Manuscript Collections
Special Collections owns approximately 700 manuscript collections on a variety of topics including civil rights, performing arts, astronomy and physics, and others. The collections listed here are intended to be a short list of primary sources which are suitable for use for your final project. Many other collections are available, and you are encouraged to explore beyond this short list.
For a list of all special collections by subject, please see the collections subject list.
For a list of all the special collections by title, please see the collections alphabetical list.
Please note that for the alphabetical and subject lists, a handful of items are owned by other libraries in the system even though most items belong to Special Collections. If you are uncertain which library owns an item on list, check with Teresa.
Off-Site
If the phrase "off-site" appears next to a collection title, then the collection is stored at our off-site facility. Individual boxes will need to be requested for use in class and in the Special Collections Reading Room. Due to limited storage on our hold shelf, only four boxes per person may be requested at a time from off-site storage.
Inventory Available
If the phrase "inventory available" appears next to a collection title, then a paper-based inventory is available for the collection. To request a PDF of the inventory, please contact Teresa for assistance.
Small Collection
If the phrase "small collection" appears next to a collection title, it contains less than one full box of material. All other collections contain at least one full box of papers.
Branscomb, Bennett Harvie - inventory available
Harvie Branscomb was born on December 25, 1894 in Huntsville, Alabama. After earning degrees at Birmingham College, Oxford University, and Columbia University, Branscomb served as instructor and administrator at Southern Methodist University and Duke University before coming to Vanderbilt in 1946 as Chancellor. While at Vanderbilt, he doubled both the physical facilities of the campus and the number of PhD programs as well as conducting a number of highly successful fund-raising campaigns for the university. Branscomb served as chancellor during the sit-in movement in Nashville and the highly publicized expulsion of graduate student James Lawson for participating in sit-in demonstrations. He died on July 23, 1998 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Harvie Branscomb Papers include correspondence from 1929 to 1978; speeches delivered by Branscomb; academic papers; materials relating to James Lawson; and papers relating to Branscomb’s various regional and international organizational activities.
Egerton, John Papers
Egerton, John Papers - Addition
Egerton has written or edited eleven non-fiction books and contributed over two hundred articles to periodicals. He has also been a participant in and writer for many projects or conferences dealing with desegregation and civil rights. The John Egerton Papers, 1950s-2001, include correspondence, manuscripts of writings, speeches, research materials, publication materials, publicity for books, reviews, legal and financial documents, memorabilia, clippings and photographs, programs from cultural events, scrapbooks and periodicals on race relations and school desegregation, and audio and video tapes. Major topics include civil rights, desegregation, race relations, Southern history, and Southern food.
Eleazer, Robert Burns Eleazer Papers
Robert Burns Eleazer (1877-1973) served as a candidate for the Prohibitionist Party, worked as a journalist, and joined the Tennessee Anti-Saloon league as a Field Worker and editor of their official paper The American Issue. In 1909, he moved to Nashville to work as Office Secretary for the Laymen’s Missionary Movement, an agency of the Southern Methodist Board of Missions. He was an anti-war activist during World War I and was involved in the Methodist Church’s Movement for Revision, an effort to limit the power of Bishops and make the church more democratic. Eleazer also worked as Education Director for the Commission on Interracial Cooperation and as “Special Worker in Race Relations” for the Methodist General Board of Education.
The Robert Burns Eleazer Papers (1877–1973) include correspondence and writings by Eleazer as well as newspaper clippings, course and program outlines, press releases and pamphlets. There are several autobiographical writings as well as a transcription of Mr. Eleazer being interviewed by historian John Egerton shortly before Mr. Eleazer’s death in 1973. Writings by others include reviews, articles, pamphlets and student papers.
Fuson, Nelson and Marian Collection
Nelson and Marian Fuson were involved in the civil rights movement in Nashville. This collection features slides of protests, audios, and photocopies of periodical articles and correspondence.
