University of Virginia Library

Third Annual Report of the Archivist, University of
Virginia Library, for the Year 1932-33

THE momentum gained from the two preceding years' work in
surveying and collecting historical materials in Virginia has been
an appreciable factor in facilitating the progress during the year
just completed. As prolonged economic distress has resulted in increasing
demands upon research organizations and special and general
libraries of all kinds, albeit with incomes drastically reduced, so the
need for preserving the raw materials in manuscript and printed form
is more generally recognized. While the specific task must rest upon
the local agency, adapted to the peculiar conditions and problems of the
region, it is encouraging to find the preservation of social science source
materials advocated on a nation-wide scale by the American Library Association
and to see quickened the perennial interest of the Public
Archives Commission, under the direction of the American Historical
Association, as evidenced by its report on the preservation of local
archives.[1] "There is evidence," as one scholar observes, "that in
America we have come to the end of an era, and it is desirable that the
period that is closing be as completely documented as possible."[2]

The routine work of taking inventory of official records in the clerks'
offices of counties and cities and of locating church registers and other
semi-private sources has proceeded, though at a slower pace, according
to the program outlined a year ago.[3] The survey was extended into the
following counties during 1932-33:

• In Tidewater—Lancaster, Surry, and Westmoreland.

• In Piedmont—Amherst, Cumberland, and Fauquier.

• In Southside Virginia—Charlotte.

• In Southwestern Virginia—Montgomery.

As more communities are visited and more contacts made the collecting
of manuscripts for the University Library, combined purposely with the
survey work, requires an increasing proportion of the time for both
tasks. Since the possibilities in each county are never exhausted, the

trails leading to old and to newly discovered collections cross and recross,
bringing increasing demands upon the archivist's time. The concentration
upon newspaper collections this year, of which more will be
said presently, has required much additional time. The ultimate value,
however, of a consistent county-by-county survey is not to be gainsaid,
nor is this phase of the work less fundamental because its completion
may be somewhat delayed. Indeed, these inventories are rediscovering
in the clerks' offices not only official records never before used by historians,
but also old manuscript books of a private nature which evidently
served as exhibits in suits years ago. Among such records in
Orange County were found two blacksmith's account books for 1820-21,
a private account book including farms sold and for sale, 1901-07, and
the constitution and proceedings of the Orange Union Agricultural Society,
1842-48. These books from Orange County have been placed in
the University Library as a loan deposit from the county. Records of
a similar nature are on deposit from Albemarle and Essex and negotiations
with several other counties are pending.

The compilation of a check-list of Virginia newspapers has been under
way since the work of the archivist began.[4] The plan, projected
last year,[5] to publish this material as Part I of the Guide to Virginia
historical sources has now materialized and the data will be prepared
for the press next year. The need of building up files of Virginia
papers in the University Library has diverted the archivist's attention
from the more routine aspects of the survey and effort has been made
to obtain representative files, or scattered numbers at least, from various
sections of the State. Numerous contacts with present and former
editors, their descendants, and old residents have netted gratifying returns.
The Library has acquired, entirely by gift, many files (of a
year or more) of county papers, some obscure, others of considerable
local importance, from such widely scattered towns as Bedford, Boydton,
Buena Vista, Christiansburg, Culpeper, Front Royal, Lawrenceville,
Lexington, South Boston, Surry, Warrenton, and Wakefield.
Most of these date from 1880 or later, but a considerable number of
broken files or scattered numbers date from ante bellum days or the reconstruction
period. While the Library has some files of leading dailies,
the little county weekly is to be more prized for its rarity and its intimate
reflection of local conditions.

The increasing appreciation of newspapers as indispensable source

material and more particularly of the need for check-lists such as the
present one is attested to in the findings of a Committee of the American
Historical Association on the Planning of Research. Among
the needs in the field of American history they list "the preparation of
a descriptive historical guide to selected American newspapers."[6] The
proposed list of Virginia papers is to be more than a guide to files and
single issues in libraries in this State; it will include files in Virginia
editors' offices and, of special interest to the scholar beyond the borders
of the State, files in leading repositories throughout the United States.
In this respect this check-list will supplement the excellent Bibliography
of American Newspapers, 1690-1820, compiled by Dr. Clarence S.
Brigham of the American Antiquarian Society.[7] A general historical
introduction is contemplated and brief biographical notes on many of the
editors.

