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Correspondence, speeches, manuscripts, research notes, and other papers of a historian who served on the faculty of West Virginia University from 1932 to 1965 and as chairman of the history department from 1946 to 1962. Included are: his official as well as personal correspondence; notes for speeches; research notes, rough drafts and proofs for his published works on William L. Wilson and Johnson Newlon Camden; exams, outlines, and notes for classes he taught; material relating to the University Senate and committees on which he served; a scrapbook covering Monongalia County and other subjects (1850-1897); and papers relating to West Virginia University. Included is a manuscript history of West Virginia University which Summers worked on during his retirement and which William T. Doherty, Jr. finished and published in 1982 as WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY: SYMBOL OF UNITY IN A SECTIONALIZED STATE. There is also desk plaque given to Summers when he served on the West Virginia Centennial Commission; the plaque is fashioned of wood from the first capitol in Wheeling.

Diary kept by Corporal James M. Chidester, Co. A, 3rd Regiment, Virginia Volunteer Infantry, during his service in the Civil War, 1861-1864. Contains day by day accounts of the marches and battles in which he participated, descriptions of camp life and general conditions for Union soldiers. His company was active throughout West Virginia, Western Maryland and the Northern Virginia and District Columbia area. He participated in battles at Romney, Cedar Mountain, Manassas Junction, Janelew, Hedgesville, Martinsburg, Bull Run, and White Sulphur Springs. At White Sulphur Springs in 1863 he was wounded and taken prisoner by the Confederate Army and transferred to Richmond, Virginia. He remained in Richmond for about one month, then was traded for Confederate prisoners and sent to Annapolis Hospital at the U.S. Naval Academy, and later discharged, March 1, 1864. The final page of the diary are a memoir of Chidester's life after the war as a teacher and storekeeper in Preston County, West Virginia, where he served as assessor and deputy sheriff for many years. There are also some accounts, a record of letters sent and received while in the hospital in Annapolis, and lists of books read while in Annapolis.

This collection contains documents and other material regarding the Civil War, including a diary, letters, reports, clippings, a muster roll, and other material. The majority of items in the collection regard the Civil War in West Virginia. Items within the collection are facsimiles and photocopies. Highlights of the collection include: the diary of Alex McGraw, who served with the West Virginia First Light Artillery; a letter from Captain Robert Coles of Virginia Fortieth Infantry, Wise Legion to Colonel Lucius Davis requesting certification to purchase necessary equipment; a letter from General John B. Floyd to A.W.G. Davis giving authorization to raise supplies for the Confederate Army of the Kanawha; a morning report of the Fifth Brigade, Confederate Army of the Northwest commanded by William Booth Taliaferro; and a muster roll of the Second Virginia Volunteer Cavalry, Company G. See "Scope and Content Note" for more detail.

Records relating to the history of southeastern West Virginia. Most of the items in the collection relate to Greenbrier and/or Monroe County. Includes antebellum (1833-1850; 7 items), Civil War (1861-1863; 4 items), and postbellum (1886-1933; 9 items) materials. Antebellum material includes a land suit, an estate report and schedule, other financial documents, and personal letter. Civil War material includes four letters authored by Confederate soldiers. Two of these letters describe the battle of Carnifex Ferry. Family names Sharitz and Yonce appear in three of the letters. Postbellum material includes pharmacy receipts, personal letters, programs, and a photograph.

Letters of William Ludwig, a soldier with the Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The letters are to his father, Charles Ludwig, and his brother, George, both in Cincinnati, Ohio, from various camps in West Virginia. This collection also contains a record book of the regiment compiled in 1885 by Alex S. Oliver of Company "G", and a newspaper article, written in 1889, presenting a short history of the regiment.