Barnes, Katherine
Mid-20th century flyers and playbills, primarily from performances in Nashville, Tennessee.
This .42 linear feet collection contains materials relating to the lives of the two families, their city, and the university within that city. Among the materials in the collection are: obituaries, resolutions and pamphlets about members of the Baxter and Jackson families; historical articles about Nashville, and early medical education in Nashville; and programs for banquets, special events, and commencement exercises held at Vanderbilt University. It also contains the Court's decision relative to the lawsuit between the Methodist Church and Vanderbilt, a World War I Honor Roll, and a 1929 survey of technical education in the South.
A member of the Vanderbilt faculty from 1937 until 1956, Richmond Croom Beatty served as literary editor for the Nashville Tennessean newspaper and was a prolific author and editor. Correspondence includes letters from Cleanth Brooks, Brainard Cheney, Donald Davidson, Mildred Haun, Randall Jarrell, George Marion O’Donnell, John Crowe Ransom, Alec Brock Stevenson, Jesse Stuart, Walter Sullivan, Allen Tate, Peter Taylor, and Robert Penn Warren. Other materials in the collection include manuscripts for Beatty’s books and article and newspaper clippings.
Mrs. Benedict spent many years working to improve the status of women at Vanderbilt. She was instrumental in the fund drive to raise money to build a women's dormitory and to secure the first Dean of Women, Ada Bell Stapleton. Over the years she also devoted her organizational skills and fund raising abilities to helping Scarritt College, the West End Methodist Church, and the Red Cross.
This 1.05 linear feet collection, 4 boxes, has two series: Series I contains materials related to the activities of the Vanderbilt Alumnae Council, especially their efforts to persuade the University to hire a Dean of Women, build a women's dormitory, and to raise money toward these ends. Series II contains materials unrelated to Vanderbilt Alumnae Council and includes some personal correspondence, ephemeral items, a Bible, pamphlets, a postcard album with 155 cards plus 5 individual postcards, and a sketchbook.
Branscomb, Bennett Harvie
Harvie Branscomb was born on December 25, 1894 in Huntsville, Alabama. After earning degrees at Birmingham College, Oxford University, and Columbia University, Branscomb served as instructor and administrator at Southern Methodist University and Duke University before coming to Vanderbilt in 1946 as Chancellor. While at Vanderbilt, he doubled both the physical facilities of the campus and the number of PhD programs as well as conducting a number of highly successful fund-raising campaigns for the university. Branscomb served as chancellor during the sit-in movement in Nashville and the highly publicized expulsion of graduate student James Lawson for participating in sit-in demonstrations. He died on July 23, 1998 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Harvie Branscomb Papers include correspondence from 1929 to 1978; speeches delivered by Branscomb; academic papers; materials relating to James Lawson; and papers relating to Branscomb’s various regional and international organizational activities.
Britton, James L., III Collection [small collection]
Mr. and Mrs. James L. Britton III were natives of Nashville, Tennessee, with Mrs. Britton being a 1958 graduate of Vanderbilt University.
This collection contains 13 rare Nineteenth Century imprints relating to the State of Tennessee. Nashville-related items include a report for the State of Tennessee, 34th General Assembly, Extra Session, July 1866; a broadside for a resolution authorizing the Secretary of War to audit and pay the claim of Robert T. Kirkpatrick for materials taken and used in building a fort for Nashville, dated March 6, 1871; and a report from the Committee of Claims who had received a petition of twenty-two volunteers, of the State of Tennessee, for per diem pay and forage for horses, May 16, 1848.
Cleanth Brooks was born October 16, 1906 in Murray, Kentucky. He graduated from Vanderbilt University where he met John Crowe Ransom, Donald Davidson, and Andrew Lytle as well as Robert Penn Warren, his lifelong friends and colleagues. From 1932 to 1947 he was a Professor of English at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. From 1947 to 1975 he was an English professor at Yale University, where he held the position of Gray Professor of Rhetoric from 1960 until his retirement in 1975.
