| | 2 | Author: | University of Virginia.
Library | Add | | | Title: | Eleventh annual report on historical collections, University of Virginia Library, for the year 1940-41  | | | | Published: | 2006 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | IN June 1940, when the disastrous Battle of France was running
its course and invasion of Britain was impending, the President
of the United States declared that a national emergency
existed and Congress at his request voted large appropriations
to launch a program of defense. A larger segment of the American
people began to take the war seriously and some leaders in
various fields of activity undertook to make preparations for
any eventuality. Archivists and custodians of historical manuscripts
were particularly fortunate in having the problem of preparedness
brought to their attention by the president of the
Society of American Archivists, Dr. Waldo G. Leland, at their
fourth annual meeting held in Montgomery, Alabama, November
11-12. Dr. Leland spoke from long experience with archival problems
at home and abroad and from his service as secretary of the
National Board for Historical Service in Washington, D. C.,
during American participation in the first World War.1
1.Waldo G. Leland, "The National Board for Historical Service,"
American Historical Association, Annual Report for 1919 (3 vols.,
Washington, 1923-24), I, 161-89.
In his
presidential address on "The Archivist in Times of Emergency,"2
2.The American Archivist, IV, no. 1 (Jan. 1941), 1-12.
he discussed the custodian's responsibility for the safety of the
records in his establishment and for the preservation of materials
produced during the emergency and basic for subsequent historical
writing. As a result of certain specific suggestions made by
Dr. Leland to the Society, four committees were appointed: one
on the Protection of Archives against Hazards of War, another on
Emergency Transfer and Storage of Archives, a third on the History
and Organization of Government Emergency Agencies, and
a fourth on Collection and Preservation of Materials for the History
of Emergencies. These committees went to work promptly
at their respective tasks, the first two conferring with the Historical
Records Survey to obtain WPA labor for a survey of available
depositories. The third committee began plans for the compilation
of a handbook of federal World War agencies, including
their organization, activities, and records, and requested the cooperation
of the National Archives, where most of these records
are housed.3
3.Ibid., IV, no. 3 (July 1941), 210. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 3 | Author: | University of Virginia.
Library | Add | | | Title: | Twelfth annual report on historical collections, University of Virginia Library, for the year 1941-42 | | | | Published: | 2006 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | SINCE the preceding report in this series was published, the
United States has become a belligerent in the Second World
War. The general recognition of Sunday, December 7, 1941,
as a memorable date in American history was confirmed by the
President of the United States the following day in his message
to Congress. The formal declaration of war by Congress followed
promptly in half an hour. Living, like many earlier neutrals,
in a fool's paradise, the American people were rudely awakened
from their delusion of peaceful escape from a world at war. The
true significance of the much used term "total war," however, was
not readily understood. That lesson was to be learned partially
during the series of defeats in the first six months of belligerency,
until the marshalling of our resources and power could begin to
bear weight against the enemy. The Japanese attack ended
abruptly the period of disunity and false security. Whatever
followed was "after Pearl Harbor." | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 4 | Author: | University of Virginia.
Library | Add | | | Title: | Thirteenth annual report on historical collections, University of Virginia Library, for the year 1942-43 | | | | Published: | 2006 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | THE introductory essay of this report represents a departure
from the recent policy of surveying the year's activities
of the Library in the field of manuscripts and other research
materials in relation to problems and developments in
archives and manuscripts throughout the nation. Instead, an
exposition on the accession and arrangement of manuscripts and
kindred materials in the Alderman Library has been undertaken.
In aiming to show to what degree our system is orderly and
practicable we anticipate and invite outside criticism. Such criticism
may confirm and supplement our own in the light of experience
during the past dozen years. We believe that archivists,
curators, and their associates are interested in how the other fellow
handles his professional stock-in-trade and how well the
public may fare by his service. We hope that other institutions
may be willing to provide a view from the inside. Written records
on this subject are unfortunately few in number. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 5 | Author: | University of Virginia.
