Collections : [Virginia Commonwealth University, Cabell Library]

The Volck Collection is comprised of 29 Confederate War Etchings and three folders containing articles about the artist and his work. Also included is an original first edition of "The Grasshopper," a cantata written by a Virginian, Innes Randolph, and illustrated by Volck.

The Adèle Goodman Clark papers document the life and activities of Miss Clark (1882-1983) throughout her adult life, as well as those of her closest friends and relatives. Miss Clark was a member of a small group of civically active Richmond women whose names appear throughout the collection. Of particular note are members of Clark's family, Edith Clark Cowles, Willoughby Ions, and friends Roberta Wellford, Lila Meade Valentine, Lucy Randolph Mason, Ida Mae Thompson, Eudora W. Ramsay Richardson, Nora Houston and Josephine Houston. A list and chart describing the family relationships follows the Series Description and Arrangement, which specifically details the arrangement of the collection and highlights areas of particular significance within each series.

The Seibel Collection is comprised of two major sections: letters which Seibel received relating to his newspaper cartoons (including correspondence from Harry Truman, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Robert Kennedy, Barry Goldwater, Harry F. Byrd, John L. Lewis, J. Edgar Hoover and numerous members of the federal and state government), and a complete set of his published cartoons from both the Knickerbocker Press and the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Other items in the collection include drawing notebooks and early art school sketches, seven oil paintings thought to have been painted by Seibel, folios containing copies of sketches by Charles Dana Gibson and Frederic Remington, as well as folios containing newspaper clippings of major world events in Seibel's lifetime. There are also thirty-four original cartoons, some of which were autographed by Seibel.

The Wygal Papers contain primarily materials related to education in Virginia, particularly higher education, and to activities of the Methodist Church. Included in the collection are numerous reports of self- studies conducted by elementary schools in Virginia in which Wygal participated, as well as an investigative study of Radford University. In addition, the collection contains a report and materials related to a self-study conducted by Reveille Methodist Church in which Wygal took an active part. Wygal's correspondence, both personal and official, provides a clear sense of his commitment to and involvement in the quality of education in Virginia, and much of the material included in the collection is related to his experience in the administration of higher education. Wygal was much in demand as a speaker, both in his capacity as an educator and as an informed layman in his church, and the collection contains over 200 public speaking items, including outlines, notes and texts of speeches and lectures. Wygal's relationship with the Methodist Church in Virginia was a long and active one, and his influence was felt in many areas of his church's life. The collection contains minutes and related materials of the Administrative Board of Reveille Methodist Church in Richmond, as well as reports and studies of the Wesley Foundation campus ministry at several Virginia schools. Wygal was involved in the Commission for Christian Higher Education, and his papers contain materials related to this activity.

The core of this collection is Keesee's dental office ledgers which are complete for the years of his practice (1869-1924). A typicial entry includes the work done, a price, and payment made. There is also a collection of speeches written by Keesee, as well as some memorabilia. The collection does not include any materials documenting Keesee's work with the Masons, or the dental associations in which he belonged.

The collection contains James Branch Cabell's personal papers along with materials by other creators related to Cabell. Cabell corresponded with a number of American and British authors such as H.L. Mencken, Ellen Glasgow, Sinclair Lewis, and Theodore Dreiser, as well as with family, friends, editors and publishers. Other materials of note include his manuscripts with Cabells handwritten edits, his notebooks containing information about his published works along with poems and other writings, and the materials found inside the books of his personal library. The materials provide insight into Cabell's writings and personal interests based upon the content he placed within the books of his collection.

The papers of Dr. James Russell Boldridge pertain mostly to his time in medical school and in medical practice. The collection also includes some personal papers. Types of materials include case notes, certificates and diplomas, clippings, correspondence, day books and diaries, financial records, legal records, letcure notes, photographs, and other related materials. The materials related to his medical practice provide insight into the work of the rural medical practitioner especially during the years just prior to World War I.

This collection is composed of materials collected by Dr. Inge relating to his academic studies of the comic arts, popular culture, and American literature. The bulk of the collection is dated from the 1950s onward and is made up of many unique items collected by Inge covering the history of the comic arts. Manuscripts by Inge and other writers are also included. The collection contains correspondence with a number of noted artists and writers, including Art Spiegelman, Mort Walker, Bruce Duncan, and Harold Foster, and comic arts scholars. The collection includes advertisements, fan club materials, posters, art prints, animation cells, comic strip and comic book samples, comic and animation character drinking glasses, numerous buttons, records, and various other collectable items. Other materials incorporate Inge's interests in American literature and include typescript copies of the Ellen Glasgow Newsletter and Frontier Home, copies of literary journals, numerous publications, and correspondence. The collection also contains items of Dr. Inge's own personal collection of materials ranging from his grade school papers and school yearbooks to an autograph scrapbook and EC Fan Club dating from the 1950s.The collection includes a very large collection of reference journals including fanzines, newsletters, journals, and numerous other periodicals related to the comic arts. These periodical titles focus on the history and art of comic books and comic strips, cartoonists, comic book and comic strip characters, animation, and other aspects of the comic arts and popular culture. These materials, and the hundreds of comic books and reference books donated by Dr. Inge, have been incorporated into their own individual collections.

Collection consists of a variety of Richmond, Virginia related materials that Bland has gathered since the 1970s. The collection includes three original architectural drawings of Richmond's Cathedral of the Sacred Heart; drawings of plans and photographs of what was to become the power house of the Virginia Railway and Power Co. on Richmond's 12th Street and numerous other early 20th century drawings and materials documenting electrical plans for the city.The collection also contains material documenting the arts in Richmond from the 1890s to the present, including material on the various art organizations that have existed in the city; rock music of the 1980s; and correspondence and other material regarding Bland's Grove Avenue Gallery (1982-1984). Other materials related to the history of Richmond include late 19th and early 20th century business invoices and correspondence; streetcar ephemera of the 1940s; and numerous published materials and a wide assortment of ephemera items and photographs relating to wide cross section of Richmond's cultural history.

The collection consists of approximately 275 items of various types concerning the priest-poet, Father John B. Tabb, collected by his friend and admirer, Mary Evelyn Stiles of Richmond. Contained in the collection are a number of manuscript poems by Tabb, photocopies of letters from Tabb to Sidney Lanier, Gordon Blair, and others (1877-1909 originals at the Virginia Historical Society), and the letters and notebooks of Miss Stiles that pertain to Tabb. The collection spans the years 1877 to 1968.