Appendix C:

Description of the Participating Institutions and Their Special Collections

In addition to the 15,000 pages of finding aids relating to African-American history and culture, an additional 20,000 pages of finding aids (representing approximately 1,400 collections) will be drawn from the Virginiana collections of the participating institutions. (See also Appendix J, Selected Virginiana Collection Finding Aids to Be Encoded)

The University of Virginia

 

The University of Virginia is distinctive among institutions of higher education. Founded by Thomas Jefferson and chartered by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1819, the University sustains the ideal of developing, through education, leaders who are well-prepared to help shape the future of the nation. The University is public, while nourished by the strong support of its alumni. It is also selective; the students who come here have been chosen because they show the exceptional promise Jefferson envisioned. Slightly more than 18,000 students are enrolled in the University's ten degree granting schools. The University offers forty-eight bachelor's degrees in forty-six fields, ninety-four master's degrees in sixty-four fields, six educational specialist degrees, two first-professional degrees (law and medicine), and fifty-five doctoral degrees in fifty-four fields. The University of Virginia is consistently ranked among the top twenty-five best national universities in the country and for five consecutive year has been the top-rated public university in the nation.

The University of Virginia Library is one of the major research libraries in the United States and is a world leader in developing and delivering digital library collections through its four electronic centers. The Library is ranked 23rd in the Association of Research Libraries. The University Library's fourteen libraries, plus the libraries of the two professional schools (Law and Health Sciences) serve the University of Virginia's undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. Together they house more than 4 million volumes and receive more than 47,000 periodicals and newspapers from around the world.

Special Collections (University Library) The Special Collections Department of the University of Virginia Library administers collections of 300,000 rare books, 5,000 maps, 6,000 broadsides, 150,000 photographs and prints, 9,600 reels of microfilm, 90,000 microfiche, and substantial holdings of audio recordings, motion picture films, and ephemera in addition to the manuscripts holdings of over 11 million items (12,000 collections filling over 17,000 linear feet) and the University Archives of over 2.5 million items. The major emphases of the Special Collections Department's manuscripts collections are American history and literature. In 1832, the University of Virginia was deeded the papers of the Lee Family of Virginia, written between 1742 and 1795. These papers comprised the original foundation of the present manuscript collections. In 1930 formal efforts to launch a collecting program for manuscripts began, a program that has resulted in continuing success. The collections are ripe with political, domestic, economic, religious, agricultural, and educational records in the form of manuscripts, letters, and diaries. The Library has long collected Virginiana and most important among the historical manuscripts collections is a series of papers, largely nineteenth century, from Virginia and southern families. These collections include many prominent Virginia families: Lee, Randolph, Berkeley, Cocke, Cabell, Carr, Bryan, Tucker, Barbour, Bruce, Carter, Smith, Hubard, Jefferson, Watson and Harrison. These papers are mined constantly for studies in many areas, from African-American studies to social and political history.

Papers of U.S. Presidents, Cabinet officers and administration officials include those of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Woodrow Wilson, James Barbour, Henry Clay, Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., Alexander H. H. Stuart, Claude Augustus Swanson, John Tyler, and Homer Stille Cummings. Members of the U. S. Congress include the papers of James Breckenridge, William Cabell Bruce, John Warwick Daniel, Robert M. T. Hunter, Richard Henry Lee, James McDowell, Jr., Wilson Cary Nicholas, John A. Quitman, John Randolph of Roanoke, William Cabell Rives, John F. Rixey and Samuel Smith. Justices of the U. S. Supreme Court and judges of Virginia courts include the papers of Philip Pendleton Barbour, William H. Cabell, Dabney Carr, Peter V. Daniel, George Jefferson Hundley, John L. Ingram, Archibald Stuart, Creed Taylor and Bushrod Washington. Military leaders include John Hartwell Cocke, Philip St. George Cocke, James Chatham Duane, John Daniel Imboden, Bradley Tyler Johnson, William Morris, John Singleton Mosby, and Thomas L. Rosser.

