Conditions Governing Use:

Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Note:  Even though permission was given to publish and copy this manuscript, check to see if the original manuscript has been given to another library or research center.

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:

Robert Reid Howison Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary

Acquisition Information:

Original manuscript was lent to Special Collection in 1922 by Mary Graham Howison, with permission to publish, and returned to her in 1978.  Before returning the manuscript, she gave permission for a copy to be made. The original manuscript was deposited with The College of William and Mary by Mary Graham Howison in 1922 when she graduated from William and Mary.  She gave William and Mary permission to publish parts of it at any time.  Chapter 2 and Chapter 6 did appear in the William and Mary Quarterly.  In 1978, she requested the original document, giving William and Mary permission to "xerox the manuscript."

Biographical Information:

Robert Reid Howison (1820-1906) was a historian who lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia at present day (2008) Lee Drive in Fredericksburg Battlefield Park off Lafayette Boulevardis. Further information about this individual or organization may be available in the Special Collections Research Center Wiki: .

Scope and Contents

Photostat copy of handwritten manuscript and copy of typed transcript of "Twice Forty Years" an autobiography by Robert Reed Howison.  This manuscript is sometimes called "Twice Forty Years in American Life."

Related Material

Trina Stephens earned a doctoral degree in adult education from Virginia Tech in 1998 with a thesis titled "Twice Forty Years of American Life," based on the writings of Robert Howison.  She is married to a descendant of Robert Reid Howison.

Information about related materials is available at http://nsdl.org/resource/2200/20061004170954176T

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Manuscripts (document genre)