Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Access Restrictions

Collection open to research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Legh W. Riddick Scrapbook, 1927-1930, SC 0350, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

The scrapbook was acquired from Cavalier Cards in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

Legh Watts Riddick (1910-1977) lived in Portsmouth, Virginia and attended Fishburne Military School between 1927 and 1929. Riddick retired as a draftsman from the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Documents within the scrapbook suggest Riddick may have gone by the nickname "Judge."

Scope and Contents

Legh Riddick's scrapbook from his time as a student at Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, Virginia and includes photographs, telegrams and correspondence, printed ephemera, cadet laundry list, course schedule, programs, articles, annotations and descriptions, signatures of classmates and members of the football team, team rosters and scores, listings of clubs and societies as well as school and social functions. A section on entertainment, lectures, and plays includes a description of a performance by the Southern Plantation Singers on October 18, 1927. Clipped news articles mention school events, speakers, and performances. Of note are performances by the Hampton Singers and the Jackson Plantation Singers (1927). Much of the material in the scrapbook concerns athletics generally and football in particular.

Of interest is a June 30, 1930 issue of "C.Q.", the school newspaper, specifically the obituary of "Uncle" Isaac, a Black employee of the school who was formerly enslaved by the family of James A. Fishburne, the founder of Fishburne Military School. Isaac's last name is not included.

Two letters from Riddick to the Commandant of Cadets are included. In one letter, he requests permission to go off campus to attend a performance at the Wayne Theatre. In a second, Riddick requests permission to go home to visit his dentist due to a chronic toothache.

Loose items were kept interfiled between their original scrapbook pages.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Cavalier Cards
• Fishburne Military School (1879-)
• Military cadets -- Virginia
• Military education -- Virginia -- History
• Photographs
• Printed Ephemera
• Scrapbooks