A PBS program designed to stimulate public participation and understanding by focusing on realistic choices that must be made in the future, by having both sides of the question presented, and by demonstrating the interest which public officials have in both reasoned arguments and the views of their constituents. Program topics varied depending on current news and concerns of the public. The program ran from October 5, 1969 through May 23, 1974; then again bi-weekly from January 26, 1978 through September 9, 1979.
Anti-Slavery Pamphlets
A collection of pamphlets about the institution of slavery and race relations, ranging in date from 1787 to 1949.
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.
Cheney, Brainard and Frances Neel
Brainard Cheney was a reporter for the Nashville Banner, a novelist and playwright. 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.
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 last thirty-five boxes of the collection contain papers from Frances Neel Cheney’s career in Library Science including correspondence, writings, speeches, course materials from the Japan Library School and the Peabody Library School, publication materials, work with the Tennessee Library Association, a national survey on Public Library Reference Service for the American Library Association, bibliographies, and library related writings by others.
This collection contains 21 letters (1861-1884), arranged in nine folders by year, mostly written by James C. Chowning to his mother and sisters, during the Civil War and afterwards. They describe his training with the Tennessee Volunteers in the Confederate Army, and military operations of those troops. These letters provide a somewhat detailed description of training in the camps, of rumors among the troops, and his opinion of political events. A few letters were written from admirers to his sisters. Most of the letters are handwritten, some with a typescript.
This collection contains 33 items of which 25 are photographs. The materials were received from Mrs. Betty E. Clark, a 1952 George Peabody College graduate. The materials are related to student life at George Peabody College. The .21 linear foot collection is arranged by subject, and in 18 file folders.
The Clark Family papers (1816-1899) include correspondence of various members of the Clark family of Campbell County, Virginia, originally Quakers, but later scattered to other denominations. Subjects include business transactions, the Civil War, education, family life, Nineteenth-Century customs, poetry, and religion.
Letters from Brazil: 1929-1945. The letters, for the most part, are addressed to family members and are plentifully detailed accounts of Mary Helen's days in Brazil, particularly in Belo Horizonte, Minas; PortoAlegre; and in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Moore of the Instituto Granberry. As a kind of diary – suggested through the details, lengths, and frequency of these epistles – the letters provide first-hand accounts of a Native American's Latin-American experience, everything from foods, behaviors, language and customs of the people to the political surging of the times. The letters are arranged chronologically and are generally all first-draft compositions. In addition to Helen Clark's own letters, there is one folder of her sister Blanche Henry Clark's correspondence during her stay in Brazil in 1932.
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 (1906 - 1968) 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 come from the 1920's through the 1960's.
This collection contains 2 items, relating to the return of a slave, George Davidson, to his owner.
This collection contains documents regarding men involved in a secret society during the Civil War. Apparently a portion of the record of a court-martial of men involved in a "Peace Society" called "The Knights of the Golden Circle." Four typed copies. The original document is a small notebook found among the papers of the Douglas-Ferrell family in Nashville, Tennessee. The first pages of the document are missing.
Egerton has written or edited eleven non-fiction books and contributed over two hundred articles to periodicals. He has also been a participant in and writer for many projects or conferences dealing with desegregation and civil rights. The John Egerton Papers, 1950s-2001, include correspondence, manuscripts of writings, speeches, research materials, publication materials, publicity for books, reviews, legal and financial documents, memorabilia, clippings and photographs, programs from cultural events, scrapbooks and periodicals on race relations and school desegregation, and audio and video tapes. Major topics include civil rights, desegregation, race relations, Southern history, and Southern food.
This collection contains two handwritten diaries, one each for the years 1907 and 1911. The writer, M. E. Fletcher, seems to be the wife of George Fletcher of Arno, Williamson County, Tennessee.
