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:

The 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.

Custodial History:

A portion of this collection was formerly part of the University Archives Publications Collection.

Preferred Citation:

Ferguson Seminar in Publishing Records, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information:

T1987.7

Processing Information:

Processing and finding aid completed by Eva Wong, SCRC staff, in January 2010.

Historical Note:

The Career Center coordinates career development programs and recruitment services for all undergraduate and graduate programs at the College except the Law and MBA programs.

Scope and Contents

Contains subject files, correspondence, and copies of lectures given at the Ferguson Seminar for Publishing from 1970 to 2009.

Also included are addresses given at the Ferguson Seminar in Publishing at the College of William and Mary. The seminar is a one day introduction to the nature of book publishing with emphasis on career possibilities. Among those present for the seminars have been editors from McGraw-Hill; Random House; Bantam Books; Harper's Magazine; and Princeton University Press.

The first Ferguson Seminar was held in October 1970 and was an annual seminar up through 1972. In October 1972, due to financial reasons, the large amounts of time to schedule seminars, and the repetitive nature of the seminars, they decided to go to biennial seminars starting in 1973. Currently, the William C. Ferguson Endowment provides scholarships to students to attend the seminars.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Booklets
• College of William and Mary. College of Arts and Sciences
• Correspondence
• Publishers and publishing--Virginia--History