Twentieth-century political and public affairs collections include the papers of U.S. Senators Carter Glass, Harry F. Byrd, Sr., and Jr., Hugh Scott, William B. Spong, Oscar W. Underwood and John Warner, as well as those of U.S. representatives such as Howard Worth Smith and Richard Poff; local, regional, state and federal administrators and politicians such as Allen C. Braxton, Everett R. Combs, Flora Crater, Herbert Harris, Joseph Hutcheson, Martin Hutchinson, John S. Battle, William A. Jones, J. Harry Michael, and Francis P. Miller are represented. Also evident are those involved in diplomatic service such as J. Rives Childs, Hugh Cumming, Louis J. Halle, and Murat Williams. The papers of Virginia journalists include Walter S. Copeland, Virginius Dabney, Douglas Southall Freeman, Thomas A. Hanes, Louis I. Jaffe, James J. Kilpatrick, Thomas A. Hanes, Philip L. Scruggs, Herbert P. Emmerich, Guy Moffitt, Edwin M. Watson, John Skelton Williams, Walter Wyatt and Louis Spilman.

Other Virginiana collections of note include the Civil War and Reconstruction papers of John W. Daniel, Eppa Hunton, R.M.T. Hunter, John D. Imboden, John S. Mosby, James L. Kemper, Thomas L. Rosser and "Extra Billy" Smith; business, economic and labor papers of Lloyd C. Bird, the Borderland Coal Company, William Jett Lauck and the Low Moor Iron Company; southern folklore collections of Arthur Kyle Davis, the Virginia WPA foklore project, and the Virginia Folklore Society papers; the papers of Sarah Patton Boyle, who was active in civil rights issues in Virginia in the 1950s and 1960s; the Charlottesville-Albemarle Chapter of the Virginia Council on Human Relations; the papers of J. L. B. Buck, president of the Virginia Committee for Public Schools, which opposed the policy of "massive resistance" to school integration in Virginia; and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. There has been a special effort made in recent years to acquire collections which document the history of African-Americans in Virginia and the South such as the papers of the Southern Elections Fund, ca. 1968-75, including professional and personal correspondence of Julian Bond, the Fund's chairman. Included is correspondence, mailing lists, newsletters, printed material, photographs, slides, videotapes, and miscellany produced by the various officers and trustees of the organization. The Fund was established to funnel campaign funds and technical assistance to progressive Southern political candidates.

The Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature is the cornerstone of the American literature collections. The Barrett Library takes as its province one hundred and seventy five years of American literature, the years from 1775 to 1950. It contains, insofar as it has been possible to assemble them, all fiction, poetry, drama, and essays published by an American in book form up to and including the year 1875; for the years remaining it contains a very nearly complete collection of the works of every major American writer, as well as of those whose achievements were not of first rank but who, nevertheless, occupy a place in the literary history of the Republic. With the first editions are important later editions, many translations and periodical appearances, and a vast amount of biographical and critical material. Manuscripts and letters of quality have been brought together in such quantity that few similar collections can approach it in size and scholarly importance. Mr. Barrett acquired some 250,000 individual pieces and the University Library has continued to acquire in substantial numbers since the Barrett Library was dedicated in 1960. Additionally the Department holds many substantial literary collections not in the Barrett Library. Among them are the William Faulkner collections, John Dos Passos, James Branch Cabell, Ellen Glasgow, Mary Johnston, Margaret Carpenter-Sara Teasdale, Ingram-Poe-Collection (about Poe by his biographer John Henry Ingram), and the Harry Meacham-Ezra Pound collection. Contemporary authors John Casey, Ann Beattie, Michael Ryan, Sam Shepard and Paul Bowles are represented by substantial collections. Virginia authors represented include John Esten Cooke, Hawthorne Daniel, Clifford Dowdey, Murrell Edmunds, George Cary Eggleston, John Fox, Jr., Nancy Hale, John Pendleton Kennedy, Francis Parkinson Keyes, Jane McClary, Julian Meade, Thomas Nelson Page, Philip Alexander Bruce, John Reuben Thompson, Agnes Rothery Pratt and Amelie Rives Troubetzkoy. Non-American author collections of significance are Matthew Arnold, Richard Dodderidge Blackmore, Julien Green, Jorge Luis Borges and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Special Collections (School of Law) The Arthur J. Morris Law Library is the research center and central repository of legal information at the University of Virginia School of Law. Its collection includes reports, statutes, and other materials necessary for research in American law, international and comparative law, and interdisciplinary study. The Law Library serves the faculty and students of the Law School, as well as the scholarly community of the University and the public. The library's Special Collections department houses rare books, archives, and manuscript collections. In addition to the papers of law school faculty members, the collection also includes the papers of federal judges, attorneys, former employees of federal agencies, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, and the Commission on the Revision of Virginia's Constitution, among others. Federal Judge John Paul of the Western District of Virginia heard a number of desegregation cases during the 1960s; his files contain valuable correspondence regarding those cases. The papers of a faculty member and former dean of the Law School document the establishment of the Prince Edward Free School Association formed after the public schools in that county were closed in order to avoid racial integration.

