Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

MSS 3700, Jane Chapman Slaughter papers, Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The papers were originally given to the University of Virginia Library on May 1, 1951 by Captain and Mrs. R.I. Slaughter of Silver Spring, Maryland. The donors gave additional papers on May 10, 1951. On June 16, 1975 the Library received additional pieces from Arthur Workman of Portsmouth, Ohio.

Jane Slaughter's account ledger is an addition to the collection which was a gift from Kay Slaughter to the Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia on February 17, 2023.

Biographical / Historical

Jane Slaughter (1860-1951) was born in Virginia. She graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1910. After teaching for several years, she returned to William and Mary, where she obtained an M.A. degree in 1923. In 1935 she earned a Ph.D. in Romance Languages from the University of Virginia at the age of 75. Slaughter was among the earliest female students at the University of Virginia.

Content Description

This collection and addition consists of about 4.25 shelf feet (ca. 1500 pieces) and includes the legal, financial, genealogical, and personal papers of Jane Chapman Slaughter, a genealogical authority and one of the first women to receive a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.

These papers cover the years 1809-1951 and consist of the correspondence of both Miss Slaughter and her family, her M.A. thesis and Ph.D. dissertation, genealogical records, photographs, notebooks, drawings, newspaper clippings, and diplomas.

Jane Chapman Slaughter was born in Virginia in 1860. She graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1910. After teaching school for a number of years she returned to William and Mary where she obtained an M.A. degree in 1923. In 1935 she earned a Ph.D. in Romance Languages from the University of Virginia at the age of 75. Her dissertation topic was "Louis Hue Girardin, Educator, Historian, and Man- Of-Letters."

While this collection is largely of a personal nature, it is useful for both the family historian and genealogist interested in studying a prominent Virginia family. It is important to collect the documents related to women in higher education from the twentieth century and earlier.

In addition, there are transcripts of 38 letters from Thomas Jefferson to Louis Hue Girardin covering the years 1809-1823, which Miss Slaughter used in writing her dissertation.

Included is a new addition to this collection (MSS 3700), Jane Slaughter's account ledger (February 1896- May 1915). The ledger covers her time living in New York and her eventual relocation to Alexandria, Virginia. The book records her receipts, expenses, and income with detailed information on the type of expense, date, and amount. Tipped in the ledger are receipts, clippings, calendar pages, letters, and a handwritten will for "Aunt Nannie from Ohio."

The Jane Chapman Slaughter papers (8.5 document boxes, 4.25 cubic feet) contain family correspondence, academic and miscellaneous works of Jane Slaughter, school notebooks, genealogical material, newspaper clippings, photographs, legal and financial papers, family crests, miscellaneous papers and diplomas earned by the Slaughter family.

Arrangement

The papers have been arranged in the following order: Series 1. Correspondence, Series 2. Academic and miscellaneous works of Jane Slaughter, Series 3. School notebooks, Series 4. Genealogical material (including papers, notebooks, scrapbooks, photographs, newspaper clippings, and family crests),and Series 5. Financial and Legal papers

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Ledgers (account books)
• Slaughter, Jane Chapman, 1860-1951
• Women -- United States
• Women in higher education