Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use except for one folder in the series on University of Virginia materials which is restricted due to FERPA.

Conditions Governing Access

One folder is restricted in the series University of Virginia materials due to FERPA.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was a gift from Joel Gardner to the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on 17 August 2020.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical information about subjects in this collection:

Jonathan Meigs (1740-1823), a colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, was one of the settlers of the Northwest Territory in what is now the state of Ohio. He later served the federal government as an Indian agent working with the Cherokee in southeastern Tennessee. He also served under Colonel Benedict Arnold and kept a journal of their expedition. One of his most important achievements during the Revolutionary War was leading the Meigs Raid against the British forces in Sag Harbor, New York, in May 1777. As an acting commander of the 1st Connecticut Brigade, he put down an incipient mutiny and received the written thanks of General George Washington.

After the Revolution, Meigs was appointed surveyor of the Ohio Company of Associates. In April 1788, at age 47, he was one of a party of pioneers to the Northwest Territory from New England. They reached the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, where he participated in the founding of Marietta, Ohio. Subsequently, he entered political life, being appointed as a territorial judge

In 1801, Meigs went to Tennessee to fill the combined position of US Indian agent to the Cherokee Nation and military agent for the United States War Department. Charles R. Hicks, a European and bilingual Cherokee, worked as his interpreter for some time. Hicks later became a chief of the Cherokee.Meigs promoted the well-being of the Cherokee, defended their rights in treaty negotiations, and encouraged Cherokee efforts to establish a republican form of government.

The Partisan Ranger Act was passed on April 21, 1862 by the Confederate Congress. It was intended as a stimulus for recruitment of irregulars for service into the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. The Confederate leadership, like the Union leadership, later opposed the use of unconventional warfare out of fear the lack of discipline among rival guerrilla groups could spiral out of control. On February 17, 1864, the law was repealed after pressure from General Robert E. Lee and other Confederate regulars.

HITLER & CHAMBERLAIN, 1938. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (left) photographed with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler at Godesberg, Germany, 22-23 September 1938, where they discussed possibilities for a peaceful resolution to the crisis over the Sudetenland involving Germany and Czechoslovakia.

Francis Gary Powers (1929-1977) was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency Lockheed U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 incident. He later worked as a helicopter pilot for KNBC in Los Angeles and died in a 1977 helicopter crash.

Content Description

This collection contains war materials and materials related to the University of Virginia both donated by Joel Gardner. The war memorabila is from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century including a certification that Sergeant James Goldsmith served in the Continental Army in 1781; a letter dated July 8, 1862 requesting permission to form a "Company of 'Partisan Rangers" from the Confederate States Army; a photograph of Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler following a September 24, 1938 meeting; and a swatch of fabric from a life raft used by Francis Gary Powers after being shot down while on a surveillance mission to the Soviet Union in 1960.

The materials related to the University of Virginia include hand-written garden notes for Shadwell; facsimiles of Thomas Jefferson materials; a letter from Thomas Jefferson to Dr. William Thornton about designing the pavillions at UVA; The Washington Star (June 12, 1969); student records (restricted); Official Report of the Student Curriculum Evaluation Committee (1968-1969); Alpha Epsilon Pi, Mu Chapter (1969-1970); Los Intereses Creados por Don Jacinto Benavente, Grupo de Teatro Espanol, University of Virginia; University Party "Vote Change" pamphlet; University of Virginia Alumni Association newsletter (July 6, 1970); 12 copies of The Cavalier Daily (January-May 1970); "Men's Wear" (May 28, 1965); Official Spring Sports Schedules (1926); photos and postcard of football games; four course certificates (ca. 1903); letter of admission to student (July 4, 1848); letter from Edwin Alderman to Grover Cleveland (March 12, 1907); Tilka Society invitation (1919); Washington Society invitation (June 1, 1848); glass plate negative of the Rotunda and lawn.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Chamberlain, Neville, 1856-1944
• Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945
• Jefferson, Thomas
• Powers, Francis Gary, 1929-1977
• United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
• United States History Civil War 1861-1865
• University of Virginia
• Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- University of Virginia

General

These two donations from Joel Gardner on war memorabilia and University of Virginia materials were combined. (ViU-2019-0095 and ViU-2020-0062)