Special Collections (Health Sciences Center) The Claude Moore Health Sciences Library provides information management expertise and institutional leadership to connect students, researchers, clinicians and staff with the biomedical information they need to advance the education, research, patient care and public service programs of the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center. Historical Collections at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library include rare books, journals containing classic and landmark articles, manuscript materials and archival records, photographs, and artifacts such as surgical instruments, bloodletting devices, and World War II uniforms. In addition to the archives of the Health Sciences Center, collections include faculty papers; the Walter Reed-Yellow Fever Collection, Reed, a member of the University of Virginia's Medical Class of 1869, and his team proved conclusively in 1900-1901 that the Aedes mosquito was the vector of transmission for yellow fever; the Adolph Lomb Optical Collection, focusing on theory, design, and construction of optical instruments; and, the Eighth Evacuation Hospital Collection which was organized and staffed by University of Virginia physicians and nurses during World War II.

Chartered in 1693, by King William III and Queen Mary II, the College of William and Mary is the second oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. The school severed formal ties with Britain in 1776. It became state-supported in 1906, coeducational in 1918, and achieved modern university status in 1967. The national honor society, Phi Beta Kappa and the honor code system of conduct were founded at William and Mary. The College of William and Mary is one of the nation's premier state-assisted liberal arts universities. The College combines the best features of an undergraduate college with the opportunities offered by a modern research university. Its moderate size, dedicated faculty and distinctive history give William and Mary a unique character among public institutions. Committed to excellence in teaching, the College provides high-quality undergraduate, graduate and professional education that prepares students to make significant contributions to the Commonwealth of Virginia and the nation.

Special Collections Special Collections in the Earl Gregg Swem Library is made up of the University Archives, the Manuscripts and Rare Books Department and the Warren E. Burger Collection. The manuscript collection focuses on Virginia family papers, papers of twentieth century Virginia political figures, Williamsburg area local history, and the papers of distinguished alumni of the College. Rare books cover many areas of western thought from history to science to religion to literature with volumes dating from the fifteenth to twentieth centuries. The University Archives collects material documenting the history and activities of the College and its people from the founding to the present. The Burger Collection is the papers and memorabilia of the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

George Mason University began as the Northern Virginia branch of the University of Virginia in 1957. Called University College, it opened in a renovated elementary school in Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia with an enrollment of 17 students. In 1958 the Town (now City) of Fairfax donated 150 acres to the University of Virginia for a permanent branch campus to be located in Northern Virginia. Construction of the campus's first four buildings was completed in 1964. In 1966, the Virginia General Assembly authorized the expansion of George Mason College into a four-year, degree-granting institution and gave it the long-range mandate to expand into a major regional university. The college continued to grow, adding graduate programs in 1970. On April 7, 1972 the governor signed General Assembly legislation that established George Mason University as an independent member of the Commonwealth's system of colleges and universities. In 1979, George Mason was given the authority to grant doctoral degrees, and in the same year, the university acquired George Mason University School of Law

Special Collections Special Collections and Archives, established in 1979, preserves and makes available to all students, faculty and researchers many kinds of original and scholarly materials. The subject areas represented in the more than 80 collections (5800 linear feet), include Northern Virginiana, planned communities, Congressional papers, performing arts, maps, the Civil War, conflict resolution, and George Mason University. There are several noteworthy collections: the Planned Community Archives, primary source materials documenting planned or "new town" communities, and featuring Reston, Virginia; Robert Breen/ANTA, documents recording the work of the former Executive Secretary of the American National Theatre and Academy, a precursor to the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities; Ollie Atkins Photographic Collection, photographs from Atkins' work as a photojournalist for the Saturday Evening Post and official White House Photographer for Richard M. Nixon.

The origin of the Library of Virginia, known for many years as the Virginia State Library and Archives, dates back to the establishment of the first permanent English settlement in North America at Jamestown in 1607. More than 200 years passed before the Library was legally established in 1823 by the Virginia General Assembly when public funds were allocated to purchase books for a reference library at the seat of government. Although only a small portion of the historical records created during the Old Dominion's earliest colonial years have survived, today the Library holds and maintains the single most comprehensive collection of materials relating to Virginia history, culture and government.