This small collection (.21 linear feet ) includes correspondence between Cleanth Brooks and a number of Vanderbilt University faculty about the Fugitive Poets Reunion at Vanderbilt in 1956, the Literary Symposia in 1958 and 1964, and other literary and academic matters. There are also newspaper clippings and articles and several photographs taken by Merrill Moore at the 1956 Fugitive Poets Reunion at Vanderbilt.
Charles Faulkner Bryan was born in 1911 in McMinnville, Tennessee and became one of Tennessee’s greatest composers and musicians. He received his bachelor’s degree in music in 1934 from the Nashville Conservatory of Music. He received his master’s degree from George Peabody College in 1940. After serving in the civilian defense arm of the military in World War II, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and studied at Yale University with Paul Hindemith. While at Yale, he wrote the Bell Witch Cantata which debuted at Carnegie Hall in April 1947. He served on the faculty of George Peabody College from 1947 until 1952, where he served as president of the Tennessee Folklore Society and co-wrote the folk-opera Singin’ Billy with Donald Davidson.
The Charles Faulkner Bryan Papers consist primarily of correspondence, the bulk of which is with Donald Davidson and deals with issues related to the production of Singin’ Billy.
Cheney, Brainard and Frances Neel
Brainard Cheney was a reporter for the Nashville Banner, a novelist and playwright. Frances Neel Cheney worked for the Vanderbilt libraries for 14 years, at the Library of Congress, and taught library courses at George Peabody College. The Brainard and Frances Neel Cheney Papers, 1841-1989, include correspondence, manuscripts of writings, speeches, research materials, publication materials, publicity for books and play productions, reviews, legal and financial documents, family records, memorabilia, clippings and photographs, programs from cultural events, clippings on race relations, materials from Brainard Cheney’s career in politics, and manuscripts of writings by other authors. Among their many correspondents were Caroline Gordon, Donald Davidson, Mildred Haun, Andrew Lytle, Flannery O’Connor, Allen Tate, Peter Taylor, Robert Penn Warren, and Stuart Wright.
Dr. Alfred L. Crabb was Professor of Education at Peabody from 1927 to 1949. He received his B.A. from Peabody College, his M.A. from Columbia University, and his Ph.D. from Peabody College. He was also presented with honorary doctorate degrees from University of Kentucky and Georgetown College. Highly respected as an educator, Crabb was also a successful novelist, penning eleven historical novels. He served as editor of the Peabody Journal of Education for 28 years. He also wrote historical articles for The Peabody Reflector from 1939-1941. He died in 1979.
The Alfred Leland Crabb Papers include correspondence ranging in date from 1914 to 1978. There are also manuscripts from his various writing projects, as well as copies of manuscripts written about him; clippings of reviews of his books; and research materials he assembled while working on various writing projects.
Francis Jackson Craig was born in Dickson, Tennessee, on September 10, 1900. Craig entered Vanderbilt University in January 1919 after a very brief stint in the Army between his eighteenth birthday and the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. A talented pianist, he formed a dance band in 1920 to help pay his college expenses. After graduating in 1922, he continued his music career.
The Francis Craig Papers date from 1919 to 1994 and include a small amount of biographical information, correspondence, memorabilia, and photographs. The bulk of the collection, however, dates from the 1930s and 1940s and consists of clippings, sheet music, and recordings.
Creighton, Wilbur Foster, Jr. Papers [small collection]
Wilbur Foster Creighton, Jr. [1906-2004], a Nashville native graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1929, as an Engineering major. Foster & Creighton, his family-owned construction company has been in Nashville since 1885, constructing several of the buildings on the Vanderbilt University Campus, and many buildings in the city of Nashville, including a replica of the Parthenon that was built for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition of 1897. This small collection contains 6 items related to the history of Foster & Creighton Company, the story of the Parthenon, and other construction projects in Nashville.
