Marshall McDonald papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Military Institute Archives
Preston Library
Virginia Military Institute
345 Letcher Ave.
Lexington, VA 24450-0304
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Jeffrey S. Kozak
Phone: (540) 464-7516
Phone: (540) 464-7566
Fax: (540) 464-7089
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Manuscript collections in the VMI Archives are made available for educational and research use. The VMI Archives should be cited as the source. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright holders. Materials from our collections may not be redistributed, published or reproduced without permission from the VMI Archives. Contact the VMI Archives for additional information.

Preferred citation:

Marshall McDonald personal papers, 1861-1892. MS 0169. VMI Archives, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

The Marshall McDonald papers (approximately 90 items) include primarily correspondence (1861-1892), notes, scientific reports, and documents. Among the correspondents are several VMI alumni and faculty members and Civil War officers, including:

  • Scott Shipp
  • Francis H. Smith
  • Edward Cunningham
  • Wilfred E. Cutshaw
  • John W. Lyell
  • James H. Morrison
  • Mark B. Hardin
  • Daniel W. Flowerree
  • General Dabney H. Maury
  • Hunter McGuire
Correspondence topics include McDonald's service in the Engineer and Ordnance Deptartments, glimpses of Civil War and post-War life at VMI (in the Smith and Shipp letters), and McDonald's professional concerns.

Biographical / historical:

Marshall McDonald was born in 1835 in Romney, West Virginia. He graduated VMI in 1860. During the Civil War he was a Confederate Army engineer and ordnance officer stationed at the Selma, Alabama arsenal. From 1866 to 1872 he was a VMI faculty member (chemistry, mineralogy, and geology). McDonald died in 1895.

Physical location:
Manuscripts stacks