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 Names Lee, Mary Randolph Custis, 1807-1883
Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

Robert E. Lee Family papers, 1792/1935, bulk 1833/1870

24 Linear Feet

This collection contains primary and secondary resources pertaining to Robert E. Lee and the Lee family. Included are correspondences from, to, and about Lee and various family members; memorabilia, pamphlets, photographs, reminiscences, miscellaneous personal papers, family history and genealogy. The collection includes materials acquired from the Lee family and items donated to and purchased and compiled by W&L University since Lee's tenure as president of Washington College from 1865 - 1870. Adminstrative papers, such as President's Reports, etc..., from Robert E. Lee's presidency of the school may be found within the W&L University Archives. Please contact W&L Special Collections for information regarding the University Archives.

Top 3 results view all 5

Algernon Sidney Vigus to Robert E. Lee, 1866 Box 7A, Folder 53

This letter to Robert E. Lee is from Algernon Sidney Vigus. Vigus explains that he has acquired Lee family letters removed from the Lee family home at Arlington during the Civil War and that he'd like to return them. Vigus asks to keep one of the letters, to a Custis family member from London in 1728. Vigus ultimately returned the correspondence and Lee honored Vigus' request for the 1728 letter.

  1. Letters to and about Robert E. Lee, 1837/1870
  2. Letters to and about Robert E. Lee, 1866
  3. Correspondences, 1866
Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

Ann Norvell Otey Scott Papers, 1920/1948

.5 Linear Feet

This collection contains chiefly correspondence with Washington and Lee University and United Daughters of the Confederacy officials, resolutions, and reports relating to her participation in the controversy over W&L President Henry Louis Smith's proposed renovation and expansion of the Lee Chapel. Also includes correspondence and clippings relating to fund-raising for the Stratford Hall restoration. Correspondents include members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Washington and Lee officials, and Lee family members. It also includes a copy of Mary Randolph Custis Lee's will dated 1918.

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Ann Norvell Otey Scott Papers, 1920/1948 .5 Linear Feet

Scott, Ann Norvell Otey

This collection contains chiefly correspondence with Washington and Lee University and United Daughters of the Confederacy officials, resolutions, and reports relating to her participation in the controversy over W&L President Henry Louis Smith's proposed renovation and expansion of the Lee Chapel. Also includes correspondence and clippings relating to fund-raising for the Stratford Hall restoration. Correspondents include members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Washington and Lee officials, and Lee family members. It also includes a copy of Mary Randolph Custis Lee's will dated 1918.

Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

Washington and Lee University and Regional Virginia History Research Collection, 1609/2016

12 Linear Feet
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Lee, Mary Randolph Custis, 1865/1991 Box 6, Folder 14

File includes article titled "They Surrendered Honorably," an excerpt from a letter to her cousin Caroline from Derwent, and a collection of letters from Mrs. Mary Custis Lee to the Snowden Family of Alexandria, Virginia entitled "My Dear Louisa."

  1. Biography, 1700/2018
Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

Interior and exterior photographs of Lee House, 1869/1870

8 Item
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Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

Lee-Jackson Foundation collection, 1775/1913

1.25 Linear Feet 3 boxes

The sixteen R.E. Lee items cover a date span of 22 years from 1847 through 1869. There are ten letters of Mrs. Mary Randolph Custis Lee ranging from the early 1850s to shortly before her death in 1873.

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Lee-Jackson Foundation collection, 1775/1913 1.25 Linear Feet 3 boxes

Lee-Jackson Foundation

The sixteen R.E. Lee items cover a date span of 22 years from 1847 through 1869. There are ten letters of Mrs. Mary Randolph Custis Lee ranging from the early 1850s to shortly before her death in 1873.

Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

Letter from James Jones White to James Chesnut, 1870

1 Item

Two weeks after the death of Washington College President Robert E. Lee, Professor J.J. White acknowledges receipt of James Chesnut's submission to the Camden Journal of his recollections of Robert E. Lee. J.J. White also describes a newly formed Soldier's Association with the purpose of memorializing Robert E. Lee. White mentions that Mrs. Lee has said she will provide a design for the tomb. Enclosed in the letter are pressed flowers from Robert E. Lee's funeral bier, which were a gift to Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of James Chesnut.

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Letter from James Jones White to James Chesnut, 1870 1 Item

White, James J. (James Jones)

Two weeks after the death of Washington College President Robert E. Lee, Professor J.J. White acknowledges receipt of James Chesnut's submission to the Camden Journal of his recollections of Robert E. Lee. J.J. White also describes a newly formed Soldier's Association with the purpose of memorializing Robert E. Lee. White mentions that Mrs. Lee has said she will provide a design for the tomb. Enclosed in the letter are pressed flowers from Robert E. Lee's funeral bier, which were a gift to Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of James Chesnut.

Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee Related Photographs, 1885/1995

4 Photographic Prints

Four photographs related to Mary Randolph Custis Lee. This group compiled by Washington and Lee includes two images of an early portrait of Mrs. Lee, a modern photograph of Mrs. Lee's soaking chair that was designed for her at the Warm Springs in Bath County, Va., and a modern photograph of a child's doll that was likely in the Lee family. The images of the Lee portrait are 20th century photographic prints of glass plate negatives of the portraits made by Michael Miley of Lexington, Va. in 1885.

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Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee Related Photographs, 1885/1995 4 Photographic Prints

Four photographs related to Mary Randolph Custis Lee. This group compiled by Washington and Lee includes two images of an early portrait of Mrs. Lee, a modern photograph of Mrs. Lee's soaking chair that was designed for her at the Warm Springs in Bath County, Va., and a modern photograph of a child's doll that was likely in the Lee family. The images of the Lee portrait are 20th century photographic prints of glass plate negatives of the portraits made by Michael Miley of Lexington, Va. in 1885.

Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

Photograph of Annfield, 1900/1950

1 Item

This collection consists of a copy of a photograph of Annfield, the birthplace of Mary Anna Randolph (Custis) Lee, Robert E. Lee's wife, in Clark County, Virginia.

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Photograph of Annfield, 1900/1950 1 Item

This collection consists of a copy of a photograph of Annfield, the birthplace of Mary Anna Randolph (Custis) Lee, Robert E. Lee's wife, in Clark County, Virginia.

Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library

R.E. Lee Memorial Church Collection, 1868/1873

4 Item

A one page letter from Mary Randolph Custis Lee to Mrs. Appich, likely Mary E. Appich of Fairfax, Virginia, thanking her for previous letters and offering a photograph of Robert E. Lee. The letter is accompanied by an albumen cabinet-sized photograph of Robert E. Lee likely by photographer Michael Miley of Lexington, Va. The photograph includes an attached clipped R.E. Lee signature. The reverse of the photograph is inscribed to Mrs. Appich from Mrs. Lee and dated June 12, 1873. Also included is the original letter enclosure and a 20th century typescript description of the items. These items were framed together and are on long term loan to Washington and Lee University Special Collections from the R. E. Lee Memorial Church.

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R.E. Lee Memorial Church Collection, 1868/1873 4 Item

A one page letter from Mary Randolph Custis Lee to Mrs. Appich, likely Mary E. Appich of Fairfax, Virginia, thanking her for previous letters and offering a photograph of Robert E. Lee. The letter is accompanied by an albumen cabinet-sized photograph of Robert E. Lee likely by photographer Michael Miley of Lexington, Va. The photograph includes an attached clipped R.E. Lee signature. The reverse of the photograph is inscribed to Mrs. Appich from Mrs. Lee and dated June 12, 1873. Also included is the original letter enclosure and a 20th century typescript description of the items. These items were framed together and are on long term loan to Washington and Lee University Special Collections from the R. E. Lee Memorial Church.

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