In addition to the books and documents that survive from Virginia's colonial period, the Library contains more than 83 million archival records and more than 1.5 million books, periodicals, newspapers, photographs, prints and maps. The Library's rich archival holdings are divided broadly into the categories of private papers, state records and local records collections. Each of these collections contains materials recording the history of African-Americans, from the gubernatorial papers of the nation's first elected black governor, L. Douglas Wilder, in the state records collection, to the Charles M. Wallace collection of African-American melodies in private papers and the Southampton County court papers relating to the trial of Nat Turner in the local records collection.

During the risky years of the Great Depression, a small group of stubborn scholars with a vision launched the school that would become Old Dominion University. In 1930 the University opened as a one-building branch of the College of William and Mary, the nation's second oldest institution of higher education. The two-year school evolved into a four-year branch, then gained full independence as a state-supported college in 1962, taking on the name Old Dominion College. Soon the college was greatly expanding its research facilities and preparing to offer doctoral degrees, and in 1969 the Board of Visitors authorized that the name of the institution be changed to Old Dominion University. The University has become a national leader in distance learning, delivering courses in traditional venues and even to Navy ships at sea.

Special Collections The Special Collections in the Perry Library manages the University Archives, and collects manuscripts, books and printed material relating to Virginia and Tidewater History. The University Archives includes the non-current permanent records of the university, theses and dissertations, oral histories, year books, course catalogs, university publications, and photographs of yesterday and today. The manuscripts contain diaries, letters, legal and campaign files, photographs, and maps that document such subjects as the Civil War, Virginia politics, military history, African-American history, Norfolk urban redevelopment, women's history, and other local history. The Diehn Composers Room, located in the Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Center, houses the University library's collection of manuscripts, scores and other special collections of twentieth century musical compositions. The Library recently expanded it special collections services and maintains a deep commitment to collecting new primary resource material of the rich history of Tidewater Virginia.

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public, research university located in the capitol of the state, Richmond, Virginia. VCU takes its founding date of 1838 from the year the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) was created as the medical department of Hampden-Sydney College. MCV became independent in 1854 and state-affiliated in 1860. VCU's Academic Campus began in 1917 as the Richmond School of Social Work and Public Health. In 1925, it became the Richmond division of the College of William and Mary; and in 1939, its name was changed to Richmond Professional Institute (RPI). It separated from William and Mary in 1962 to become an independent state institution. In 1968, MCV and RPI merged to become Virginia Commonwealth University, the most comprehensive urban institution in the state serving the local, state, national, and international communities through its scholarly activities, its diverse educational programs, and its public service activities.

Special Collections University Library Services at Virginia Commonwealth University consists of the James Branch Cabell Library on the academic campus and the Tompkins-McCaw Library on the Medical College of Virginia campus. Each library has a Special Collections and Archives unit formally organized in the mid-1970s. Special Collections and Archives at James Branch Cabell Library collects in all areas of Virginia history and literature but focuses especially on the history of Richmond, African-American history and culture, Women's history, popular culture, urban planning and development, twentieth-century literature, and book art. The collection is especially enriched by the library and papers of James Branch Cabell, an early 20th century Richmond author, the papers of Adele Clark, one of the leading suffragists in Virginia and the Virginia Black History Archives (VBHA), a collection of published and unpublished materials which document the activities of African-American organizations and individuals in Richmond and central Virginia. At Tompkins-McCaw Library the Special Collections and Archives houses archives, artifacts, books, manuscripts, photographs, portraits and prints related to the history of health care. It collects primary source materials documenting the development of health care and the health professions in Virginia. The institutional archives dating from 1838 include research materials on the Medical Department of Hampden-Sydney College, the Medical College of Virginia and the University College of Medicine. A particular strength of Special Collections and Archives is the nursing history materials including the records of the Virginia Nurses Association, the Virginia League for Nursing, and the Instructional Visiting Nurses Association.

The Virginia Historical Society was founded in a time of crisis. Concerned about the Old Dominion's agricultural, economic, and political decline and the passing of the revolutionary generation and the Virginia Dynasty, a group of prominent citizens met in Richmond in the old House of Delegates on 29 December 1831 to found the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society. Chief Justice John Marshall was the Society's first president; the first honorary member was James Madison. Today the Virginia Historical Society is the commonwealth's museum of state history. The mission of the Virginia Historical Society is to be the Center for Virginia History by collecting, preserving, and interpreting the commonwealth's past for the enjoyment of present and future generations. In 1992, the historical society underwent a complete renovation and expansion that nearly doubled the size of its building. New museum galleries were added, the library was significantly enhanced, and state-of-the-art climate control systems were installed.

