Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open to research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Hampden-Sydney College Union Literary Society Correspondence, Ms1993-001, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Hampden-Sydney College Union Literary Society Correspondence was purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1993.

Processing Information

The processing and description of the Hampden-Sydney College Union Literary Society Correspondence commenced and was completed in October, 2023.

Biographical / Historical

The Union Literary Society was founded at Hampden-Sydney College (Hampden Sydney, Virginia) in 1789, to provide the college's students a forum for improving their rhetoric through writing, speaking, and debating. The society had its own hall and library on campus and fulfilled its mission by staging formal debates among its members and engaging in formal debates with competing lierary societies, largely focusing on political issues of the day. In 1929, the Union Literary Society merged with its on-campus rival, the Philanthropic Literary Society, to form the Union-Philanthropic Society. The society remains active today (2023).

Scope and Contents

This collection contains 16 pieces of incoming correspondence of Hampden-Sydney College's Union Literary Society. The correspondence relates to the society's routine business and includes responses to invitations to join the membership or to lecture before the society. Also included are letters from various vendors relating to purchases of regalia or furnishings for the society. Within the correspondence of potential members and lecturers are letters from John S. Caskie, Thomas Saunders Gholson, James E. Heath, Elias Lyman Magoon, Chesley Martin, Henry W. Miller, Joseph Nimmo, and Harry Robertson. Vendors represented in the collection are H. K. Ellyson, Jos. M. Freeman, Samuel W. Harwood, John W. Hines, Joseph Perkins, R. C. Richardson (for Jaquelin P. Taylor), ad Francis B. Watkins.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Hampden-Sydney College
• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South

Rights Statement for Archvial Description

The guide to the Hampden-Sydney College Union Literary Society Correspondence by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).