Collections : [Virginia Union University]

Virginia Union University

L. Douglas Wilder Library
Virginia Union University
1500 North Lombardy Street
Richmond, VA 23220
Primary Collecting Areas:
The Archives collects historical records of the campus, and the Special Collections endeavors to collect the history of African American Richmond. The Archives and Special Collections houses the personal papers of L. Douglas Wilder, Virginia's 66th Governor (1990-1994) and first elected African American governor in the United States.
Description:

We are proud of our history as one of the nation's older historically black colleges (HBCUs), founded in 1865. Our library was formerly the William J. Clark Library located in the historic landmark Belgian Friendship Building given to the University by the government of Belgium in 1941.

In 1997 we relocated to a new facility on campus named after Virginia Union's most celebrated alumnus: L. Douglas Wilder, humanitarian, civil rights leader and the first elected African-American governor (1990-1994) in the nation. The library houses The Wilder Collection which is a very popular national and international attraction.

POC: Selicia Allen
Phone: (804) 278-4117
Fax: (804) 257-5818
Start Over Repository Virginia Union University Creator Tossie P.F. Whiting

Tossie P.F. Whiting Papers 1898-1947

Tossie P.F. Whiting

The collection consists mainly of materials related to her role as officer in Hartshorn Memorial College and Virginia Union University alumni associations. The bulk of the collection covers the years 1921 to 1947, when Hartshorn considered becoming a women's college and then merged with Virginia Union (1932). Ms. Whiting was concerned with the role of Hartshorn women in Virginia Union's co-educational atmosphere and alumni association. These materials reveal her efforts to keep the memory of Hartshorn alive after the merger through a scholarship, memorial stone marker, and a "museum" in the basement of the dormitory Hartshorn Hall.

  1. Virginia Union University

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