Special Collections The Virginia Historical Society's Manuscripts and Archives Department oversees one of the richest collections of manuscript materials on Virginia and the South to be found in any historical or archival repository in the region. With holdings totaling more than 7 million processed manuscripts, the collection includes extensive family and personal papers, as well as the papers of businesses and organizations, diaries, account books, scrapbooks, albums, Bible records, and genealogical materials. Represented are the families of the first European settlers, prominent politicians, clergy, professionals, and businessmen and women, as well numerous members of the middle and lower classes.

The Virginia Military Institute, founded in 1839, has remained true to its mission to produce "educated and honorable men and women" preparing them with an education for the future. After 157 years of preparing young men for future leadership roles, the Institute has made the transition to coeducation, successfully assimilating women into the Corps of Cadets while maintaining those elements of the VMI experience that have formed the backbone of the Institute's traditions. A four year undergraduate college, VMI combines the studies of a full college curriculum within a framework of military discipline with emphasis placed on qualities of honor, integrity, and responsibility. Its 1,300 cadets pursue degrees in thirteen disciplines in the general fields of engineering, science, and liberal arts. Undergirding all aspects of cadet life is the VMI Honor Code, to which all cadets subscribe. VMI's unique educational system produces leaders for all walks of life; business, industry, public service, education, the professions, and the military. Approximately eighteen percent of VMI graduates make the armed forces a career, and VMI alumni have distinguished themselves in every American conflict since the Mexican War.

Special Collections The Virginia Military Institute Archives and Special Collections Department, located in Preston Library, contains a wealth of nineteenth and twentieth century collections of interest to both scholars and the general public. Holdings currently consist of more than 6,000 photographs; 400 manuscript collections, among them the Papers of Stonewall Jackson and Matthew F. Maury; Civil War resources, including correspondence and diaries; extensive official records, dating from the school's founding in 1839; rare books; and alumni biographical and genealogical information for nineteenth and early twentieth century cadets. The latter is a particularly rich resource for information concerning Civil War veterans who attended VMI.

Since its founding as a land-grant college in 1872, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech, has grown to become the state's largest university. Current enrollment is about 26,000 (on and off campus); 80 percent undergraduate students; 20 percent graduate students; 60 percent male; 40 percent female. With about 200 degree programs and $148 million in more than 3,500 research projects in agriculture, biotechnology, computer science, engineering, architecture, energy management, and a wide range of other technical and non-technical fields each year, Virginia Tech is one of the state's leading research institution. The university offers about 70 bachelor's degree programs through its seven undergraduate academic colleges. On the postgraduate level, the university offers about 120 master's and doctoral degree programs. The university serves off-campus constituencies, such as community groups, governmental units, and state and local agencies, by providing valuable expertise and training through outreach and international programs. Outreach focus areas include economic development, community resource development, governmental assistance, technology transfer, workforce development, and industrial technical assistance. Virginia Cooperative Extension, jointly operated by Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, provides practical information to the people of the commonwealth to improve their economic, social, and cultural well-being. Extension offices are staffed in 107 locations throughout the state, and programs are financed by federal, state, and local governments.

Special Collections The Special Collections Department contains approximately 4600 cubic feet of manuscript material spanning the years from the fifteenth century to the present, with the greatest concentration of material in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The collections are strongest in the history of science and technology, business history (including railroad history), Civil War history, and the history of Southwest Virginia. Notable scientific and technological collections include the papers of Robert E. Marshak, founder of the Rochester Conferences on High-Energy Physics; the papers of Samuel Herrick, founder of the field of astrodynamics; the papers of Christopher Kraft, former director of the Johnson Space Center; and the papers of John Parsons, the father of numerical control, or the application of computer technology to manufacturing. Notable business collections include the archival records of the predecessors of the Southern Railway and of the Norfolk and Western Railway systems--collections that document the history of more than 300 railroads in the South and Midwest. Other business collections include a large group of nineteenth and twentieth-century account books for small Virginia businesses. The Civil War history collection includes letters from soldiers, both Union and Confederate, to their families and friends, recounting their camp and battle experiences. Important Southwest Virginia collections include the papers of J. Hoge Tyler, a Radford, Virginia, native and governor of the state from 1898 to 1902; and the papers of such notable local families as the Prestons, Blacks, Kents, and Appersons. The department contains three specialized archives: the Archives of American Aerospace Exploration (AAAE), the International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA), and the Appalachian Collection. The AAAE seeks to document early aeronautical and space history in the United States; the IAWA is concerned with the history of women's involvement in the field of architecture worldwide, especially with the pioneer generation of women architects of the early twentieth century; and the Appalachian Collection focuses on collecting papers and records describing the cultural, religious, social, and economic conditions of the southern Appalachian region.