The Edwin Hamlett Papers contain a variety of material pertaining to Ed Hamlett’s life, acquaintances, and materials from the impressive number of organizations in which he participated. The collection spans 39.62 linear feet in total, and covers the years from 1954 to 1988. Most of the material, however, is concentrated between the 1960’s to 1975, and his involvement in civil rights and psychiatric nursing. The papers include correspondence, large numbers of notes, photographs, reports, proposals, and writings by others, as well as numerous collected publications. The majority of the material relates to Ed’s involvement with civil rights organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Southern Students Organizing Committee (SSOC), and his tenure at Vanderbilt in Psychiatric Nursing.
Lawson, James M., Jr. Papers – inventory available
Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr. was an active participant and leader in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. After serving a year in prison as a conscientious objector during the Korean War, he spent three years as a missionary in India where he studied the nonviolent resistance techniques developed by Mohandas Gandi. As a student at Vanderbilt, he helped organize the sit-in movement protests and trained other students and activists the nonviolent techniques he had learned in India. He has worked with the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
The James M. Lawson, Jr. Papers contain files pertaining to his education and coursework, his conscientious objector status during the Korean War, his career as a Methodist minister, his work with FOR and SCLC, and his work as a activist.
See also, Who Speaks for the Negro? An Archival Collection of Interviews Conducted for Robert Penn Warren's Seminal Book for an interview with Rev. Lawson.
During her junior year in college, Salynn McCollum became involved in the Nashville Non-Violent Movement, the Nashville branch of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She was an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement between 1961 and 1965. She wrote the “I am a Freedom Rider” series depicting her experiences on the Freedom Ride and her subsequent jailing at the Birmingham Jail. She worked as a SNCC field secretary in different locations in the South. She was particularly active in Nashville, Tennessee; Cairo, Illinois; Charleston, Missouri; and Des Moines, Iowa.
The collection is organized into two series: Personal Material, which includes Salynn’s correspondence, poetry, and journal entries; and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee Material, which includes many of that organization’s publications, as well as field notes, committee meeting minutes, committee promotional materials, and many newspaper articles involving SNCC activities Salynn was involved in.
Scott, Carol Hamilton and James M. Lawson, Jr. Collection – inventory available
Carol Hamilton Scott was active in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and directed the Springfield Urban League’s Leadership Development Project. Through her participation in the National Council of Negro Women, she helped welfare mothers obtain college scholarships to continue their education and pursue professional careers.
She was the first woman elected to the Board of Directors of Wilberforce University and the first African-American woman to serve on the Board of Directors of Banc Ohio National Bank and later, National City Bank. She has held leadership positions with numerous community organizations and has been the recipient of a multitude of awards. In 1994, she was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in recognition of her dedication and service to others.
Carol Hamilton Scott and James M. Lawson, Jr. Collection contains 30 pieces of correspondence from James M. Lawson, Jr. to Carol Hamilton during his time in prison for refusing to enlist in the Korean War. It also includes two pieces of correspondence from the Department of Justice to Carol Hamilton receiving permission to write James Lawson, three essays, and three postcards.
See also, Who Speaks for the Negro? An Archival Collection of Interviews Conducted for Robert Penn Warren's Seminal Book for an interview with Rev. Lawson.
Vanderbilt alumnus Paul Slentz was active in the non-violent protests concerning the hosting of the Davis Cup Tennis Tournaments at Vanderbilt University in the spring of 1978 and also in the Tenn Care Health Care Funding Crisis in 2004 and 2005.
This small collection 0.42 linear feet ( 1 Hollinger box ) contains materials relating to South Africa and Apartheid and in particular to The Davis Cup tennis championship that was held in Nashville at Vanderbilt in the spring of 1978. These papers were collected by Paul L. Slentz while he was a graduate student at Vanderbilt during the years 1977 - 1979.
A prominent church leader and activist, Kelly Miller Smith played a significant role in the civil rights movement, serving as part of the circle of advisors to Martin Luther King, Jr. He was pastor of the First Baptist Church, Capital Hill for 34 years. The first African-American named to the faculty of the Vanderbilt Divinity School, he served as Lecturer in Church and Ministries and as Assistant Dean. Smith was very active in the civil rights movement in Nashville as well as nationally.
