, or their legal representatives. For further information, consult the Head, Special Collections & Archives.

It is the responsibility of the researcher to secure written permission to publish, reprint, or reproduce material from Special Collections & Archives. The researcher assumes responsibility for infringement of copyright or literary or publication rights. Please contact the Head, Special Collections & Archives for permission to publish and for further information.

Acquisition and Appraisal

Provenance and Acquisition

Gift of the Hartford Seminary Foundation in July 1957.

Related Materials

Related Archival Material

Additional material pertaining to Harry Shepard Knapp's career and time as a midshipman at the Naval Academy may be found in his Conduct Record and Alumni Jacket in Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library.

Materials Cataloged Separately

No materials have been removed from this collection and cataloged separately.

Processing and Other Information

Preferred Citation

Harry Shepard Knapp Papers, MS 225

Special Collections & Archives Department

Nimitz Library

United States Naval Academy

Selected Bibliography

The following sources were consulted during preparation of the biographical note:

"Knapp," Army and Navy Journal (1923 April 14).

The National Cyclopedia of American Biography. Clifton, N.J. : J. T. White, c1926-.

Processing Information

This collection was processed in July 1986 and reprocessed by David D'Onofrio in February 2014. Finding aid written by David D'Onofrio in February 2014, partially adapted from a finding aid written in July 1986.

Subject Headings

Name and Subject Terms

• Bartlett, Frank William, 1856-1932
• Biddle, Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1859-
• Cahoon, James Blake, d. 1907
• Clark, George Ramsay, 1857-1945
• Conference on the Limitation of Armament (1921-1922 : Washington, D.C.)
• Dorothea (Ship)
• Drayton, Percival Langdon, 1858-1892
• Elseffer, Harry Smith, d. 1886
• Haiti -- Foreign relations -- United States
• Holcombe, John Hite Lee, 1857-1906
• Jamestown (Sloop of war)
• Knapp, Harry Shepard, 1856-1923
• Lloyd, Edward, Jr., 1857-1948
• Navigation
• Panama Canal (Panama)
• Pensacola (Screw steamer)
• Rodgers, C.R.P. (Christopher Raymond Perry), 1819-1892
• Rodgers, William Ledyard, 1860-1944
• Rogers, Allen Grey, 1859-1932
• Rush, Charles W.
• United States -- Foreign relations -- Haiti
• United States Naval Academy. Class of 1878
• War of the Pacific, 1879-1884
• Welsh, George Silvis, 1857-
• White, William Porter, 1859-1926

Genre Terms

• Certificates
• Diaries
• Dispatches
• Manuscripts
• Notebooks
• Periodicals
• Photographs