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Photographs, correspondence, telegrams, and memorabilia of a corporation lawyer, banker, businessman, Democratic candidate for governor in 1920 and the U.S. Senate in 1934, a Democratic National Committeeman, 1940-1958, a member of West Virginia University's Board of Governors, and holder of the Order of Vandalia for service to West Virginia University. Subjects include the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Convention and campaign of 1956, and Koontz's bequests to colleges and universities.

A framed lithograph of the James Barns residence in Cumberland Township, near Carmichaels, PA with an insert consisting of a drawing of the first successfully operating engine in Greene Co., ca. 1833, located in the Barns woolen factory on Muddy Creek, near Carmichaels, Pennsylvania. Included is an account by the donor about the Barns family of north central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. Mention is made of abolitionism, agricultural trends, James Barns, William Shinn Barns, George Brown, Madison College, the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Protestant Church, Asa Shinn, Uniontown, PA, Waitman T. Willey, and the woolen industry.

Correspondence, military service records, receipts and photographs of David Billmeyer, George Billmeyer and family. David Billmeyer (1907-63) was a writer, clerk and laborer who in 1933 joined the U. S. Army Air Corps and served in it until after World War II when he re-enlisted in the U. S. Air Force from which he retired in 1955. In his youth he had worked in New York City as a clerk and free lance author where he met and later corresponded with America's then foremost literary critic, H. L. Mencken. During the Depression he enlisted in the U. S. Army and was assigned to the National Geographic Stratosphere Flight and at various meteorological stations in the United States. During World War II he served the U. S. Army meteorological service in the Canal Zone and Europe. After the war he re-enlisted in the U. S. Air Force and served in meteorological units in the Orient. Most of the military and veterans records document his career and state of health. There are many photographs of where he was stationed and of him with various companions indicative of service life. There is also correspondence of David Billmeyer's brother George and other family members mainly about conditions in Shepherdstown. There is also correspondence from George's daughter, Ann, who attended the University of Nebraska and after graduation moved to San Francisco where she mentions witnessing the Republican convention of 1964, her feelings about the Kennedy assassination and her involvement in the estate of her uncle, David, who died in retirement in the Philippines.

Correspondence, clippings, biographical sketches, photographs, artifacts, and other items relating to the family of St. George Tucker Brooke (1844-1914), a professor at West Virginia University College of Law, 1878-1909. Correspondence includes business and personal letters to and from St. George Tucker Brooke and Charles Frederick Tucker Brooke, a Rhodes Scholar and Shakespearean authority at Yale; letters between Francis (Frank) Brooke to Mrs. Mary Brooke while he served in the U.S. and France during World War I (1918-1919); and letters from James Harold in Ireland to his son James in New York (ca. 1870). Other items include a surveyor's call book for Tucker County (1856-1857), which includes notes on the Tucker-Randolph County boundary; "A Narrative of My Life: for My Family," 1763-1849 by Judge Francis T. Brooke; a manuscript recipe book (1814); and microfilmed copy of typescript "Autobiography of St. George Tucker Brooke, Written for His Children" (reel 3). More detail about collection contents can be found in the control folder.

Correspondence, book reviews, certificates and pictures of Waddell, a pioneering black veterinarian and author. His books (People Are The Funniest Animals, The Black Man in Veterinary Medicine, Universal Veterinarianism, and Historical Facts of the Black Veterinarian) document the little known contributions of African-Americans from antebellum times to the present in the field of veterinary science. They also indicate his beliefs that the veterinarian profession can also help heal misunderstandings among mankind. After graduation in 1935 from the University of Pennsylvania, one of the first schools to admit blacks into its veterinarian program, he taught and worked at Tuskegee Institute where he co-founded the first program in veterinary science at a black American college. During World War II, he joined the Ninth Cavalry, a famed black unit of which he includes some of its history among his papers. After the war, he established a private practice in West Virginia eventually locating in Monongalia County where he also served on the board of the Monongalia County Mental Health Association. His home near Morgantown served as a social center for some of the first black students who attended West Virginia University. He was also instrumental in fostering integration of other institutions within the county. After 1963 he moved to North Dakota where he worked on the Chippewa reservations of Turtle Mountain and Fort Totten. Waddell offers his observations on the aspirations of Native Americans and how they are discriminated against and neglected.

Correspondence, financial records, speeches, reports, blueprints, and pamphlets of a Bluefield banker and businessman who was a treasurer of the Democratic Executive Committee and a member of the Board of Governors of West Virginia University. Subjects include numerous businesses in the Bluefield area, Bluefield State College, Concord College, Bank of Bramwell, Island Creek Coal Company, Norfolk and Western Railroad, Pocahontas Fuel Company, Smokeless Operators Association, Virginia Railway, Winding Gulf Collieries, and West Virginia University. Correspondents include W.W. Barron, Joe F. Burdett, Robert C. Byrd, Clyde L. Colson, Phil Conley, Ken Hechler, Cecil B. Highland, John Hoblitzell, Rush D. Holt, Elizabeth Kee, Robert P. McDonough, Clarence W. Meadows, Paul A. Miller, Arch A. Moore, Jr., Okey Patteson, Jennings Randolph, Raymond E. Salvati, John M. Slack, Hulett Smith, James M. Sprouse, Elvis J. Stahr, and Irvin Stewart.

Two maps and one description of the Fort Van Metre property; a copy of the will of Abraham Van Metre, 1780; sketch of Major Samuel McCulloch; and a picture of Shaw Hall, West Liberty College, thought to be the site of the fort.

This collection contains personal papers donated by George B. Dowell and includes playscripts, programs, photographs, correspondence, and publications relating mostly to theatre activities with the Federal Theatre Project, Smith College, and Vassar College.

The Board of Visitors records include the files and minutes of the George Mason University (GMU) Board of Visitors meetings. The bulk of the collection consists of meeting minutes from the 1960s through 2007. The papers include Meeting Minutes, Amendments to the VA Plan, Committee Rosters, Correspondence, Bylaws, Media Clippings, and the establishment of the House Bill 210 that separated GMU from the University of Virginia.