A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of Research Collections in Women’s Studies General Editors: Anne Firor Scott and William H. Chafe Southern Women and Their Families in the 19th Century: Papers and Diaries Consulting Editor: Anne Firor Scott Series D, Holdings of the Virginia Historical Society Part 2: Richmond, Virginia Associate Editor and Guide Compiled by Martin P. Schipper A microfilm project of UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA An Imprint of CIS 4520 East-West Highway • Bethesda, MD 20814-3389 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Southern women and their families in the 19th century, papers and diaries. Series D, Holdings of the Virginia Historical Society [microform] / consulting editor, Anne Firor Scott ; [associate editor, Martin P. Schipper]. microfilm reels. — (Research collections in women’s studies) Accompanied by printed guide compiled by Martin P. Schipper, entitled: A guide to the microfilm edition of Southern women and their families in the 19th century, papers and diaries. Series D, Holdings of the Virginia Historical Society. ISBN 1-55655-532-6 (pt. 2 : microfilm) 1. Women—Virginia—History—19th century—Sources. 2. Family— Virginia—History—19th century—Sources. I. Scott, Anne Firor, 1921– . II. Schipper, Martin Paul. III. Virginia Historical Society. IV. University Publications of America (Firm) V. Title: Guide to the microfilm edition of Southern women and their families in the 19th century, papers and diaries. Series D, Holdings of the Virginia Historical Society. VI. Series. [HQ1458] 305.4' 09755' 09034—dc20 95-9882 CIP Copyright © 1995 by the University Publications of America. All rights reserved. ISBN 1-55655-532-6. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction.............................................................................................................................vii Note on Sources........................................................................................................................xiii Editorial Note...........................................................................................................................xiii Reel Index Reel 1 Mss5:6B1765, Rebecca Baker Autograph Album, 1841......................................... 1 Mss5:6B7853, Elizabeth M. (Foster) Broadnax Autograph Album, 1880–1882.... 1 Mss1C3552c, Chamberlayne Family Papers, 1821–1938....................................... 2 Reel 2 Mss1C3552c, Chamberlayne Family Papers, 1821–1938 cont............................... 4 Reel 3 Mss1C3552c, Chamberlayne Family Papers, 1821–1938 cont............................... 5 Mss1C3552eFA2, Chamberlayne Family Papers, 1849–1954................................... 5 Reel 4 Mss1C3552eFA2, Chamberlayne Family Papers, 1849–1954 cont........................... 7 Mss5:6C4627, Harriet (Cary) Christian Autograph Album, 1854–1858................ 7 Mss5:7C4625, Harriet (Cary) Christian Scrapbook, 1854–1894............................ 8 Mss1C5217a, Claiborne Family Papers, 1803–1954.............................................. 8 Reel 5 Mss1C5217a, Claiborne Family Papers, 1803–1954 cont......................................11 Mss1C5217b, Claiborne Family Papers, 1665–1911..............................................12 Reel 6 Mss1C5217b, Claiborne Family Papers, 1665–1911 cont......................................17 iii Reel 7 Mss1C5217b, Claiborne Family Papers, 1665–1911 cont......................................18 Mss1C5217c, Claiborne Family Papers, 1739–1938...............................................18 Mss5:6C8295, Nannie Cottrell Autograph Album, 1865–1869.............................. 20 Mss5:5C8377, Sophia Coutts Album, 1836–1873..................................................21 Mss5:6C9365, Lydia G. (Hinckley) Currie Autograph Album, 1856–1891........... 22 Mss1D2278a, Daniel Family Papers, 1790–1854...................................................22 Reel 8 Mss1D2278b, Daniel Family Papers, 1805–1877...................................................23 Mss1D2278c, Daniel Family Papers, 1846–1966...................................................25 Reel 9 Mss1D2278c, Daniel Family Papers, 1846–1966 cont...........................................28 Reel 10 Mss1D2278d, Daniel Family Papers, 1846–1969...................................................29 Mss5:6D7145, Virginia Donaghe Autograph Album, 1850–1882.......................... 