A distinguished Medieval and Renaissance scholar, Walter Clyde Curry was a member of the Vanderbilt University English Department faculty for 40 years. He served as head of the English department and the humanities division from 1941 until his retirement in 1955. Walter Clyde Curry was also an initial member of the Fugitive literary movement.
Curry's collection contains 77 outgoing letters; 135 incoming letters; writings - published and unpublished; book reviews; publishers' announcements and revisions; royalty statements; research/lecture notes; budget/curriculum notes; graduate information; offprints by others; diagrams and illustrations; photographs; and ephemera.
A member of the Fugitives literary group, Davidson received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Vanderbilt University and remained at the University his entire professional career (1920 - 1968) teaching English. In addition to being a teacher Davidson was also a poet, novelist, and critic.
The Donald Davidson Papers include correspondence and writings by Davidson as well as reviews, research materials, publications materials, publicity for books, legal and financial documents, family records, newspaper clippings and photographs, segregation materials, and manuscripts of writings by others. The bulk of the materials range from the 1920's through the 1960's.
Demonbreun, Timothy [small collection]
Born in 1747, Timothy Demonbreun was a French-Canadian fur trader who became one of Nashville’s early businessmen. He developed a large mercantile and fur trading business in the city which boasted seventeen employees. By 1790, Demonbreun settled in Nashville permanently and built up a large fortune. He died in 1826.
The Timothy Demonbreun Collection consists of research notes, publications and articles about Demonbreun collected by Vanderbilt University Professor William Bandy.
William Lofland Dudley was born on April 16, 1859 in Covington, Kentucky. He received his B.S. from the University of Cincinnati in 1880. He served as Demonstrator of Chemistry and Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology at Miami Medical College before accepting the Chair in Chemistry at Vanderbilt University in 1866. While at Vanderbilt, Dudley established the Vanderbilt Athletic Association; formed the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (precursor of the Southeastern Conference); reorganized the Medical Department at the request of Chancellor Kirkland; served on the executive committee of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition; and was a fellow and vice-president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He died on September 8, 1914 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The William Lofland Dudley Papers include incoming and outgoing correspondence from 1896-1915; lecture notes; chemistry lectures; papers read at meetings; printed articles and speeches; business papers; papers relating to the founding of the SIAA; pamphlets; newspaper clippings; and scrapbooks. The scrapbooks feature photographs, tickets, programs, and other memorabilia from the Tennessee Centennial which Dudley acquired in the course of his work with the Centennial Executive Committee. For a sample of this material, visit our Tennessee Centennial Online Exhibit.
Foote, Mary Ella Calhoun [small collection]
Mary Ella Calhoun Foote was the daughter of a Nashville jeweler. When she died in 1918, she left her entire estate to Vanderbilt University to erect a building in memory of her father, William Henry Calhoun. This collection includes correspondence ranging in date from 1860 to 1929, and papers relating to the handling of her estate.
Frank, James Marshall [small collection]
A member of the Fugitive literary group and a brother-in-law of Sidney Mttron Hirsch, James Marshall Frank was a successful manufacturer with an interest in literature and education. His materials include correspondence, publications, reprints, clippings, material on the Fugitive Reunion of 1956, and a few photographs.
Fugitive/Agrarian Collection
This collection consists of a variety of material on members of the Fugitive and Agrarian literary groups. It includes material on Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, Ridley Wills, Lyle Lanier, Donald Davidson, and Sidney Hirsch, as well as critical reviews of the Fugitive Magazine.
Fugitive Reunion – 1956
This collection consists of reel-to-reel audios and transcripts from the Fugitive Reunion held in 1956 at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Landon Cabell Garland was born on March 21, 1810 in Nelson County, Virginia. He taught chemistry at both Washington College and Randolph-Macon College, and was elected president of Randolph-Macon College in 1837. In 1854, he was elected president of the University of Alabama. During the Civil War, the University of Alabama was burned to the ground. After a year of trying to rebuild the university, Garland accepted the chair of philosophy and astronomy at the University of Mississippi in 1867. He remained there until coming to Vanderbilt University in 1875 as chancellor. He died February 13, 1895. He is buried with the three bishops - McTyeire, Soule, and McKendree - on the Vanderbilt Campus, near the Divinity School.
