Special Collections & Archives Research Guide

This collection includes typed and handwritten drafts of poetry written by Elizabeth Ann Burton, mostly from the late 1980s. Included are the original manuscripts for Burton’s published book of poetry Waiting for the Messiah, as well as the draft of a second book, which was never published. Letters from Elizabeth Burton to Mildred Guilds Peele, donator of the collection, as well as letters written after Burton’s death by Mildred Peele to L. S. Loomer, a potential publisher of Elizabeth Burton’s poetry, and correspondence between Burton’s mother and Peele.

The collection includes papers ranging in dates from 1680 to 1936 with the bulk of the collection falling between 1879 and 1881. Most of the collection is comprised of the correspondence of William Hayes Ward, editor of The Independent, with notable literary and historical figures including General John Charles Frémont, American explorer and expedition leader; P. T. Barnum, showman; and Asa Gray, the preeminent American botanist of the 19th century. See digital collection.

This collection documents the history of Schola Cantorum consisting of programs, posters, audiovisual material and organizational records.

Material in the collection dates from 1975 to the present day. Represented in the collection are the Virginia Opera Association, the Virginia Opera Guild, the Virginia Opera Docents, and information on the Harrison Opera House. The Friends of Virginia Opera and a split off group called Lyric Opera Virginia are also represented, but to a much lessor extent. Material includes business, budgets, and correspondence; season programs and marketing materials; news articles and newsletters; membership information; educational materials; multimedia including video tapes, cassette tapes, compact discs, and record albums; photographs; and artifacts related to the Virginia Opera.

The Virginia Symphony Foundation, provides financial support to the Virginia Symphony by administering funds and property for the benefit of the Virginia Symphony. Consists of bylaws, meeting minutes, and financial information.

This collection contains administrative records, financial records, fundraising activities, and other material related to the Virginia Symphony League. Included are board meeting minutes, correspondence, records of special events to raise money for the Virginia Symphony, and financial information.

This collection consists of materials related to the Virginia Symphony Orchestra including its board of directors, committees, conductors, and musicians. Material includes administrative materials, correspondence, publicity, new clippings, newsletters, concert programs, calendars, photographs, multimedia, reports, contracts, financial records, and membership information. Material in this collection dates back to the founding of the organization in 1921 and continues through the 2006-2007 Virginia Symphony Season.

The Virginia Symphony Society of Greater Williamsburg (VSSGW) was formed to encourage support for and enjoyment of the symphony in the Greater Williamsburg area. Consists of material related to the annual Beethoven Festival in Williamsburg and other events, administrative and committee material, and newsletters.

Edgar Kovner was a musician, as well as being the head of the refrigeration and air-conditioning departments at the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary and later the head of the Technical Institute. His first wife, Kathleen O'Hara, was a musician in Italy and Norfolk, Va. This small collection includes correspondence about Kovner's career at Old Dominion University, a scrapbook about his wife's musical career and a scrapbook documenting the history of the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra, from 1920-1945. Documents date from 1920-1984.

The collection consists of mostly personal correspondence between the members of the Johnson and Allen families of Maine, who were related by marriage. The letters date from 1838 to 1947. In addition to the correspondence other items included in the collection are photographs of an ice storm, postcard, genealogical information, receipts and accounts. Aside from its insight into the lives of members of the Johnson and Allen families, this collection has some information that may be of interest to someone researching the genealogy of the Johnson and Allen families, as well as the Tracy's of Maine who are also related.

Three letters constitute this collection. The letters are from Solomon Bachus of Granville County, New York, to his brother Herman Hyde of Essex, Vermont, (July 12, 1807); from Arabret Luckland of Bloomingdale to her cousin Louisa Buck of Westford, Vermont (May 24, 1846) and from Rosannah Chen(owitt) of Monroe, Wisconsin, to Miss Louisa Buck of Westford, Vermont (July 28, 1850). The first letter describes the failing health of a family member, slowly dying of cancer.

The Doughty Family Papers, dating from 1855 to 1904, are a collection of letters, paid receipts and household ledgers belonging to William Polk Fitchett. The content of many of the letters deals with James Polk Fitchett's (William's son) life at the school and also love letters sent to Willetta Fitchett (William's daughter) from various suitors. The paid receipts consist of charges for services rendered to or from Fitchett himself and the ledgers are an account of household expenses from the years 1887-1890. Other items in the 57-piece collection are brochures, a shopping list, a poem and business letters from distant relatives and friends.

The bulk of the material concerns the desegregation of Norfolk, Virginia's public schools. There is some material on the Gray Commission Report (1955-1956), much more on the Norfolk Committee for Public Schools, an organization in which Dr. White was active from 1958 to 1963. The latter material includes correspondence, publicity releases, financial records, and newspaper clippings. There are small amounts of material on the 1952 Byrd-Miller Democratic Senatorial primary and on the 1961 Citizens for Democratic Government campaign in Norfolk's Democratic primary.

The collection consists of letters and financial transactions related to Elie Beatty, a cashier at the Hagerstown Bank.

The John Randolph Tucker papers, many of which are in Spanish, deal primarily with his service as President of the Peruvian Hydro-graphical Commission of the Amazon.

Norfolk landscape architect and artist. Designed landscapes for buildings ranging from Webb Center to the bowling alley at a US Air Force base in Italy. The collection includes approximately three hundred oversized landscape plans, as well as a small number of photographs and written descriptions of landscape designs dated circa 1951-2004.

This collection contains materials related to Old Dominion University and Hampton Road’s economic development collected by Thomas Jackson Reed, associate professor of business administration. Included are correspondence, news clippings, research proposals and studies conducted by Mr. Reed. The collection dates from 1935 to 1990.

The Transatlantic Cable Collection consists of four items: a framed segment of cable used in the first transatlantic telegraph connection, 1858; a document certifying the cable’s authenticity; a photograph of the USCG ship Marmer, 1959 and an undated photograph of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s ship Discoverer.

The Norfolk Museum of Natural History Collection includes 144 undated photographs that depict the museum's exhibits, staff, special functions, and activities.

This collection documents the life of Calder Smith Sherwood, III and his family from 1899 to 1977. Materials include personal correspondence from family members, faculty, students, and organizations, daily planners, wall calendars, pocket diaries, newsletters and newspapers, blueprints, speeches, faculty reports, department surveys, a recorded lecture, and photos. Due to Sherwood’s involvement with summer camps, the collection also includes brochures, photos, and correspondence from several boys’ camps in North Carolina. There is also much information on planetariums and projectors that Sherwood gathered in preparation for designing the Pretlow Planetarium of ODU.

The Strauss collection covers the years 1839 to 1938. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence between Arthur and Lucy Strauss between the years of 1900 and 1933. Also included is correspondence with their son, Arnold Strauss. Most of the collection is in German. In addition to correspondence the collection includes publications, newspaper clippings, typed manuscripts of works by Irmgard Keun, record books, legal documents, and school records for Abraham, Lucy, and Arnold Strauss.

The Virginia Tidewater Dental Association Papers is a small collection that consists of a minute book, membership list and correspondence of a dental association in Norfolk and Portsmouth, as well as a short history of the Norfolk Webster family of dentists.