Conditions Governing Use:

Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Conditions Governing Access:

The collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Custodial History:

This collection was previously part of the University Archives Publications Collection.

Preferred Citation:

Virginia Historical Pageant Records, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Biographical / Historical

Earl Gregg Swem was born 29 December 1870 in Belle Plaine, Iowa. He graduated from Lafayette College (A.B. and A.M.) Swem worked as a high school instructor 1893-1900. He worked for the John Crerar Library, the Superintendent of Documents Library, the Armour Institute Library, was the chief of the cataloging division of the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress, assistant Virginia State Librarian, and Librarian for the College of William and Mary. Swem compiled about forty finding lists and bibliographies, was managing editor of the William and Mary Quarterly and supervised the production of the Virginia Historical Index. He died in Louisville, Ky., 14 April 1965.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains program from the play titled "Meeting of the Board of Visitors of William and Mary College Dec. 7, 1779."  The play was produced to commemorate when William and Mary was reorganized as a university, as well as when the honor and elective systems were established.  The play was just one episode in the Virginia Historical Pageant, a celebration of the penetration of English civilization into America from Queen Elizabeth I through the American Civil War.  The pageant took place in Richmond, Virginia on May 27, 1922. - New York Times, May 21, 1922.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• College of William and Mary. Board of Visitors
• Programs
• Student Plays
• Virginia Historical Pageant