The Kelly Miller Smith Papers include correspondence, notebooks kept as a student at Morehouse and Harvard Universities, biographical/personal material, writings, church records, subject files, and other related materials.
See also, Who Speaks for the Negro? An Archival Collection of Interviews Conducted for Robert Penn Warren's Seminal Book for an interview with Rev. Smith.
Southern Politics Collection (Alexander Heard Papers) – inventory available
Part of the collection of Chancellor Emeritus Alexander Heard, this collection consists of drafts and research materials for the book Southern Politics in State and Nation by V.O. Key, Jr. and A Two-Party South? by Alexander Heard. A large part of this collection consists of transcripts of interviews on Southern politics used as the basis for the two aforementioned books.
To use this collection, researchers must sign an agreement promising to keep names of the original participants confidential.
SSOC [Southern Students Organizing Committee] Reunion – 2002
This is an artificial collection of materials related to the 2002 SSOC Reunion weekend, held in Nashville, Tennessee. It includes a schedule of events, SSOC timeline, and materials donated by reunion attendees.
Thrasher, Martha Sue Papers (off-site)
Martha Sue Thrasher is a human rights activist who was worked with groups such as labor unions, civil rights, workers’ rights, women’s liberation, Southern Students Organizing Committee (SSOC), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the National Democratic Coalition. This 19 linear feet collection contains correspondence, minutes, manuscripts for books, newsletters, oral histories, research notes, audio tapes, and photographs which range in date from 1967 to 1996.
In 1965, Robert Penn Warren wrote a book, now out of print, entitled Who Speaks for the Negro? To research this publication, he traveled the country and spoke with a variety of people who were involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He spoke with nationally-known figures as well as people working in the trenches of the Movement. The volume contains many of the transcripts from these conversations. The Who Speaks for the Negro? Archive contains digitized versions of the original reel-to-reel recordings, as well as copies of the correspondence, transcripts, and other printed materials related to his research for the provocatively-titled book.
Fleming, Denna Frank Papers
Fleming, Denna Frank Papers - Addition
Denna Frank Fleming was a professor of political science at Vanderbilt University, 1928-1961. From 1939 to 1947, Fleming presented a series of weekly radio programs broadcast from WSM over much of the United States concerning events leading up to, during, and after the World War II. The programs were favorably received and many of them were collected and published in the book While America Slept. Transcripts of most of these broadcasts are in the collection.
Files on international and national organizations in which Fleming had an interest show a concern about the Vietnam War and the possibilities of a third world war. Committed to peace, Fleming supported numerous organizations including the American Association for the United Nations, Inc., the Arms Control Association, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the Fund for Peace.
Morgan, Edmund M., Jr. Papers (off-site)
Edmund M. Morgan, Jr. received the Bachelor of Arts in 1902, the Master of Arts in 1903 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1905. He later completed another Masters degree at Yale (1919). Morgan left Yale for Harvard in 1925, serving as Royall Professor of Law until he reached mandatory retirement age in 1950. During the summers, he taught at Columbia, North Carolina, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, Washington, Stanford, and Southern California. In 1936-37 and 1942-45, he was Acting Dean of the Harvard Law School. Upon his retirement, he joined the faculty of the Vanderbilt University Law School and was named Rand Professor of Law in 1951. He taught at Vanderbilt until approximately 1962.
The papers of Edmund M. Morgan, Jr., date from approximately 1906 to 1964 and document his lengthy and distinguished career as an attorney, a legal scholar, a teacher, and a public servant. The bulk of the collection dates from the 1940s and 1950s. Extensive correspondence, Morgan's own writings, and papers related to his professional activities provide insight into his scholarship and record his part in such important proceedings as the simplification of the federal rules for civil procedure and the modernization of the code of military justice. Other materials reflect his role in the development of rules for civil procedure in Puerto Rico and Israel.