The Landon Cabell Garland Papers, 1830-1993, include correspondence, diaries, speeches, sermons, a report to the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust, and personal and biographical materials.
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry Collection was donated by Jesse Wills, president of National Life and Accident Insurance Company, the parent company of WSM, Inc. and the Grand Ole Opry. As president, Wills had access to a wide variety of material associated with country music in general and the Grand Ole Opry in particular. A collection of this material was donated by Jesse Wills in May of 1967 with additional items being given in July of 1968.
The collection is composed of a wide variety of items of historical and musical interest, including the following: correspondence from the 1950s and 1960s; newspaper clippings; songbooks from the 1930s and 1940s; news releases and programs from 1961 to 1967; and photographs.
Mrs. Susie Daniel Kirtland Green (1887-1967), an associate of Margaret Sanger, operated the first birth control clinic in Tennessee at 2204 21st Avenue, South, Nashville, Tennessee, from 1932 to about 1941. In 1941 she began to sell Fem-A-Gyn contraceptive suppositories, which she developed from a recipe that Margaret Sanger included in her "Family Limitation" pamphlet. She and her daughter, Ruth H. Mocker continued a modestly successful mail order business until 1970.
The collection documents her professional life as a birth control advocate and includes correspondence, business papers, personal papers and notes, newspaper clippings, and artifacts. The patient records series, which span 1934 to 1966, are restricted.
William Giles Harding [1808-1886] was born near Nashville and attended the University of Nashville; the American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy in Middletown, Connecticut; and, studied law in Litchfield, Connecticut. At the beginning of the American Civil War he served as a General in the Tennessee militia. In 1862 he was imprisoned for six months by federal troops as a political prisoner, for supporting the Confederate rebellion, and sent to Detroit and Fort Mackinaw, Michigan. During his absence, his wife was left to manage their home, the Belle Meade Plantation. During the war, his plantation was used as a headquarters for the Union Army. After the war, Belle Meade became one of the best thoroughbred breeding farms in the country.
This collection includes original, handwritten general correspondence sent to William Giles Harding primarily from Matthew Fontaine Maury, 1827-1872. The letters discuss Agricultural and Meterological Societies, importation of Llamas and Alpacas from South America to Tennessee, the Civil War, and politics. Also included is original handwritten family correspondence from William Giles Harding's wife Elizabeth I. McGavock Harding; daughter, Selene; daughter-in-law, Maggie; servant, Susanna; sister-in-law, Mary McGavock Southall; nephew, Randal McGavock Southall; and, friends beginning in 1860 and continuing while he was in prison during the American Civil War and ending in1867. The letters chronicle family life in Nashville during the Union occupation.
The Harpeth Valley Garden Club was organized in 1930, in Nashville, with the purpose of discussing gardening. The Garden Club was limited to 40 people. The monthly meetings were held in the homes of the members on a rotating basis. Guest lecturers were invited to discuss horticulture. This collection contains three bound volumes of meeting minutes and membership lists, dated 1930 to 1938.
Haun, Andrew and Mattie Papers
Born in 1870, Andrew Haun received his teaching degree from Tusculum College in 1888. In 1893, Mr. Haun moved to Nashville to accept a position as teacher at an elementary school. In 1910, he and his wife Mattie moved to Franklin, Tennessee where Mr. Haun became principal of the elementary school and superintendent of the city schools. Andrew Haun died in 1947.
This contains correspondence, diaries, family records, newspaper clippings and other materials relating to Andrew Jacob Haun and Mattie Francis Oliver Haun, aunt and uncle of the southern writer Mildred E. Haun.
Nancy Hendrix, a Vanderbilt alumna was active in the establishment and development of the Nashville women’s movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Topics covered in the collection include articles and clipping on the national women’s movement as well as other socio-political issues of the time period including southern history issues and the Vietnam War.