The steady growth of the manuscript collection in the University Library
will inevitably serve as a stimulus to research in all the social
sciences and, it is believed, in other fields as well. It is never too soon
to collect original papers (even those dealing with recent events, when
their use may be restricted or forbidden until a specified time has
elapsed) and it is frequently too late. No manuscript is rejected because,
as the prospective donor often remarks, it is "of no interest" or
"only personal" or "not old enough." Even when library space is
limited, it is dangerous business to declare ex cathedra what has historical
value and what has not, and, in any circumstances, who shall
judge what the scholars of future generations will prize most highly
or regard as most trivial? The writings of great and lesser leaders are
seized upon by the antiquarian, and the curio-hunter will covet at least
their autographs, but the papers of obscure persons and organizations
frequently afford the trained scholar a significant point or a bit of
atmosphere that has long escaped him. (How the student of agrarianism
cherishes the fragmentary letter of a poor tenant farmer!)

Since no funds have been available for the purchase of manuscripts,
they have been obtained either as gifts or as loan deposits which are
relatively permanent acquisitions. Among the gifts of the past year

are the Perkins Letters from Cumberland County, written to a soldier
by his wife during the Civil War; the Jones Papers from Surry County
—letters by veterans of the Surry Light Artillery to their comrade, B.
J. Jones,[8] ca. 1900, and weather reports kept by Jones for the Weather
Bureau, 1890-1910; Nicholas P. Trist's copies of Jefferson and Madison
letters (most of them already published),[9] some unpublished notes of
his own, and some contemporary newspapers—all bearing on the nullification
controversy and its political and constitutional background; a
Jefferson letter (1811) and a William G. Pendleton letter concerning
the medical school of the University of Virginia (1833); the letters
(foreign and domestic) and accounts of H. J. Rhodes, tobacconist at
Cartersville, Cumberland County, on the James, ca. 1890-1920; the
papers of Dr. W. M. Seward of Brunswick County, including some
fragmentary manuscripts on the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad, ca.
1830; a small group of papers of William Mullen, pioneer supporter of
the Knights of Labor in Virginia and editor of the first labor newspaper
in the State.[10]

On deposit in the Library are the Edmund Berkeley Manuscripts,
consisting of legal documents and letters of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries (to 1788) and the orders of the vestry of Christ Church
Parish, 21 October 1765 (copy); another consignment of Anderson
Papers,[11] containing more material on the debt controversy in the
famous case of Virginia vs. West Virginia; the Day-Martin Papers
from Isle of Wight County, 1890-1920, including some papers of Senator
Thomas L. Martin; the letters of William Couper, Scotch immigrant
in Norfolk, to his family in Scotland, 1801-45, describing in entertaining
fashion social and economic conditions in his adopted city.
These letters are loaned for the express purpose of photostating. From
Rockbridge County comes an interesting book of autographs of members
of Congress, collected by one of their colleagues in 1842 and presented
"to Miss Glasgow."

In addition to these papers the Library's collection of business records
has been augmented by the account books of grist mills in Albemarle,
Amelia, and Nelson counties; hardware firms in Charlotte County and
Warrenton; a drug and general store in Nelson County; the Cumberland
Tobacco Warehouse, Cumberland Court House; a distillery and

blacksmithing business in Fauquier County; and general stores in
Charlotte Court House and Buchanan, Va. These records vary greatly
in extent and date from ca. 1820 to 1920.

The question of photostating important manuscripts which cannot be
obtained for the Library is raised ever more frequently. Hitherto relatively
little has been done because the Library has no such machine
of its own and because the funds for operating the Virginia Room are
meager. Practically, the photostat is as useful as the original to the
scholar, and owners of manuscripts are learning that the existence of
photostats does not necessarily lessen the market value of the originals.
From time to time interesting letters or diaries or ephemeral papers
come to hand only long enough to be copied and then virtually pass out
of existence. Since the opportunity to make copies may come but once,
it is urgently recommended that a fund for this special purpose be
budgeted.

