Earl Gregg Swem Papers Guide to the Earl Gregg Swem Papers Mss. 79 Sw4

Guide to the Earl Gregg Swem Papers Mss. 79 Sw4


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Special Collections Research Center

William & Mary Special Collections Research Center
Earl Gregg Swem Library
400 Landrum Dr
Williamsburg, Virginia
Business Number: 757-221-3090
spcoll@wm.edu
URL: https://libraries.wm.edu/libraries-spaces/special-collections

Special Collections Staff.

Repository
Special Collections Research Center
Identification
Mss. 79 Sw4
Title
Earl Gregg Swem Papers 1927-1965
Quantity
11.50 Linear Feet
Language
English

Administrative Information

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:

Earl Gregg Swem Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information:

Gifts from Earl Gregg Swem, Jr., Earl Gregg Swem, III and others. 1971.18 transferred to archives from manuscripts on 10/1/1971. 1982.34 Gift of Earl Gregg Swem III 1982.44 Gift of Earl Gregg Swem III 1987.02 Gift of Dr. Joseph Fields 1994.35 Gift of Thomas McDonnell 2004.50 Gift of Earl Gregg Swem III 2007.69 Gift of Bruton Parish Church 2007.105 Gift of Earl Gregg Swem III 2008.178 Material located while processing backlog material in 2009.

Processing Information:

Processed by Myra Curtis and Ron Colvin in 1979.

Processed by Jordan Ecker in 2008.

Box and folder lists updated by Patricia Sanabria, SCRC staff, in November of 2011.


Biographical Information:

Earl Gregg Swem was born December 29, 1870 in Belle Plaine, Iowa. He graduated from Lafayette College (A.B. and A.M.) Swem worked as a high school instructor 1893-1900. He worked for the John Crerar Library, the Superintendent of Documents Library, the Armour Institute Library, was the chief of the cataloging division of the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress, assistant Virginia State Librarian, and Librarian for the College of William and Mary. Swem compiled about forty finding lists and bibliographies, was managing editor of the William and Mary Quarterly and supervised the production of the Virginia Historical Index. He died in Louisville, Kentucky on 14 April 14, 1965.

Scope and Contents

Papers, 1927-1965, of Earl Gregg Swem, librarian and historian. Includes correspondence, reports, poems, and newspaper clippings. Subjects covered by the collection include Virginia history, bibliography, American Library Association, Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, Colonial Williamsburg, College of William and Mary, Phi Beta Kappa, Virginia Colonial Records Project, Virginia Historical Society, Jamestown Festival, Hampton Celebration, and the Virginia Historical Index. Correspondents include Alvin D. Chandler, Virginius Dabney, John Frederick Dorman, Douglas Southall Freeman, Fairfax Harrison, John M. Jennings, David John Mays, Davis Y. Paschall, James E. Pomfret, William M. E. Rachal and William Clayton Torrence.

Mss. 79 Sw4:  see PDF document (below) for inventory. 

Additions: see Finding Aid/Inventory.

Related Material

See also the Earl G. Swem Family Papers and the Earl Gregg Swem Genealogy Collection; William and Mary Quarterly Records (UA 64).

Addition 2008.364 may have originally been part of Mss. 39.4 V82ci Williamsburg Papers, folders 4 and 5.

Subjects and Indexing Terms


Significant Places Associated With the Collection

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Container List

id64786
Series 1: Earl Gregg Swem Papers
1927-1965
Scope and Contents

Original grouping of Earl Gregg Swem's papers. See PDF Inventory for further description.

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id64787
Series 2: Virginia Historical Index and Virginia Library Association Papers
1927-1938
Scope and Contents

A representative sample of the original manuscript of the Virginia Historical Index, illustrating the method of compilation. Includes four folders with matching index cards: James City County - Jeffers Tobacco William and Mary College Tobacco. and Earl Gregg Swem's correspondence when he was the President of the Virginia Library Association in 1927 and 1928, plus printed material, reports and publications of the VLA and related organizations during that time.

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id64808
Series 3: Mss. Acc. 1982.34 Addition
Scope and Contents

Genealogical material and photographs of Dr. E.G. Swem and members of his family. Original 19th century manuscripts included.