Virginia State University was chartered on March 6, 1882, when the legislature passed a bill to charter the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute. This act of the legislature formerly created the oldest historically black state-supported school authorized to grant college degrees in the United States. In 1902, the legislature revised the charter act to curtail the collegiate program and to change the name to Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute. In 1920, the land-grant program for Blacks in Virginia was moved from a private school, where it had been since 1872, to Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute. In 1923, the college program was restored and the name changed, in 1930, to Virginia State College for Negroes. A two-year branch in Norfolk was added to the college in 1944; the Norfolk division became a four-year branch in 1956 and gained independence as Norfolk State College in 1969. The parent school was renamed Virginia State College in 1946 and later, Virginia State University in 1979.

Special Collections From its origin in 1882 as the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, and for over 100 years, the University has acquired thousands of documents, photographs, and other materials documenting the black experience in Virginia. It was not until 1976 that the University created the department of Special Collections/University Archives; however since the 1930s the "Negro Room" existed in the library. This served as the foundation for what would eventually become Special Collections. The Special Collections/University Archives now consist of three components: rare books, manuscripts, and University Archives. The rare books area, which originally sought to house books written by African American authors, has now been expanded to include other titles and in particular, local histories of the Southside area of Virginia and histories of Black Colleges and works written by VSU faculty and alumni. There are a number of manuscript groups, all of which document the history of blacks in Virginia since 1772. Included in this group are the Luther Porter Jackson Family Papers, the Colson-Hill Family Papers, the Virginia Teachers Association Records, and the Prince Edward County Virginia Free School Association Papers/Records. The University Archives consist of school records dating from February 1883. Although the area consists of over 1,000,000 documents, one of the unique features of the collection is that it documents the history of African-Americans in Virginia, from a Black perspective.

Washington and Lee University's rich historical heritage is embodied in the very name it bears today. It is an institution that has been touched and shaped by major men and moments in American history. In 1796, George Washington saved the school from possible oblivion, giving the school an endowment gift valued at $50,000 - at that time the largest gift ever made to a private educational institution in America. In 1865, the trustees offered the presidency to General Lee. Lee was president for only five years, long enough, nevertheless, to prove himself one of the most farsighted educational statesmen of the nineteenth century. By greatly expanding the range of instruction at Washington College, he transformed it into a truly national institution, a place where young men of both North and South could study together in harmony and unity.

Special Collections Highlights of the manuscripts holdings include the Robert E. Lee Papers, the papers of Jessie Ball duPont and her husband, Alfred I. duPont, the George West Diehl genealogical collection, and the Papers of Congressman William Whitehurst. There are numerous collections pertaining to the history of Washington and Lee University and the holdings of the Rockbridge Historical Society, a wealth of material on the history of Rockbridge County. Special Collections also holds a large number of maps and photographs historically significant for Washington and Lee and Rockbridge County.

Washington and Lee University School of Law The School of Law is the smallest of the nationally-recognized law schools. The Washington and Lee University School of Law traces its history back to the proprietary Lexington Law School founded in 1849 by Judge John W. Brokenbrough. Situated in Lexington, between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains of western Virginia, the School of Law is celebrating its 150th anniversary during the 1998-99 academic year.

Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Archives The Archives comprises the papers of Lewis F. Powell, Jr., other manuscript collections held by the law library and the archives of the School of Law. The papers of Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Richmond, Virginia attorney and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, document his legal and judicial careers; military service in World War II; leadership positions in varied civic and professional organizations; and friendships and family relations. The papers are 363 cubic feet in extent and span the years 1929-1996. Artifacts and a small library are associated with these papers. This repository holds other collections including the papers of: former Virginia 6th District Representative M. Caldwell Butler; Congressional staffer and FCC Commissioner Stephen Sharp; and former Washington and Lee School of Law professors Wilfred J. Ritz and Charles V. Laughlin.