Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Access Restrictions

Collection open to research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], John W. Wayland Papers, 1916-1980, SC 0258, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

Immediate acquisition is not known. No accession documents are found.

Processing Information

Correspondence written by or to Wayland and related to the Alumnae/Alumni Association and the Alumnae Building Campaign Committee was pulled from the Alumni and Glee Club vertical files and added to Wayland's papers in November 2022.

Bio/Historical Note

John Walter Wayland was born in 1872 in Shenandoah County, Virginia. He received his BA from Bridgewater College in 1899, and his Ph.D in 1907 from the University of Virginia. He was an original faculty member at the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, where he chaired the history and social science department, and served many years as secretary of the faculty. At the Normal School, he was known for his unconventional teaching style, sometimes holding classes outside, and leading students on long hikes on Massunutten Mountain. He retired in 1931.

Wayland was known as a preeminent historian of Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. He authored at least 40 books, some of the most well-known being History of Virginia for Boys and Girls, published in 1931, and histories of Bridgewater College, Rockingham and Shenandoah counties, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and the Washingtons. In 1955, the Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution designating the Old Port Republic as the "Wayland Highway." He died in 1962. Wayland was married to Mattie V. Frey (1877-1965), and had two children: Francis Fry Wayland (1907-1995) and John Walter Wayland Jr. (b. 1909).

Scope and Content

The John W. Wayland Papers contain personal papers and documents that recount the founding of the Harrisonburg State Normal School at Harrisonburg and its early years. The collection includes transcribed portions of John Wayland's personal diary (1908-1931) that relate to the early years of the Normal School. A document contains a list of commencement speakers from 1910-1919. The collection contains several of Wayland's papers and speeches, including the manuscript "Harrisonburg State Normal School in Relation to the World War, 1914-1918," and a paper titled "Some Reminiscences of the Founding of the State Teachers College at Harrisonburg, VA., 1908," which was prepared for First Founders Day, State Teachers College on March 14, 1928. The collection includes character sketches of the early faculty members, including an extended reflection on faculty member, Elizabeth Cleveland.

The collection contains bibliographies of Wayland's publications between 1895-1957, and 1901-1957. Accompanying the bibliographies are correspondence between son, Francis F. Wayland and librarian at Madison College, Lowell E. Ashley, regarding John Wayland publications and writings. The collection also contains newspaper clippings from the Daily News Record that reference Wayland.

Arrangement

Papers are arranged topically in four folders.

Related Material

John Walter Wayland Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Bibliographies
• Education, Higher -- Virginia -- History
• Harrisonburg (Va.) -- History -- 20th century
• James Madison University -- History
• Letters (correspondence)
• Manuscripts (documents)
• Newspaper clippings
• Speeches (Documents)
• State Normal School for Women at Harrisonburg (Harrisonburg, Va.) -- Faculty
• State Normal School for Women at Harrisonburg (Harrisonburg, Va.) -- History
• State Normal and Industrial School for Women (Harrisonburg, Va.) -- Faculty
• State Normal and Industrial School for Women (Harrisonburg, Va.) -- History
• State Teachers College at Harrisonburg (Harrisonburg, Va.) -- Faculty
• State Teachers College at Harrisonburg (Harrisonburg, Va.) -- History
• Teachers colleges -- History