Conditions Governing Use:

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Conditions Governing Access:

This 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.

Preferred Citation:

Eleanor Harvey Rennie Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information:

Acc. 2007.59 received from Mrs. Eleanor Harvey Rennie of Richmond, Virginia on 8/1/07. Acquisition information for material received after 7/13/2009 is available by consulting a Special Collections Research Center staff member.

Processing Information:

Acc. 2011.483 accessioned and minimally processed by Steven Bookman, University Archives Specialist, in July 2011.

Biographical Information:

Eleanor May Harvey Rennie of Richmond, Virginia was the president of the Women's Student Government Association at William & Mary in 1945 when she was named by college president John E. Pomfret as the sponsor of the SS William & Mary Victory. The ship was launched from the Bethlehem-Fairfield shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland on April 20, 1945.

Scope and Contents

This collection includes material gathered by then William and Mary student Eleanor Harvey related to the christening of the  SS William and Mary Victory  on April 20, 1945. Photographs, news clippings, scrapbook, and the wooden chest holding the broken champagne bottle used in the launch are available. Miss Harvey was the sponsor at the launch and Edith Harwood was the maid of honor.

A photo of the champagne bottle can be seen on Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/2B8CDR.

More information on the SS William and Mary Victory is available in the W&M Knowledgebase at https://scrc-kb.libraries.wm.edu/ss-william-mary-victory.

Related Material

University Archives Subject File Collection (UA 9), University Archives Photograph Collection (UA 8), University Archives Artifact Collection (UA 13); William & Mary Victory Ship Collection, UA 11.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Clippings (information artifacts)
• College of William and Mary--History--20th century
• College of William and Mary--Students
• Photographs
• Scrapbooks
• Victory ships
• Wine bottles
• World War, 1939-1945