Members of the Ridgely family left rich documentary evidence of their lives at Hampton Mansion and in the world beyond. These primary sources provide direct evidence of the past and have allowed visitors to Hampton to gain a deeper and more accurate understanding of the site’s history. The unique and unpublished documents include correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, and legal and financial documents.  The documents are dispersed in multiple collections at several institutions. In-depth research will require visits to all major repositories.

Hampton Archival Collections
Some of the collections are housed on-site at Hampton. For more information on the holdings at Hampton National Historic Site Archives, click here.

Significant Collections at Other Maryland Repositories
The Maryland Historical Society and the Maryland State Archives hold the bulk of the family collections, acquired before the Archives at Hampton was established. For a list of the significant collections held at those two repositories, click here.

A Comprehensive Guide to Collections (1664-1990) brings together all known collections and items in a single index. In addition to the major repositories listed above, it includes collections and individual items held by Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, University of Michigan, and Duke University. Click here to learn more about this new research tool.