History of Desegregation at Vanderbilt
The material in this collection consists of oral history interviews conducted by students in History 295-01, The History of Undergraduate Desegregation at Vanderbilt, taught by Dr. Peter Felten Fall 2004. The collection includes digital audio files of the interviews, interview transcripts, a class syllabus, and annotated bibliographies of select resources assigned to students for research.
Interview questions focused on student experiences and perspectives on desegregation during the mid-1960s. Interview subjects were selected from a wide range of people who were on campus, including both students and administrators. Students used a variety of materials in Special Collections to prepare for the interviews, including the Chancellor’s Papers; files of the Human Relations Council; back issues of The Hustler; yearbooks; manuscript collections, including the Kelly Miller Smith Papers; and other relevant records.
James Hampton Kirkland was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina on September 9, 1859. He received an A.B. in 1877 and A.M. in 1878 from Wofford College. He received a Ph.D. in Comparative Philology at the University of Leipzig in 1885. In 1886, he was appointed professor of Latin at Vanderbilt University. In 1893 he was elected chancellor and served in that position until his retirement in 1937. He died in 1939.
The James Hampton Kirkland Papers contain correspondence, writings, biographical material, material relating to his academic career, legal papers, financial records, family papers, and newspaper clippings.
Leadership in Nashville Collection [small collection]
The Leadership in Nashville Collection contains one manuscript item with 41 pages, titled Leadership in Nashville. It contains a listing of 116 of the most prominent citizens in Nashville leadership, with brief accompanying biographical sketches. A special project chosen by a History of Nashville Class of Senior Citizens, they were selected on the basis of their contributions to city, state, or nation. By agreement, no one was included whose death occurred less than twenty years before the class.
Little Theatre of Nashville Guild
This collection contains information related to the Little Theatre of Nashville Guild. It includes bylaws, minutes, and financial statements.
McRaven, Henry Papers [small collection]
Henry McRaven was born in Yazoo, Mississippi. He worked for the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas, Texas for 11 years before moving to Nashville. His book about one of Nashville's founders, "The Life and Times of Edward Swanson" was authored and published in 1937. His book on the history of Nashville, "Nashville: Athens of the South," was published in 1949.
The Henry McRaven Papers are comprised of 6 folders of typescript on onionskin paper. The first folder contains lists of Nashville officials including Chamber of Commerce Presidents (1869-1947), Mayors (1806-1947), and Postmasters (1796-1947). The remaining folders contain accounts compiled from various newspapers by Mr. McRaven of Presidents' visits to Nashville. An account exists for Presidents McKinley, F. D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson. While there were no dates presented for the collection, the most likely dates were from around 1934, when he moved to Nashville, to 1947, the latest date on the list of officials.
McTyeire-Baskervill Papers
The McTyeire-Baskervill Papers contain the family papers of Bishop Holland Nimmons McTyeire, Janie McTyeire Baskervill, and William Malone Baskervill. Bishop McTyeire persuaded Cornelius Vanderbilt to endow Vanderbilt University as an educational institution and served as president of the first Board of Trust.
The McTyeire-Baskervill Papers contain correspondence; papers relating to Vanderbilt University; materials relating to the history of the McTyeire family; and newspaper clippings.
Nashville as Historical Laboratory Collection
The research and subsequent manuscripts in this collection were completed by students enrolled in Vanderbilt University, History 295 (Nashville and the Urban South), in Spring Semester 1977 and Fall Semester 1978. The summary of the course and discussion of the papers, in the context of Nashville history, was written by Professor Don Harrison Doyle. The 26 student papers cover events 1870-1940.
Louis Thurston Nicholas was born on October 2, 1910, the son of Jeff Thurston and Lottie Dunivant Nicholas. He received the A.B. degree at Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College) in 1934, did post-graduate work at the Memphis College of Music from 1934-1938, received the M.Mus. degree at the University of Michigan in 1939, and received a diploma for Specialist in Music Education from Columbia University in 1952.