Library | Add | | | Title: | Fourteenth annual report on historical collections, University of Virginia Library, for the year 1943-44 | | | | Published: | 2006 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | WHEN an institution preserves historical records according
to plan, we generally assume that they will be used
sooner or later in research. Their usefulness depends to
a large degree, of course, upon their accessibility. However slightly
some custodians may feel their responsibility on this score,
certain rudimentary controls and procedures can be established
without great difficulty. The system need not be complicated—in
fact, experience in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division of
the University of Virginia Library has shown that simplicity
of arrangement, along with observance of a few sound archival
principles, makes the records available in good order with a
minimum of delay.1
1.Thirteenth Annual Report on Historical Collections, University of
Virginia Library, for the Year 1942-43 (University, Va., 1943), pages
1-14.
Once the records are within the walls of the
library, they are readily susceptible to some control; but what is
to be said about "system" and "control" while they are still outside? | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 6 | Author: | University of Virginia.
Library | Add | | | Title: | Fifteenth annual report on historical collections, University of Virginia Library, for the year 1944-45 | | | | Published: | 2006 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | TO understand the pursuit of collecting historical materials,
both manuscripts and imprints, four parties must be
considered. They may regard their activities, under varying
circumstances, as hard-headed business or a fascinating game.
Certain parties may be intense rivals at one time, or loyal partners
at another. Self satisfaction and altruism are often motivating
forces that work hand in hand because, whatever the immediate
gain or advantage, there is an ultimate cultural objective
that cannot honestly be gainsaid. In this perennial pursuit is there
a winner? And if so, are the cards stacked in anyone's favor? | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 8 | Author: | University of Virginia.
Library | Add | | | Title: | General index annual reports on historical collections University of Virginia Library | | | | Published: | 2006 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | This index will serve as a partial guide to the manuscripts acquired by the University
of Virginia between 1 July 1945 and 30 June 1950 as briefly described in the
Annual Report. It should be borne in mind that only the smallest of the collections
received have been described in great detail in these pages, and the index furnishes
only the names and subjects which appear in the printed description. For the
larger collections, it is hoped that the names and subjects are at least representative;
but the researcher who needs an exhaustive analysis of a collection will be obliged
to visit the manuscript reading room to consult the card catalogue or the original
manuscripts. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 9 | Author: | University of Virginia.
Library | Add | | | Title: | Annual report on historical collections University of Virginia Library | | | | Published: | 2006 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | THE GIFT of the Richard Henry Lee Papers to Mr. Jefferson's
uncompleted University Library one hundred and twenty-two
years ago was the first of the many gifts which in the second
quarter of the twentieth century have resulted in making the University
a center for historical studies. In that first session of the University, the
Founder was occupied in assembling for the library a collection of books
which, though not the largest in America, would he hoped be second
to none in value. Under his exacting supervision, funds for the original
library were doled out only for the choicest editions; and even before
his appropriation was fully spent, he began issuing in the newspapers
appeals for library gifts. Acknowledging donations of books from
"public spirited citizens" of Boston and London, as well as of Virginia,
he assured prospective donors, in a notice of April 28, 1825, that "their
talent shall not be hidden in the earth". It is to such public spirited
citizens that the University owes the rapid expansion of its historical
collections during the two years covered by this report. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 10 | Author: | University of Virginia.
Library | Add | | | Title: | Annual report on historical collections University of Virginia Library | | | | Published: | 2006 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | WHY ARE so many of "our Virginia manuscripts" in North
Carolina and California? Why is Princeton University publishing
the Jefferson papers? These two questions are partly concerned
with history, and the answers are in part a concern of this
library. They recur with a certain monotony, and for this reason
I have prefaced this guide to our new accessions not only with the
usual report on our projects and development, but also with
several comments on, if not complete answers to, these two questions
and some library policies which relate to them. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 11 | Author: | University of Virginia.
Library | Add | | | Title: | Annual report on historical collections University of Virginia Library | | | | Published: | 2006 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | TWENTY YEARS AGO when the first of these annual reports
was issued, Harry Clemons, then in his fourth year as
Librarian of the University, had recently set aside the southeast
wing of Mr. Jefferson's Rotunda as a "Virginia Room," dedicated
to the housing of and to research in Virginia manuscripts and related
materials. Aided and abetted by the late John Calvin Metcalf,
Dean of the Department of Graduate Studies, he was beginning
his planning and campaigning for the Alderman Library building,
which was to open its doors in 1938. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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