Papers of John McLaren McBryde

This collection is primarily correspondence (1900-07), both incoming and outgoing, dealing with pertinent subjects of McBryde's administration, including: Christian case and other hazing problems; Junior class uprising (1904); Jamestown Exposition (1907); fire of 1905; McBryde's refusal of University of Virginia presidency. There is also much routine correspondence including requests for catalogs, letters from concerned parents, and business letters. Included with the 1903 correspondence are letters concerning a typhoid epidemic.

Thirteen volumes of letter books (1900-06) contain copies of outgoing correspondence from McBryde and other members of his administration: C.D. Taliaferro (Secretary to President, Registrar, Acting Treasurer, Superintendent of Book Department); Charles I. Wade (Treasurer, Registrar); Ellison Smyth (Dean). Volume I (14 February 1900 - 5 March 1900) includes some letters signed by McBryde as Director of Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station. Much of 1901-02 correspondence consists of requests and orders for catalogs and books to replenish the library after the Administration Building fire. Volume 7 (19 April 1901 - 23 February 1903) contains two reports from McBryde to Board of Visitors, 1901 and 1902, and a report from McBryde to Joseph W. Southall, Superintendent of Public Instruction. Volume 12 (15 July 1904 - 23 September 1905) contains twenty-eight letters from McBryde to Board of Visitors and others. Volume 13 (25 July 1904-28 September 1905) contains correspondence concerning Sweet Briar Institute and signed by McBryde as Chairman of Executive Committee, Sweet Briar Institute. Most volumes are indexed by recipients of correspondence.

The collection also includes: bibliography of McBryde's writings (1841-1923); annual reports of the president (1891, 1892/93); applications for employment of students (1900/01); bids and contracts (1900-07); correspondence of William Alwood, Professor of Horticulture, Entomology, and Mycology (1901-04); reports to the president and board of visitors (1902-07); shops department records (1902-07); Agriculture Hall material (1905-06); correspondence of Theodore Campbell, first Dean of Academic Department (1905-06); requisitions and orders (1905, 1907/08); fire loss records (1905-07); reports of absentism, tardiness, delinquency, or unsatisfactory work of students (1906/07, 1907/08); Proceedings Had Before the Committee Appointed to Investigate Charges Against the Virginia Polytechnic Institute (23-28 July 1906); and biographical information on McBryde, including newspaper clippings.