Poem, undated

Personal letters sent to his parents, siblings, friend Jones and his wife, Anne Hitchcock Sims, 1882–1925; Letters received from Navy Department regarding assignment; Letters comment on travels, places visited, family matters, politics and rebellions in the Caribbean, ship’s movements, health, social life in port, shipboard life, Hawaiian politics, life in Paris, France, French lessons, Sino-Japanese War, position as Naval Attaché in Paris and St. Petersburg, travels through Europe, criticism of U.S. Navy, World War I assignment as CO, Naval Forces, European Waters, London, England, 1917–1978, including daily routine and social life; Assignments on the China Station. Letters sent by Anne Sims to William S. Sims, 1906, 1909–1912, 1915–1917, regarding family matters.

The twenty-five box collection measures twelve and one-half linear feet and is divided into five series. Series I contains typescript copies of personal letters sent by Sims to his parents, his sister Louisa and brothers, Harry and Alfred, his friend Jones, and to his wife, Anne Hitchcock Sims. They date from 1881 to 1925. Several personal letters Sims received are located here. The letters focus on his daily shipboard routine, family matters, health, social life, financial matters, and friends as well as his duties as a naval officer and naval attaché. He described the geography, politics, economics, people, and customs of the countries he visited in Europe, Asia, South America, and the Caribbean. Sims also exposed the Navy’s deficiencies in gunnery and construction and made proposals to correct them in his correspondence.

Series II consists of personal letters of Anne Hitchcock Sims to William S. Sims, along with diaries of their children’s activities. This series contains both holographic letters and typescript copies of the same, dating from 1906 to 1921. Her daily letters discussed family matters; the children’s health, behavior, and activities; her parents; her sister Peg; her own health, social life, travel, and vacation plans; visitors, friends and neighbors. They include comments on politics, especially President Theodore Roosevelt’s administration, as well as naval affairs.

Series III houses Anne’s letters to her sisters, Sarah Hitchcock Shepley and Margaret Hitchcock of St. Louis, Missouri, dating from 1899 to 1905. Several letters received are included in this series.

Series IV contains Sims family photographs, and Series V, miscellany, has newspaper clippings and a poem.