His career as an educator includes positions in Dyer County, 1928-1930, and Memphis, 1936-1941, Public Schools, and Instructor of Music at North Texas State Teachers College, 1941-1944. In 1944, Nicholas came to George Peabody College for Teachers, where he was a member of the music faculty until 1979. He was also a music critic of note, having held the position of Music Editor and Critic for The Tennessean in Nashville from 1951 to 1975.
The Papers of Louis Thurston Nicholas, which cover the years 1920-1995, consist of 40 cubic feet of material and are concerned with Nicholas's personal and professional life. Major series in the papers include personal and professional correspondence; The Tennessean - music editor and critic; Thor Johnson: American Conductor; personal and biographical material; National Association of Teachers of Singing; George Peabody College Summer Concert Series; musical and academic career; and collection of programs.
Frank Lawrence Owsley obtained his B.S. in 1912 from the Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn, Alabama and his M.A. in history from University of Chicago in 1917. He joined the staff of Vanderbilt University in 1920. He was a member of the Agrarians literature movement at Vanderbilt and wrote the essay entitled "The Irrepressible Conflict" for I'll Take My Stand: the South and the Agrarian Tradition published by Harper Brothers of New York and London in 1930.
The Frank Lawrence Owsley Paper include correspondence; writings; personal and biographical materials; Agrarian literary group material; papers relating to his academic career and professional activities; and research materials.
Peabody Dames [small collection]
The Peabody Dames was organized in 1915 with its object being “the promotion of sociability among its members and the discussion of current interests, and such other forms of self-improvement as shall be designated from time to time.” The first minutes from the meetings of the Peabody Dames date from 1917 and are entered in a notebook that also contains some reports of the Treasurer and rolls of membership. Membership included students, wives of students, faculty, wives of faculty, administrative staff, mothers of students, and any woman officially connected to Peabody. The organization shut down in the 1970’s.
The collection covers the years 1917 to 1974 and includes correspondence, bylaws, reports, yearbooks, programs, and scrapbooks.
The Query Club was founded by Olympe Trabue in 1885 to discuss intellectual and popular topics of the era. This collection contains a member roster, a short history of the club, and cassettes of programs and reminiscences of the Fugitives and Agrarians by Query Club members during the 1993-1994 year.
John Crowe Ransom was born April 30, 1888 in Pulaski, Tennessee. He graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1909, was a Rhodes Scholar at Christ Church, Oxford, 1910-1913, and joined the faculty of Vanderbilt in 1914, where he taught English until 1937. While at Vanderbilt, Ransom was a major figure in the Fugitive and Agrarian Groups and their publications, The Fugitive (1922-1925) and I'll Take My Stand (1930). In 1937, Ransom accepted a position at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio as professor of poetry and later founded and edited an important literary quarterly, The Kenyon Review (1939-1959). Ransom retired in 1959, but remained active in literary pursuits until his death in 1974 at the age of eighty-six. His works of poetry include Poems About God (1919), Chills and Fever (1924), and Selected Poems (1945, 1963, 1969).
The collection consists primarily of correspondence and manuscripts produced during Ransom's retirement (1959-1974), although important earlier materials are included, such as Ransom's letters to his wife, Robb Reavill Ransom, dated 1920-1938. Also included are class rolls, clippings, family records, financial records, Kenyon College items, lecture notes, memorabilia, photographs, programs, publications, recommendations, and school catalogs. There are also a few scattered older pieces of incoming correspondence, such as a 1917 letter from Macmillan rejecting the manuscript which was eventually published as Poems About God.
Slentz, Paul [small collection]
Paul Slentz received a Master’s degree in 1979 and a Masters of Divinity degree in 1998 from Vanderbilt University. He was active in the non-violent protests concerning the hosting of the Davis Cup Tennis Tournaments at Vanderbilt University in the spring of 1978 and also in the Tenn Care Health Care Funding Crisis in 2004 and 2005. He is a pastor in the United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee.
