Conditions Governing Use

The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the Head of Special Collections.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], George Earle Chamberlain Papers, WLU Coll. 0247, Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA.

In some cases the citation format may vary. Please contact Special Collections staff to verify the appropriate format.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Chamberlain's grandson, George E. Chamberlain, on 12/30/1998.

Biographical / Historical

George Earle Chamberlain was an 1876 graduate of Washington and Lee University Law school, Governor of Oregon (1902-1910), and a U. S. Senator from Oregon (1909-1920). While a student at Washington and Lee, he was a member of the Virginia Beta Chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

Scope and Contents

This collection includes a small amount of correspondence dated 1904-1908. The primary subject matter of the correspondence refers to fundraising efforts Chamberlain was a part of that related to Washington and Lee University. He helped fundraise to build a chapter house for his fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi, a new library (Carnegie), and the Lee Memorial Association. A couple of letters refer to the Jamestown Exposition (1907). Chamberlain remarks about his political campaign in a letter dated June 5, 1906.

The collection also includes his two manuscript notebooks of class notes he took during classes taught by Professor John Randolph Tucker. Two examination broadsides were removed from between pages 12-13 of the second notebook and placed in an oversize folder. There is also photograph from January 1874 Chamberlain and two fraternity brothers, Gerard M. Effinger and Floyd Farrar.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• College Students
• Correspondence
• Fraternal organizations
• Photographs
• Tucker, John Randolph
• Washington and Lee University. Phi Kappa Psi
• Washington and Lee University. University Library