University of Virginia Library

Hench Donates 60,000 'Discovered' Words
To Alderman Library Scholars For Research

By TRUDY ROSELLE

Atcheson L. Hench,
University Professor Emeritus
of English, has donated his
collection of more than 60,000
"discovered" words and word
phrases in the English language
to Alderman Library.

The collection will be
preserved for research by
etymologists and
lexicographers.

Language Enriched

Mr. Hench's collection deals
primarily with words that have
entered the language since the
1920's, when he began research.

These words include
"braintrust," "skyjacked,"
"babysitter," and "air coach,"
among others. Many words
were considered "mistakes,"
according to Mr. Hench, until
the word was used enough to
become accepted into educated
conversation.

Mr. Hench has been
collecting these English
language "mistakes" for forty
years.

The collection provides the
first step for scholars in
documenting the usages of
words and phrases as they
became a part of American
speech and literature. Use of
the collection in research could
help scholars in compiling
dictionaries or other studies
which document the English
language.

Words Collected

Initially librarians found
words listed from
"Calico-bush" through "Z"
unceremoniously collected in
large boxes and a few file
drawers. To complicate matters

further, the microfilms had to
be completed within three
months for budgetary reasons.

Now the fully documented,
but only partially edited,
glossary for scholars and
researchers, staff members and
graduate assistants at the
library has been processed onto
microfilm. The complete
collection amounts to 3,600
feet of 16mm microfilm.

Kenton L. Stubbs, reference
librarian and a contributor to
the Oxford-English Dictionary,
initiated the Alderman
microfilm project because he
believes the glossary is
unmatched by any library
etymological resource.

Many of the words traced in
Mr. Hench's collection were
first used in a new form by
such local sources as The Daily
Progress. Documentation
established that other terms
were coined by students at the
University.

Mr. Hench arranged and
edited one-sixth of the total
60,000 entry collection. He
finished listing words from
"A" through "Calico-bush"
under a grant from the
National Foundation for the
Arts and the Humanities. But
in 1968, at the age of 78,
Hench decided that the task
was too demanding to
complete.

The files and lists have
remained in Alderman Library
since 1969 waiting for suitable
talent and financing to
complete the task of forming a
"One Man's Word List."

Mr. Hench compiled his
findings at the same time that
he read for the "Dictionary of
American English", and for the
"Middle English Diction