This small collection 0.42 linear feet ( 1 Hollinger box ) contains materials relating to South Africa and Apartheid and in particular to The Davis Cup tennis championship that was held in Nashville at Vanderbilt in the spring of 1978. These papers were collected by Paul L. Slentz while he was a graduate student at Vanderbilt during the years 1977 - 1979.
A prominent church leader and activist, Kelly Miller Smith played a significant role in the civil rights movement, serving as part of the circle of advisors to Martin Luther King, Jr. He was pastor of the First Baptist Church, Capital Hill for 34 years. The first African-American named to the faculty of the Vanderbilt Divinity School, he served as Lecturer in Church and Ministries and as Assistant Dean. Smith was very active in the civil rights movement in Nashville as well as nationally.
The Kelly Miller Smith Papers include correspondence, notebooks kept as a student at Morehouse and Harvard Universities, biographical/personal material, writings, church records, subject files, and other related materials.
Stahlman, James G.
A Nashville native and Vanderbilt alumnus, James G. Stahlman was a nationally prominent newspaper publisher and member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust. As publisher of the Nashville Banner newspaper for 42 years, Stahlman was active in national newspaper and civic organizations. The James G. Stahlman Papers contain materials relating to his newspaper career; his support and activities regarding Vanderbilt University, his military and aviation career during World War II, and his political and community activities.
Walter Sullivan, a native of Nashville, is a 1947 Vanderbilt University alumnus who later became a Professor of English at Vanderbilt University for 51 years, and retired in 2000. Professor Sullivan is Vanderbilt's leading authority on the Fugitives and the Agrarians, and was personal friends with Donald Davidson, Peter Taylor, Allen Tate, Andrew Lytle, and Robert Penn Warren. This collection contains 157 pieces of correspondence, in 27 file folders, to Walter Sullivan from the following Southern literary writers, who were part of the Fugitives/Agrarians: Donald Davidson, Andrew Lytle, Allen Tate, Peter Taylor, and Robert Penn Warren. It also includes four (4) books, and 43 reel-to-reel tapes, in chronological order, from Literary Symposium Lectures, panels, readings, and interviews with Southern writers.
Henry Lee Swint received his B.A. from Birmingham Southern College in 1929. He received his M.A. in 1930 and his Ph.D. in 1939 from Vanderbilt University. He served on the faculty of the Vanderbilt University History Department from 1939 to 1987. He died in 1987.
The Henry Lee Swint Papers include correspondence; writings; research notes; speeches; lecture notes; book reviews; offprints; correspondence regarding Swint's two books; and research notes on Vanderbilt's history.
John Thompson, a native of Nashville, was a graduate of the former Wallace School. He attended Vanderbilt University and received a B.A. in 1930 and M.A. in 1932. He then attended Harvard Law School. In 1933 he joined the staff of the Tennessean, where he became an editorial writer and a day city editor. He also was a night manager of the Associated Press Nashville Bureau. In 1942, he enlisted in the United States Navy for service in World War II. In 1944 he was promoted to Lieutenant, and was discharged with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. In 1945, he wrote a weekly newsletter for the naval post squadron and wings. He was stationed in Alaska, and later assigned to a naval cruiser in the Pacific.
This .21 linear feet collection contains 63 letters, two postcards, and one V-Mail Christmas Card from John Thompson to several family members while serving in the United States Navy during World War II. The letters are arranged in file folders chronologically by year, then month.
Tigert, John James, IV
John James Tigert IV was born on February 11, 1882. He received an A.B. from Vanderbilt University, a B.A. from Oxford University, an M.A. from the University of Minnesota, and an LL.D. from the University of Kentucky. He served as president of the University of Florida from 1928-1947. He died on January 21, 1965.
The John James Tigert Papers include correspondence; addresses and lectures; newspaper clippings; family history materials; legal and business papers; materials relating to the founding of Vanderbilt University; biographical material on John James Tigert (1856-1906); and miscellaneous materials.