Southern Politics Collection (Alexander Heard Papers) – inventory available
Part of the collection of Chancellor Emeritus Alexander Heard, this collection consists of drafts and research materials for the book Southern Politics in State and Nation by V.O. Key, Jr. and A Two-Party South? by Alexander Heard. A large part of this collection consists of transcripts of interviews on Southern politics used as the basis for the two aforementioned books.
To use this collection, researchers must sign an agreement promising to keep names of the original participants confidential.
James D. Squires rose from mill worker's son to editor and executive vice president of one of the country's most influential newspapers, the Chicago Tribune. A 1966 Peabody College graduate, Squires began his journalism career at the Tennessean in 1962, where he worked as a reporter, night city desk editor and Washington correspondent before moving to the Tribune in 1972. He worked in the Washington bureau until 1977, becoming the bureau chief in 1974. While at the Tribune, Squires covered Watergate, presidential elections and accompanied former President Gerald Ford on a 1975 state visit to China. He moved from the Tribune to the Orlando Sentinel-Star (later the Orlando Sentinel) in 1977, where he was editor until returning to Chicago as editor of the Tribune in 1981. Eight-and-a-half years and seven Pulitzer Prizes for the Tribune later, Squires resigned. He and his wife Mary Anne moved to a horse farm in Kentucky, where he bred 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos. He was an adjunct professor at Harvard University in 1990 and Middle Tennessee State University in 1992. Squires was Ross Perot's media adviser during his 1992 presidential campaign.
The collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, videocassettes, audiocassettes and signed original political cartoons. (Note on access restrictions: Material related to Ross Perot's 1992 political campaign, for which Squires served as media adviser, is restricted until a biography is authorized by Perot.)
Vanderbilt, Harold Stirling Papers – inventory available
Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, served as a member of Vanderbilt University’s Board of Trust for over twenty years. An avid yachtsman and bridge player, he worked for the New York Central Railroad for over 40 years. The Harold Stirling Vanderbilt Papers contains correspondence, yachting memorabilia, contract bridge memorabilia, and material relating to the integration of Vanderbilt University.
Southern Politics Collection (Alexander Heard Papers) – inventory available
Part of the collection of Chancellor Emeritus Alexander Heard, this collection consists of drafts and research materials for the book Southern Politics in State and Nation by V.O. Key, Jr. and A Two-Party South? by Alexander Heard. A large part of this collection consists of transcripts of interviews on Southern politics used as the basis for the two aforementioned books.
To use this collection, researchers must sign an agreement promising to keep names of the original participants confidential.
Throughout her academic career Ms. Crater was an advocate for women’s rights, an avocation she carried into her adulthood with her participation in organizations that worked for equality. From 1969 until 1974 she worked for NOW, a civil rights organization dedicated to bringing women into the mainstream of society. She founded the Nashville Chapter of NOW in 1971, published the monthly newsletter, served as public spokesperson, and held responsibilities for lobbying the State Legislature for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. These papers contain materials on NOW Nashville’s creation and document Crater’s important and dedicated longtime participation in the group.
Green, Sue Daniel Kirtland Papers
Mrs. Sue Daniel Kirtland Green (1887-1967), an associate of Margaret Sanger, operated the first birth control clinic in Tennessee at 2204 21st Avenue, South, Nashville, Tennessee, from 1932 to about 1941. In 1941 she began to sell Fem-A-Gyn contraceptive suppositories, which she developed from a recipe that Margaret Sanger included in her "Family Limitation" pamphlet. She and her daughter, Ruth H. Mocker continued a modestly successful mail order business until 1970.
The collection documents her professional life as a birth control advocate and includes correspondence, business papers, personal papers and notes, newspaper clippings, and artifacts. The patient records series, which span 1934 to 1966, are restricted.
Nancy Hendrix, a Vanderbilt alumna was active in the establishment and development of the Nashville women’s movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Topics covered in the collection include articles and clipping on the national women’s movement as well as other socio-political issues of the time period including southern history issues and the Vietnam War.
