Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Thomas Perkins Abernethy Papers, Accession #12765-b, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The collection was presented to the library on November 11, 1974 by Thomas Perkins Abernethy, 39 University Circle, Charlottesville, Virginia, through Mrs. Charles M. Davison, Jr., 1856 Edgewood Lane, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Processing Information

This collection was originally accessioned as MSS 6464-b.

Biographical/Historical Information

A biographical note about Thomas Perkins Abernethy has been included in the guide to #6464-a.

Ida (Robertson) Abernethy was born on August 6, 1891, in Charleston, South Carolina. She received a B.A. in education from Winthrop College in Rock Hill, South Carolina. She and Thomas Perkins Abernethy were married on December 6, 1917. Mrs. Abernethy wrote a number of articles and short stories, many of which were published in newspapers and periodicals. She died on May 21, 1969.

Scope and Content Information

This addition to the Thomas Perkins Abernethy Collection consists of approximately 1,550 items (4 2/3 linear feet) which range in date from 1800-1970, although the bulk of hte material falls within hte twentieth century. Like the preceding addition to the collection, there is much correspondence with fellow historians (Frederick Jackson Turner, Hilaire Belloc, and Esmond Wright, among others) and Abernethy's graduate students (such as Darrett Rutman) as well as correspondence about Ablernethy's books. There are also several manuscripts of articles and book reviews by Abernethy and numerous periodicals, pamphlets, and reprints of articles by other historians. Unlike #6464-a, however, this new addition contains a great deal of personal correspondence between Abernethy and his wife Ida (Robertson) Abernethy, with other members of his family, and with friends. Correspondence concerning personal business matters, an extensive assortment of newspaper clippings concerning segregation, and the manuscripts of several articles by Ida (Robertson) Abernethy round out the collection.

This collection complements the material in the two previous accessions, #6464 and #6464-a, because it includes much personal correspondence. However, with the exception of drafts of The South In the New Nation located in collections #6464 and #6464-a, the manuscripts of his books are missing.

Arrangement

When the collection arrived at the library, it was in rough chronological order. For this reason, a chronological arrangement was retained.

Abernethy's professional correspondence, that is, letters from sutdents and colleagues in the historical profession, as well as letters concerning Abernethy's publications, have been separated from the rest of the correspondence and placed at the beginning of the collection. The professional correspondence is followed by personal correspondence, Abernethy's articles and book reviews, research material, Ida (Robertson) Abernethy's writings, and miscellaneous papers. Newspaper clippings, pamphlets, reprints of articles, and periodicals are found at the end of the collection.