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id64809
Series 4: Mss. Acc. 1982.44 Addition
1941, undated
Scope and Contents

Photograph of Dr. Earl Gregg Swem at the College, 9 June 1941; photograph (formal) of Mrs. Earl Gregg Swem with E.G. Swem, Jr., as infant.

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id64810
Series 5: Mss. Acc. 1987.02 Addition
1958-1961
Scope and Contents

Seven ALS by Earl Gregg Swem to Dr. Fields, 1958-1961, with a photostat of a letter by William Berkeley to the Lord High Treasurer, 1 Feb. 1673/4.

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id64813
Series 6: Mss. Acc. 1994.35 Addition
1920-1965
Scope and Contents

Correspondence.

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id64830
Series 7: Mss. Acc. 2002.22 Addition
circa 1960
Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents Crank-up musical greeting card which plays the "Happy Birthday" song. Given to Earl Gregg Swem about the time of his 90th birthday. EGS passed it to his son's family who played it at birthdays.

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id64824
Series 8: Mss. Acc. 2004.50 Addition
1961
Scope and Contents

Copies of 2 letters relating to the George Rogers Clark Papers. Earl Gregg Swem to Mrs. Isaac Hardeman, 8/14/1961 and Mrs. Isaac Hardeman to Mrs. W.L. Lyon Brown, 10/21/1961.

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id66207
Series 9: Mss. Acc. 2007.69 Addition
undated
Scope and Contents

Postcard to Rev. H.N. Tucker, Jr. from E.G. Swem saying he does not plan to attend the Laymen's Luncheon at Bruton Parish House.

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id64826
Series 10: Mss. Acc. 2007.105 Addition
1947-1964, undated
Scope and Contents

This addition to the Earl G. Swem papers is comprised of Christmas, birthday, and Easter cards; as well as wedding and birth announcements sent to Swem and his wife while they lived in Williamsburg, VA.

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id66206
Series 11: Mss. Acc. 2008.178 Addition
1918, 1945
Scope and Contents

Certificate from the United States Food Administration showing that Earl G. Swem enlisted in the volunteer service of the United States Government...as Library Director, Richmond, Virginia, 1918. Certificate for Earl Gregg Swem from the United Stated Food Administration in appreciation...of patriotic service during the Great War, 1917-1918. Carbon copy May 29, 1945 letters to Major J.S. Hudson, Mrs. J.D. Griffin, Clarence S. Brigham and Alexander Weddell. January 12, 1960 letter from Harvey S. Batdorf, Assistant to the President for Development at Lafayette College, thanking Swem for his letter about the Stuart Wells Jackson Collection.

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id95047
Series 12: Mss. Acc. 2008.364 Addition
1928-1935
Scope and Contents

Earl Gregg Swem's correspondence as chairman of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities Capitol Committee during the decision making process of how to reconstruct the colonial Capitol Building.  The APVA was the owner of the site and had the final say in any decisions  Some of the correspondence is with Perry, Shaw and Hepburn, architects of the Williamsburg Restoration, Inc., who were part of a separate committee on the building of the Capitol. Members of the APVA Capitol Committee included Col. Samuel H. Yonge, Robert Lancaster, George P. Coleman, John Stewart Bryan and Earl Gregg Swem. Members of the Advisory Committee of Architects included Edmund S. Campbell, W. Duncan Lee, Robert Lee Taylor, Laurence Kocher, Robert P. Bellows, D. Everett Wade, Marcellus Wright, Thomas Tallmadge, Fiske Kimball, Earl Gregg Swem, Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, William S. Perry and Andrew H. Hepburn. Includes Earl Gregg Swem's related correspondence about the Williamsburg Restoration with Vernon Geddy, Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin,  Perry, Shaw and Hepburn (Architects) and Harold R. Shurtleff.

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id105337
Series 13: Mss. Acc. 2011.593  Addition
1921-1931
Scope and Contents

Items transferred from College Papers Correspondence and notes of E.G. Swem concerning books and manuscripts in the following American libraries: Harvard, Library of Congress, NY State Library, US Bureau of Education, Virginia Historical Society, Virginia State Library. Also, notes concerning manuscripts in England: Bodleian Library, British Museum, Fulham Palace, Lambeth Palace, Public Records Office. A letter to Dr. JAC Chandler, 1929, enclosing a memo mentioning several places where valuable records might be found.

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