Lucy Gage served as professor of elementary education at Western State Teachers College in Kalamazoo, Michigan (1907-1920) and at George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee (1920-1942). This collection contains papers written by Miss Gage in manuscript, typescript and carbon copy. Among them is a small autograph book made up at the time of her retirement from Peabody College in 1942; newspaper clippings (some undated); a biographical paper with a vivid account of Gage’s pioneering efforts in early childhood education and legislation in Oklahoma in 1902; and other related material.
Gordon, Caroline [small collection]
Wife of the author Alan Tate and a professional author in her own right, this small collection of personal letters highlights her own difficulties in publishing her works as well as problems on the domestic front. Additional Gordon letters can be found in the Cheney Papers.
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. The collection documents her professional life as a birth control advocate.
This collection contains copies of letters written by Alfred T. Hamilton to his father, 1858 and 1859. He was a doctor in Franklin County, and his letters discuss the medical conditions of his patients as well as living conditions in the South. Copies of 2 letters from James B. Childs to Mrs. Noble in 1961 regarding the location of the town.
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.
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.
Haun, Mildred Eunice
Tennessee folklorist and author Mildred Haun studied under Donald Davidson and John Crowe Ransom at Vanderbilt in the late 1930s. She later worked as an editorial assistant to Alan Tate at the Sewanee Review. She later worked for the Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tullahoma. The bulk of the collection consists of folktales and writings by Haun. Also included in the collection is correspondence, personal diaries, and personal papers.
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.
This collection contains four handwritten legal trial transcripts, arranged in four file folders, signed by Andrew Jackson who was the Judge of the Superior Court. A typescript of each letter is included in the folders: May 20, 1791 - Regarding payment of one hundred pounds in merchandise; May, 1793 - Property Sale; August 6, 1799 - Loan of two Negro boys for one year in exchange for 12 pounds Virginia money; February 25, 1803 - Property Sale.
Jones, Thomas S. / John R. Jones
This collection contains the accounting records of a plantation in Charleston, Mississippi; the correspondence of two brothers, Thomas S. Jones [who was in charge of the plantation] and John R. Jones [who was practicing medicine in Marshall County, Tennessee]; and speech.
Morton B. King received a Bachelor of Arts in English, from Vanderbilt University, in 1934, and his Masters of Arts in Sociology in 1936. While a student at Vanderbilt University he had contact with several Agrarians on the faculty and off. Since he grew up in a small Middle Tennessee town on a farm he was particularly drawn to the main Agrarian message. He was also involved with the Student Christian Movement whose theme was racial justice. As a Depression Era graduate entering the job market, he chose to become a relief worker, instead of going on relief. He later became a Professor of Sociology at the University of Mississippi. This .21 linear feet collection of 14 file folders contains recollections, correspondence, newsletters, a newspaper, newspaper clippings, a satiric flyer, and materials related to the Student Christian Association.
This collection contains four letters written to Vivian Marsh from Mabel Mobley in Johnston, South Carolina. Mrs. Mobley was born in slavery. In 1967, when these letters were written Mabel lived on the Marsh Plantation. Topics discussed: cotton, peaches, pecans, blackberries, recipe for Japanese Fruit Cake, winemaking, how people treat the elderly.
Merrill Moore graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1924. He was a member of the Fugitive literary group. He became a physician and wrote sonnets throughout his life.
Louise Littleton Davis was a writer for the Tennessean newspaper.
The Merrill Moore and Louise Davis Collection, 1943-1956, includes an autobiographical sketch of Merrill Moore, correspondence, poetry, bibliography and articles, publication materials, articles about Merrill Moore, and personal and biographical materials. The collection is small, only 1/3 of a cubic foot. The majority of this collection is focused on the person of Merrill Moore, both as a doctor and a poet.
This collection contains correspondence, a diary, a daily devotional book, newspaper clippings, and hospital insurance papers belonging to Annie P. Ransom, daughter of John Crowe Ransom.