30 Mss1G2233a, Mary Ober Gatewood Papers, 1785–1949.......................................31 Reel 11 Mss5:5H5515, Fannie Hill Album, 1861–1881......................................................34 Mss2K3985b, Kennon Family Papers, 1813–1842.................................................34 Mss1M1275a, McCarthy Family Papers, 1839–1865.............................................35 Mss1M9924a, Myers Family Papers, 1763–1923...................................................36 Reel 12 Mss1M9924a, Myers Family Papers, 1763–1923 cont...........................................39 Mss1M9924b, Myers Family Papers, 1843–1929...................................................40 Reel 13 Mss5:5N3324, Elizabeth M. P. Nelson, Commonplace Book, 1829–1833............ 41 Mss1N8397a, Norwood Family Papers, 1849–1910...............................................42 Mss2P1412b, Annie Kelly (Saunders) Page Papers, 1854–1940............................ 43 Mss5:5R1564, Mary Jefferson Randolph Commonplace Book, 1826.................... 44 Mss4W8402a, Richmond Female Institute Records, 1860–1863............................ 44 Mss4W8402b, Richmond Female Institute Records, 1856–1937............................ 45 Mss5:6Sco452, Harriet L. Scollay Autograph Album, 1857–1863......................... 45 Mss5:3T1427, Sallie Radford (Munford) Talbott Account Book, 1864–1880....... 46 Reels 14–18 Mss12197b, Taylor Family Papers, 1844–1912......................................................46 iv Reel 19 Mss12197b, Taylor Family Papers, 1844–1912 cont..............................................55 Mss1T2556a, Tennant Family Papers, 1794–1956.................................................55 Mss1T2556b, Tennant Family Papers, 1883–1919.................................................57 Mss5:5V3257, Elizabeth Louisa Van Lew Album, 1845–1897.............................. 58 Mss1W6767a, Williams Family Papers, 1830–1946...............................................59 Reels 20–25 Mss1W6767a, Williams Family Papers, 1830–1946 cont.......................................63 Reel 26 Mss1W6767b, Williams Family Papers, 1811–1945...............................................71 Mss1W6767f, Williams Family Papers, 1816–1939................................................72 Mss1Y425a, Fanny Churchill (Braxton) Young Papers, 1857–1903...................... 73 Mss1Y885a, Young Family Papers, 1835–1900......................................................74 Reels 27–30 Mss1Y885a, Young Family Papers, 1835–1900 cont..............................................76 Appendix..................................................................................................................................78 Subject Index...........................................................................................................................80 v vi INTRODUCTION The creation of history as a scholarly discipline has always depended on the discovery, preservation, and accessibility of primary sources. Some of the leading figures in the first generation of academic historians in the United States spent much of their time and energy on this endeavor and in so doing made possible the work of their colleagues who wrote monographs and general histories. The inventions of microfilm and photocopying have vastly improved access to such sources. At any given time the prevailing conceptions of what is significant in the past will determine which sources are sought and valued. When politics and diplomacy are the center of historians’ concern, government documents, treaties, newspapers, and correspondence of political leaders and diplomats will be collected and made accessible. When intellectual history is ascendant, the works of philosophers and reflective thinkers will be studied, analyzed, and discussed. Economic historians will look for records of trade, evidence of price fluctuations, conditions of labor, and other kinds of data originally collected for business purposes. The propensity of modern governments to collect statistics has made possible whole new fields for historical analysis. In our own time social historians have flourished, and for them evidence of how people of all kinds have lived, felt, thought, and behaved is a central concern. Private diaries and personal letters are valued for the light they throw on what French historians label the mentalité of a particular time and place. The fact that such documents were usually created only for the writer, or for a friend or relative, gives them an immediacy not often found in other kinds of records. At best the writers tell us—directly or by implication—what they think and feel and do. Even the language and the allusions in such spontaneous expression are useful to the historian, whose inferences might surprise the writer could she know what was being made of her words. This microfilm series focuses on a particular group (women) in a particular place (the South) in a particular time (the nineteenth century). The fact that many of these documents exist is a tribute to the work of several generations of staff members at the leading archives of the South such as the Southern Historical Collection at Chapel Hill, North