Collections : [Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library]

Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

Special Collections and Archives
James G. Leyburn Library
Washington and Lee University
204 W. Washington Street
Lexington, VA 24450
Primary Collecting Areas:
American and Virginia history, regional genealogy, history of propaganda, Southern literature, theater, local and regional portraiture, landscapes and architecture, late 19th-century travel
Description:

The Washington and Lee University Special Collections and Archives Department houses over 1,000 unique manuscript collections including those of the Rockbridge Historical Society, The American Shakespeare Center, and the Mountain Valley Preservation Association. These collections vary greatly in size, format, and scope. Subjects covered within the collections are diverse and include concentrations in American and Virginia history, regional genealogy, history of propaganda, Southern literature, and theater.

It also houses over 10,000 photographs and prints. Beyond our photograph and print collections, which include scrapbooks, images can also be found within the manuscript collections and University Archives described above. Our photographic holdings vary greatly in size and include numerous formats representative of the evolution of the photographic process. Strengths are local and regional portraiture, landscapes and architecture, W&L University history, including athletics, and late 19th-century travel.

POC: Tom Camden
Phone: (540) 458-8649
Phone: (540) 463-8109
Fax: (540) 463-8964
Start Over Repository Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library Subjects Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)

John Grier Varner Papers, 1905/1978, bulk 1926/1978 .25 Linear Feet

Varner, John Grier

Principally concert programs, correspondence, clippings and photographs relating to the Washington and Lee Glee Club and its participation in the Fred Waring National College Glee Club competition, 1942. Includes personal correspondence mainly relating to his Washington and Lee career, 1926-1973.

  1. Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

Martin Baldwin Whitaker Collection, 1967/1968 5 Files

Buchanan, John H. (John Hall)

This collection consists of materials collected and preserved by Martin Baldwin Whitaker, Student Liaison Officer for the Alabama Delegation during the 1968 Washington and Lee Mock Republican Convention. Highlights of the collection include letters to Whitaker from Alabama state representatives John H. Buchanan, William L. Dickinson, and Jack Edwards. Other materials related to the 1968 Mock Convention include an order of business pamphlet, a program, letterhead, clippings, a Washington and Lee University magazine for Fall 1967, and the election edition of the Washington and Lee Young Republican Club's newsletter "Tusk." Whitaker graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1971.

  1. Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

McCampbell Box 2, Folder 59

This folder contains a newspaper article about the McCampbell Inn, owned by the Merediths (along with the Alexander-Withrow House). The article discusses the restoration of the McCampbell Inn as well as detailing information about Beth Braford Thompson, the innkeeper.

  1. Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library
  2. Rockbridge Historical Society files on Houses, 1800/1995
  3. Hull Farm through Walkerlands Farm

Patrick Hinely Collection, 1973/2015 6 Files

Hinely, Patrick

This collection contains materials about the work of Washington and Lee University's University Photographer Patrick Hinely. Includes materials from three exhibits: two about Jazz musicians, one in Staniar Gallery and one at the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt in Germany, Europe's largest Jazz related research institution, the third about Rockbridge County. There are also several news articles from the Alumni Magazine and two other publications.

  1. Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

Raymond J. Kirby collection, 1953/1969 1.0 Linear Feet 1 box

Kirby, Raymond J

This collection consists of three bound scrapbooks and a set of folios of photographs taken by Raymond J. Kirby. The scrapbooks contain photographs and newspaper clippings related to the historic flooding in Rockbridge and Nelson counties in Virginia as a result of Hurricane Camille in August 1969. The majority of the photographs document damage in and around Rockbridge County with some Nelson county, Lexington, and Buena Vista scenes. This collection also includes approximately 170 photographs pasted into folios comprehensively documenting the construction of the Route 11 bypass around Lexington, Virginia on the south and eastern side of the town between 1953 and 1956.

  1. Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

Content Warning

ARVAS is an aggregator of archival resources. ARVAS does not have control of the descriptive language used in our members’ finding aids.

Finding aids may contain historical terms and phrases, reflecting the shared attitudes and values of the community from which they were collected, but are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical or mental ability; religion; sex; and sexual orientation and gender identity.

Many institutions and organizations are in the process of reviewing and revising their descriptive language, with the intent to describe materials in more humanizing, inclusive, and harm-reductive ways. As members revise their descriptive language, their changes will eventually be reflected in their ARVAS finding aids.