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John Fulton "Uncle Remus" Collection
1878 - 1928

Biography/History

John Fulton (1837-1932} was born a slave on Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage estate in Hermitage, Tennessee and died in Nashville.

In 1885, he came to Vanderbilt University to serve the famous IV Club, composed of four bachelor professors who kept house together in Wesley Hall. They were: William L. Dudley, Austin H. Merrill, J. T. McGill and W. T. Magruder. James H. Kirkland, destined to become chancellor, later joined the group. As members of the group married, there remained only William L. Dudley, and he became his private servant. He resided in a small room in the basement of Wesley Hall, where he entertained the students by playing his guitar, singing ancient ballads, and reading Uncle Remus stories to the students, which is how he acquired his nickname. Fulton’s room was a storehouse of memories. He collected photographs from the students and literally papered all four walls with the photographs. Those that would not fit on the wall were stored in trunks. And, the amazing thing is that he could tell you the names of every student.

In 1914, after Dudley’s death, he became the caretaker for Mrs. R. F. Jackson. His duties kept him at that place during the day, but when night came he went back to his little room in the basement of Wesley Hall until the fire in February 1932. He died shortly after in April 1932.

In 1975, the Alumni Office transferred this collection to Special Collections.

Scope and Contents

This 2.21 linear feet collection contains two series: Series I contains two postcards, an election campaign card, four guest registers, and a newspaper clipping. Series II contains 400+ photographs, some with inscriptions. All have been numbered and scanned into the photograph database. Except for some images at the end, the photographs are alphabetical by person. When known, graduation year is included.

Box Listing

Series I – General

Box 1 Series II – Photographs

Box 1 – Adams to Davidson Box 2 – Davis to Holderness Box 3 – Holland to McKenzie Box 5 – Sharp to Woodard Box 6 – Woodson to Zimmerman, Unidentified, and Misc.

Overview | Complete Finding Aid (pdf)

Special Collections | Heard Library | Vanderbilt University

Copyright © Special Collections, Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University
Last modified: April 10, 2008
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