Thrasher, Martha Sue Papers (off-site)
Martha Sue Thrasher is a human rights activist who was worked with groups such as labor unions, civil rights, workers’ rights, women’s liberation, Southern Students Organizing Committee (SSOC), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the National Democratic Coalition. This 19 linear feet collection contains correspondence, minutes, manuscripts for books, newsletters, oral histories, research notes, audio tapes, and photographs which range in date from 1967 to 1996.
Avery, Roy Crowdy Collection [small collection]
Roy Crowdy Avery was born in 1885 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He received an A.B. Degree from the University of Connecticut, a B.S. degree from the University of Massachusetts, and a PhD. degree from Vanderbilt. He became a naturalized citizen in 1917 and immediately joined the United States Army. He was later commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant, and served with the Sanitary Corps from 1917-1919, spending time in France, Germany, and England. After the war he studied at Manchester University in Manchester, England.
Roy Crowdy Avery later was a Professor of Bacteriology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University from 1926-1953. He became Professor Emeritus in 1953.
Briggs, Marion H. Collection [small collection]
Marion H. Briggs, a native of Spencerville, Ohio, served in the U. S. Army during World War I. His overseas service was spent with the 147th U. S. Infantry Med. Dept. in Belgium, France, and Germany. This .21 linear feet collection of 28 items contains 18 pieces of correspondence written to family members primarily during World War I pertaining to army life and health. The collection also contains a booklet, map, pamphlet, and roster from the late 19th century. The collection is arranged in 14 file folders.
Bryan, Stanley Fisk Collection [small collection]
This collection contains copies of the World War I letters of Captain Stanley Fisk Bryan to his mother, father, and brother. Most of the letters are typed, but several are handwritten. The collection also contains 3 newspaper clippings, 2 pamphlets, and song lyrics all relating to World War I.
Eleazer, Robert Burns Eleazer Papers
Robert Burns Eleazer (1877-1973) served as a candidate for the Prohibitionist Party, worked as a journalist, and joined the Tennessee Anti-Saloon league as a Field Worker and editor of their official paper The American Issue. In 1909, he moved to Nashville to work as Office Secretary for the Laymen’s Missionary Movement, an agency of the Southern Methodist Board of Missions. He was an anti-war activist during World War I and was involved in the Methodist Church’s Movement for Revision, an effort to limit the power of Bishops and make the church more democratic. Eleazer also worked as Education Director for the Commission on Interracial Cooperation and as “Special Worker in Race Relations” for the Methodist General Board of Education.
The Robert Burns Eleazer Papers (1877–1973) include correspondence and writings by Eleazer as well as newspaper clippings, course and program outlines, press releases and pamphlets. There are several autobiographical writings as well as a transcription of Mr. Eleazer being interviewed by historian John Egerton shortly before Mr. Eleazer’s death in 1973. Writings by others include reviews, articles, pamphlets and student papers.
World War I and II Pamphlets – inventory available
The World War I and II Pamphlet Collection has been arranged chronologically. There are seven items published during the First World War with the bulk of the collection containing newspapers and magazines from World War II published in the United States by servicemen stationed at bases across the country.
Eskind, Allen S. World War II Papers
Allen Stanley Eskind is a 1942 graduate of Vanderbilt University. He was born April 8, 1921 and is a lifelong resident of Nashville. He attended Vanderbilt from 1938-1942, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. He was enlisted in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to April 24, 1947. He served as a Navigation Officer on board the USS LCI(D) 227 and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander. During the war he made a tour of duty in the South Pacific serving in such places as New Guinea, the Philippines, and Brisbane, Australia.
This Collection is .21 linear feet and includes Allen Eskind’s WWII Journal in fifteen chapters and his official correspondence during his time of service with the U.S. Navy.
An interview with Mr. Eskind regarding his expereinces during World War II is available at Vandy Goes to War.