In the preceding report of the archivist the status of church records
in Virginia was discussed at length.[12] During the past year the proposed
Methodist Historical Society was organized. One of its functions
will be the preservation of the churches' original records, perhaps
in a central repository in Richmond. Meanwhile, in accordance with
the action of the Charlottesville District Conference,[13] a number of
churches in this area have deposited their records in the University
Library for safe-keeping until the Methodist Historical Society provides
a place. The co-operation of the archivist has been invited by the
president of the Society,[14] and it has been suggested that aid and advice
be solicited from the Methodist Historical Society of Maryland
which has been active for many years. Since the Baltimore Conference
includes churches in Northern Virginia, it is hoped that their records
may be kept in the State through the co-operation of the two historical
societies.

In addition to the material obtained on other churches through the
survey by counties, the questionnaire method was used, with moderate
success, to obtain data on the churches in West Hanover Presbytery;
several unpublished historical sketches were also received. The historical
importance of the Established Church during the colonial period,
the decadence of the Episcopal Church after the Revolution, and its
revival by the mid-nineteenth century render its records of special interest.

Those of the colonial period which have survived are being
published by the Virginia State Library,[15] but a few of the eighteenth
century and most of the nineteenth are still in the parishes. The archivist
plans to devote some special attention to a survey of all these
records, presenting a cross-section of the materials of this important
church and perhaps making accessible some hitherto unknown.

From a wide variety of sources have come annual reports, bulletins,
pamphlets, and unpublished sketches—the raw materials of social history
which, until recent years, were seldom regarded as having historical
value. In a few instances printing houses have generously given of
their duplicate stock of pamphlets. Of special value is a gift from
Norfolk of a set of directories of that city, 1869-70, 1875-1925. From
several individuals the Library has received books on Virginia and the
South, long out of print, and files of important periodicals.

Recently the archivist has obtained duplicates of the Acts of the
General Assembly of Virginia (some as early as 1830) and of other
state documents, long stored away in the county clerks' offices. These
documents are to be used on exchange with other states, especially in
the South, to build up sets of their publications in the University
Library. Within Virginia the policy of co-operation among libraries,
set forth in the previous reports of the archivist,[16] was further stressed
at the meeting of the Virginia Library Association last November. The
development of state-wide interest in the preservation of historical materials,
in the broadest meaning of the phrase, is an objective that permits
of no selfish aggrandizement but embraces all active agencies in
the promotion of scholarship.

The progress of similar organizations undertaking manuscript surveys
in Pennsylvania and New York State[17] is evidenced by the publications
they have issued[18] and by communications from time to time with the directors. At Headquarters House, Ticonderoga, New York,
Dr. Julian P. Boyd is in charge of the work sponsored by the New
York Historical Association. Between him and the archivist the policy

of directing historical materials back to the state of their origin (from
New York to Virginia and vice versa) has been put into practice. In
Kentucky, the collection of source materials was begun last year by
Professor T. D. Clark of the University of Kentucky, and exchange
relations are being established between that institution and the University
of Virginia.

The preparation for publication of the data on Virginia newspapers,
previously discussed,[19] will require so considerable a portion of the
time next year as to necessitate a reduction in county survey work. The
following counties and city are slated for 1933-34 (including those remaining
from the past year):

• In Tidewater—Gloucester County.

• On the Eastern Shore—Accomac County.

• In the Piedmont—Lynchburg.

• In the Valley—Rockbridge and Shenandoah counties.

• In Southside Virginia—Brunswick and Halifax counties.

• In Southwestern Virginia—Russell County.

As the work becomes more involved each succeeding year, the need
for an assistant, to relieve the archivist of much of the routine, grows
more imperative. It is suggested that the assistant might be employed
part-time in the Virginia Room, where the curator needs help in handling
and making accessible the steadily increasing manuscript material.

The cordial interest of countless men and women throughout the
state and the co-operation of the University Library staff and of members
of the faculty have been a constant incentive in carrying on the
work. Thanks are due to all those who have so willingly entrusted
their manuscripts and printed records to the University of Virginia.
And, for their counsel and encouragement, the archivist is particularly
indebted to Mr. Harry Clemons, Librarian, and Dr. Wilson Gee, Director
of the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences.