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Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections LibraryEllen Welch
The collection is open for research use.
MSS 16794, James Madison letter to Thomas Jefferson, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.
This collection was purchased from James Cummins and Joel Levin (appraiser) by the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on 10 October 2022
James Madison Jr. was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.
For his work in creating the University of Virginia with Thomas Jefferson, he is referred to as "the key friend and advisor to whom Jefferson turned over and over for advice and critiques of his plans and the one who was present at almost all of the important meetings that led to the successful founding of the University and its location in Charlottesville."
"The letters that passed between Jefferson and Madison, provide strong evidence of Madison's role."
"Madison himself had advocated the formation of a national university, as had each president before him, but Congress had not acted. James Norton Smith, the editor of Republic of Letters, the remarkable three-volume collection of the Madison-Jefferson correspondence, notes that as Madison's second term as president neared its end, "The Sage of Monticello was anxious to have the Sage of Montpelier back in the neighborhood because [he] had already staked out a significant retirement project for them: the creation of the University of Virginia."
"Madison was intimately involved in the realization of that project, and, when Jefferson had to step down as rector in 1826, the year of his death, it was Madison who took over for him until his failing health forced him to step down in 1836, the year of his own death. It seems to me that Mr. Jefferson would want his friend's contribution to the University recognized and appreciated considerably more than it is."
Sources "James Madison" Wikipedia. Accessed 6/26/23 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison
Todd, Jim. "Madison's Role in the Founding of the University of Virgnia" 2020 February 14. Accessed 6/26/23 https://engagement.virginia.edu/learn/2020/02/14/madisons-role-in-the-founding-of-the-university-of-virginia
This collection contains a single letter from James Madison to Thomas Jefferson about submitting his first donation for founding the "Central College," which would become the University of Virginia. Docketed in Jefferson's hand on verso, "Madison Ja., Montpellier [missing text on margin] recd M [missing text on margin]"
James Madison writes, "I take the oppportunity by Judge Holmes of sending my first installment for the Central College, which I beg the favor of you to have put with the proper hands..."
Related to the Thomas Jefferson papers.