Conditions Governing Use:

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Conditions Governing Access:

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Preferred Citation:

Ellen Washington Bellamy Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information:

Gift sent to Dr. Earl Gregg Swem by Dr. W.A. R. Goodwin at Mrs. Ellen Washington Bellamy's request.

Biographical Information:

In 1916, Ellen Washington Bellamy donated a site on the corner of Washington Avenue and College Street for the construction of a new library to be built in honor of her brother, Hugh Vernon Washington.

The site donated by Mrs. Bellamy was known as Washington Place and was the home of James H. R. Washington, a former mayor of Macon. The old Washington home was once the scene of grand social occasions, and British author William Makepeace Thackeray was entertained there when he came to Macon to give a reading. The house has since been moved to Park Place. Memorials to the Washington family are incorporated into the original building's architecture. The coat of arms of the Washington family is displayed above the old front door and bas-relief cameos of Ellen Washington Bellamy, her brother Hugh Washington and their parents, James and Mary Washington, are located high on the north and south interior walls below the barrel-vaulted ceiling.

Scope and Contents

Portrait photographs of members of the Washington Family of Macon, Georgia and places connected with the family:  Ellen Washington Bellamy, Judge Hugh Washington (brother of Ellen Washington Bellamy), Colonel James H.R. Washington with an autograph, home of Colonel H.R. Washington, family lot in Rose Hill Cemetery, and Washington Memorial Library.

Newspaper clippings and typed data about Mrs. Mary Hammond Washington, the founder of Georgia's Branch of the Daughters of the American Revolution, book plates of the Washington Memorial Library and clippings from the Washington Post on Martha Washington's garden.

Arrangement of Materials:

Photographs filed alphabetically by subject:  names or places, material on Mary Hammond Washington filed under her name, book plates filed under Washington Memorial Library and newspaper clippings under Martha Washington's garden.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Bellamy, Ellen Washington
• Macon Region (Ga.)--History
• Photographs
• Washington family
• Washington, Hugh Vernon (Judge)
• Washington, James H. R. (Colonel)
• Washington, Martha, 1731-1802
• Washington, Mary Hammond