Rezek, Philipp Papers [small collection]
This collection contains personal letters written by friends and family of Philipp Rezek, who were Jewish refugees. The collection covers Austria's takeover by the Germans in 1938, the family's departure, internment camps, arrival to the United States, and medical school. A few of the letters are written from right to left to pass German censors. The majority of this collection is in German.
Roulhac, Polly Ann Billington Collection [small collection]
Polly Ann Billington Roulhac was a Vanderbilt University graduate, who served as a Recreation Worker and Assistant Field Director for the American Red Cross from 1942-1944. She was attached to various hospitals in Maryland, Oklahoma, England, Algeria, and Italy. The book is compiled of three years of letters and v-mail 'home', to various members in her family, while serving in the American Red Cross in Europe and Africa during World War II.
Joe Thompson, Jr. Papers – inventory available
Joseph "Tiger Joe" Thompson, a native of Nashville, graduated from the Wallace University School in 1937. He received his B.A. in biology from Vanderbilt University in 1941. After graduating from Vanderbilt, he joined the Army Air Corps and was assigned to British Royal Air Force 66th Squadron for training, later joining the 109th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron of the U.S. 9th Air Force. For his military service, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, with fifteen oak leaf clusters and six Bronze Stars, The Distinguished Unit Badge and the French Croix de Guerre. Just days before Thompson's death, President Sarcozy of France honored him with the country’s highest decoration, the Legion of Honor.
The Joe Thompson, Jr. Papers contain autobiographical and biographical notes, correspondence, Army Air Force records, and scrapbooks.
Additional information on Mr. Thompson can be found in Tiger Joe: A Photographic Diary of a World War II Aerial Reconnaissance Pilot by Joe Thompson and Tom Delvaux. Nashville, Tennessee: Eveready Press, c2006. (Special Collections, SouthCV-OV Collection, D811 .T466 A3 2006).
John Thompson, a native of Nashville, was a graduate of the former Wallace School. He attended Vanderbilt University and received a B.A. in 1930 and M.A. in 1932. He then attended Harvard Law School. In 1933 he joined the staff of the Tennessean, where he became an editorial writer and a day city editor. He also was a night manager of the Associated Press Nashville Bureau. In 1942, he enlisted in the United States Navy for service in World War II. In 1944 he was promoted to Lieutenant, and was discharged with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. In 1945, he wrote a weekly newsletter for the naval post squadron and wings. He was stationed in Alaska, and later assigned to a naval cruiser in the Pacific.
This .21 linear feet collection contains 63 letters, two postcards, and one V-Mail Christmas Card from John Thompson to several family members while serving in the United States Navy during World War II. The letters are arranged in file folders chronologically by year, then month.
Vandy Goes to War: World War II Remembered
Digital Archive
Manuscript Finding Aid - inventory available
Paper copies of the transcripts and other supporting materials donated by the participants are housed in Special Collections and University Archives. Altogether there are forty participants. The interviews are complemented by a number of digitized photographs from the personal collections of some of the contributors and include ninety pages from a World War II photograph journal of a Naval officer’s tour of duty in the South Pacific.
This project records the histories and reminiscences of men and women who attended or had connections with Vanderbilt and Peabody during the war years and documents their experiences in the service and on the campus during that time and afterward when some came back to school and attended on the G.I. Bill. The interviews include eye witness accounts of soldiers fighting at the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944 and early 1945, in the Far East at Okinawa, flying aerial reconnaissance in the European theatre, and medical and hospital work in North Africa and southern Italy. One soldier, a prisoner of war in a camp in Germany tells his story. Another tells of being an eighteen year old soldier liberating prisoners from Dachau Concentration camp in southern Germany. Women speak of taking leadership positions in campus life, when so many men had gone to war and of their efforts on the home front and of the realities of rationing and limited necessities.
World War I and II Pamphlets – inventory available
The World War I and II Pamphlet Collection has been arranged chronologically. There are seven items published during the First World War with the bulk of the collection containing newspapers and magazines from World War II published in the United States by servicemen stationed at bases across the country.