The Laura Riding Collection, 1923-1933, includes correspondence, poetry, and lists of potential subscribers to The Fugitive magazine. The collection is very minimal, containing seven letters, six poems, and several pages of lists and notecards. The focus of this collection is Laura Riding’s connection to The Fugitive magazine.
Polly Ann Billington Roulhac was a Vanderbilt University graduate, who served as a Recreation Worker and Assistant Field Director for the American Red Cross from 1942-1944. She was attached to various hospitals in Maryland, Oklahoma, England, Algeria, and Italy. The book is compiled of three years of letters and v-mail 'home', to various members in her family, while serving in the American Red Cross in Europe and Africa during World War II.
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.
Smith, Mary Anne Downey
A longtime social and political activist, Mary Anne Smith has been active in a variety of different causes including nuclear weapons freeze and multiple women’s issues. Her collection includes posters, buttons and pins, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and information packets and pamphlets.
Smith, Will Ella Tatom Johnson and James Mapheus Smith
Will Ella was a librarian at Vanderbilt University from 1922 to 1931. She married James Mapheus Smith in Paducah, Kentucky on July 25, 1923. In 1931, she and Mapheus moved to Lawrence, Kansas where he had obtained a position as an Assistant Professor of Sociology. Will Ella and Mapheus stayed in Kansas until 1943 when they moved to Washington D.C. so that Mapheus could work for the Selective Service System. They stayed in Washington until 1966 when Mapheus retired from government work. The series breakdowns for Will Ella Tatom Johnson Smith are: correspondence, writings, personal, subject files, and writings by others.
Southern Politics (Alexander Heard Papers)
Part of the collection of Chancellor Emeritus Alexander Heard, this collection consists of drafts and research materials for the book Southern Politics in State and Nation by V.O. Key, Jr. and A Two-Party South? by Alexander Heard. A large part of this collection consists of transcripts of interviews on Southern politics used as the basis for the two aforementioned books.
To use this collection, researchers must sign an agreement promising to keep names of the original participants confidential.
SSOC [Southern Students Organizing Committee] Reunion – 2002
This is an artificial collection of materials related to the 2002 SSOC Reunion weekend, held in Nashville, Tennessee. It includes a schedule of events, SSOC timeline, and materials donated by reunion attendees.
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 (1909-1987) served on the faculty of the Vanderbilt University History Department from 1939 to 1987. The Henry Lee Swint Papers date from 1933 to 1978 and are comprised primarily of correspondence, writings, and research notes. Swint carried on an extensive correspondence with students, former students, and colleagues at other institutions, mainly discussing research interests and personal concerns. A more limited correspondence with faculty and other colleagues at Vanderbilt contains information regarding administrative matters, including controversial subjects such as the 1960 dismissal of Divinity School student James Lawson for participating in civil rights demonstrations in Nashville. The collection also includes a fairly extensive file of speeches and lecture notes, book reviews, article manuscripts and offprints, correspondence regarding Swint's two books, and research notes on Vanderbilt's history.
A native of Tennessee and a Vanderbilt alumnus, Peter Taylor was a novelist and short story writer who won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his 1986 novel A Summons to Memphis. He was a student of John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, and Robert Penn Warren, members of the Fugitive and Agrarian literary groups. The collection contains the following series materials: correspondence, writings, literary career, academic career, biographical/personal papers, associates and writings by others. In his letters, Taylor describes his feelings on such varied topics as education, teaching, writing, reading, religion, his military and wartime experiences, marriage, and relationships with family and friends.
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.
Vann, Elizabeth Collins Denny
An early alumna of Vanderbilt University (B.A. 1904, M.A. 1905), Elizabeth C. Denny led a varied and successful career in teaching; leadership in community, civic, governmental and church affairs; and remained active in public affairs. The Vann family spent a number of years working and teaching in Brazil and traveling through South America. The Vann collections consists of correspondence, information on the history of Vanderbilt University and Scarritt College, diaries, travel literature, and autobiographical notes.
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.
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.