Founded in 1894, the Vanderbilt Aid Society collected donations to financially assist students attending the university. This small collection of papers (1894-1971) includes the constitution and by-laws of the society, annual reports, financial records, and correspondence.
Vandy Goes to War: World War II
In Fall 2006, Special Collections began a new oral history project called Vandy Goes to War: World War II Remembered. The purpose of the project was to record the histories and reminiscences of men and women with connections to Vanderbilt during the war years and to document their experiences in the service and on the campus during that time. The interviews include eye witness accounts of soldiers fighting at the Battle of the Bulge, in the far east at Okinawa, and flying aerial reconnaissance in the European theatre. One soldier, a prisoner of war in a camp in Germany tells his story in this important archive of Vanderbilt’s history. Another tells of liberating prisoners from Dachau Concentration camp in southern Germany. Women speak of taking leadership positions in campus life and of their efforts on the home front.
Voices of Peabody Oral History Project
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The Voices of Peabody Oral History Project was begun in the spring 2005 with the intention of making an archival record of diverse experiences of the Peabody-Vanderbilt merger in 1979. The collection includes digitized interviews and interview transcriptions along with supporting materials. The interview questions cover a broad range of topics including changes brought about at both institutions by the merger, reactions to its announcement, and coverage by the news media.
Voices of Vanderbilt Oral History Project
In 1997, a graduate student in the History Department began an oral history project on desegregation at Vanderbilt University. A series of interviews were conducted with Vanderbilt administrators. Thirteen of these interviews are available for research at the Voices of Vanderbilt web site.
The photographs in this collection were taken by Victoria Webb, and donated to Vanderbilt University on July 4, 2002. They were taken as the result of her involvement with the women’s liberation movement in Nashville, during the 1970s, and the publication titled, “Women’s Free Express.”
Werthen, Mary Jane
An alumna of Vanderbilt and the first woman to serve on the Vanderbilt Board of Trust, Mrs. Mary Jane (Lowenheim) Werthen received her B.A. in 1929 and her M.A. in 1935. She also served on the Alumni Board of Directors as well as a number of Nashville area educational and social welfare organizations. Her collection of papers includes newspaper clippings, programs and invitations to civic events, and photographs relating to her committee and Board of Trust activities.
Jesse Ely Wills, 1899-1977, a Nashville native, was a member of the group of poets who met in Nashville in the early 1920's to write and publish the influential literary magazine The Fugitive. He was an officer and executive of the National Life and Accident Insurance company during his business career and was active in Vanderbilt University affairs as a member of the Board of Trust and chairman of the Board of the Joint University Libraries.
This collection contains correspondence; writings; book drafts; offprints; and newspaper clippings.
The Women at Vanderbilt Collection is comprised of the reading assignments and seminar papers prepared in the Fall of 1981 by students in History 295/2, a course in historiography taught by Professor Barbara Weinstein. The seminar papers are listed alphabetically by author following a folder containing assignments and selected readings.
Women’s Organizations at Vanderbilt
Miscellaneous materials relating to the following women’s organizations at Vanderbilt: Nashville University Women’s Council; Southeastern Women’s Studies Association; Staff Women’s Association; Vanderbilt Professional Women; Vanderbilt Women’s Faculty Organization; Women’s Center; and Women’s Concerns Exploration Group. Coverage for each organization varies but includes some of the following: newsletters, by-laws, membership applications, meeting minutes, surveys, and other material.
WSM Radio and Television
President of National Life and Accident Insurance Company – the parent company of WSM, Inc. – Jesse Wills appreciated the research value of the wide variety of material related to the activities of WSM Radio and TV. In May of 1967, he donated to Vanderbilt University an assortment of this material and added to the collection in July of 1968. Jesse Wills also donated the Grand Ole Opry Collection, which complements the WSM Radio and TV material.
The WSM Radio and TV Collection is composed of correspondence; photographs; scripts of radio programs; and promotional material. Dates of the collection range from 1928 to 1966 with a large portion of the material dated in the 1940s.