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Douglas Southall Freeman Papers, Accession #5220, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
The collection was given to the Library by the Richmond News Leader on 15 November 1955.
Douglas Southall Freeman was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on May 16, 1886. He graduated from the University of Richmond with the degree of A.B. and received his Ph.D. in history from the Johns Hopkins University in 1908. He was editor of the Richmond News Leader from 1915 to 1949. Dr. Freeman pursued his interest in history in the writing of several books, among them: Lee's Lieutenants ; R.E. Lee, A Biography ; and George Washington. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the latter two. In addition to his duties on the News Leader he became one of radio's first analysts in 1925. He commuted weekly by air to New York City to teach journalism at Columbia University (1934-1941), and was a lecturer at the Army War College for seven years. On his retirement on June 25, 1949, an article in the News Leader stated: "Dr. Freeman's editorial specialties were taxation, municipal government, military development and operations, and observations of nature." After his death on June 13, 1953 his obituary in the News Leader included the following: "He must have written close to 600,000 words a year, campaigned for the Federal Reserve Act, for abolition of the old City Administration Board, for repeal of the fee system, for establishment of the battlefield parks, for Richmond's new charter...Among the legacies he left to us here on the paper were his 'Seventy Rules for Good Writing'...he put brevity just behind accuracy in his list of virtues."
The Douglas Southall Freeman collection comprises Freeman's editorial research files from his career as editor of the Richmond News Leader . The bulk of this material dates from 1900-1955 with several original items dated between 1819 and 1882. Transcripts of nineteenth-century material are also included. Approximately one-fifth of the foldres include material originating after Dr. Freeman's retirement. It appears that additions were made to these files under the direction of James J. Kilpatrick, Dr. Freeman's successor.
Because Dr. Freeman was a journalist and a historian, his source material includes a large numer of subjects covering a broad range of historical and current interests, which interests included taxation and finances, Civil War history, World Wars I and II, and municipal government. The collection includes circular letters, clippings, correspondence, United States government documents, memoranda, newsletters, newspapers, pamphlets, press releases, reports, and speeches. Distributed throughout the collection are some of Dr. Freeman's notes, typed manuscripts, and letters.
Many of the folders are headed with the names of people and contain either information about these people or their letters or articles. The people mentioned include local, national, or international figures cocerned with military, politics, law, science, education and industry. These folders cover such topics as the alleged treason of Jefferson Davis and Dr. Freeman's retirement, and contain such varied items as a letter written by John S. Mosby in 1902, an address by Alexander Stephens before the General Assembly of Georgia in 1866, a sketch of J.E.B. Stuart by Dr. Freeman, and James Branch Cabell's typescript essay on Thackeray's "Colonel Esmond." Under "Schiebert, Major I" can be found a manuscript entitled "Sherman's March Through Georgia," dictated by Schiebert in collaboration with Lieutenant Colonel Charles S. Venable, aide-de-camp to General Robert E. Lee. Filed under "Lee, R.E.; Farewell Order No. 9" is a letter which encloses photostatic copies of several documents related to General Lee's surrender and an article: "Manuscripts of Lee's Farewell to His Army, General Order No. 9." Several folders contain biographies most of which were supplied by the British Information Services during World War II and concern British subjects and military personnel.
Folders not headed wtih the names of people are concerned with topics such as foreign countries, finances, city government, wars, peace, and women in public affairs. The Commonwealth of Virginia and the City of Richmond receive a great deal of attention under such headings as "Civic Survey," which contains letters from the Civil Association of Richmond, of which Dr. Freeman was a member. Files on foreign countries contain information about World Wars I and II in the respective areas or wartime press releases from those countries. Other war-related materials include typed transcripts of Civil War soldiers' diaries under "Confederate Material and Federal Diary"; letters from World War II servicemen and a Confederate soldier under "War Letters"; and other materials related to World Wars I and II which are covered under headings beginning "War...", and such specific headings as "William Allen White Committee," under which is filed material on the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. Several folders are concerned with peace conferences, terms, and treaties, including one labeled, "Peace, the Defeat of," which contains sixty of Freeman's editorials on the subject.
Financial information may be found under headings concerning budgets, finances, taxes, and tariffs, and materials in these folders treat of the fiscal problems of cities, states, and the federal government, and include a detailed series of Freeman's editorials on tariffs and budgets. Files relating to women contain materials on women of note in early Virginia, including Pocahontas, and on the contributions of women to the United States as a whole. There is a series of fity editorials from the Richmond News Leader concerning the "Berlin Crisis" in 1948. Under "Williamsburg, Virginia" a letter from Colonial Williamsburg, Incorporated, claims for that city the erection in 1716 of America's first theater. A folder headed "War Chronology" was found to be empty and was destroyed.
All folders are filed according to their original arrangement, alphabetically by topic, and Dr. Freeman's folder hearings have been retained. A few folders were found to be out of order and were refiled. There are some apparent inconsistencies in the filing entries. For example one may find subject matter concerning taxation filed under: "Cities, Taxation" and under "Taxation, States." Within the folders items are filed in forward chronological order. Charts and maps listed at the end of this guide are filed in an oversize folder.