Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of David A. Shannon, Accession #12789-a, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The collection was transferred to the University Archives from Alderman Library's Collection Development Department on April 10, 1990.

Biographical/Historical Information

David Allen Shannon was born on November 30, 1920 in Terre Haute, Indiana and married Jane Short on August 31, 1940. After graduating with a B.S. from Indiana State College in 1941, Shannon earned a M.S. in 1946 and a Ph.D. in 1951 from the University of Wisconsin; the title of his dissertation was The Decline of the American Socialist Party . Having held teaching positions at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Teachers College of Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and Rutgers University, Shannon came to the University of Virginia in 1968. Concurrent with his academic responsibilities, he has served the University of Virginia as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (1969-1971) and Vice President and Provost (1971-1981). In 1975 he was named Commonwealth Professor of History. A specialist in twentieth century American history, Shannon has published such books as The Socialist Party of America (1955), The Decline of American Communism (1959), and Progressivism and Post-War Disillusionment (1966). He was the University of Virginia's first Thomas Jefferson Visiting Scholar, pursuing independent research in residence at Downing College, Cambridge University in 1976, and has also served as visiting professor at the universities of Stockholm (1959), Lund (1960), and Aix-Marseille (1962-1963).

For a more complete chronology of Shannon's career, see the attached entries from Who's Who in America and the D irectory of American Scholars .

Scope and Content Information

The collection consists of 85 items (.4 shelf feet) and dates from 1972 to 1987. It is comprised mainly of correspondence regarding Shannon's Cambridge fellowship and research materials for and drafts of chapters of a book about Congress's perspective on Franklin D. Roosevelt's vigorous reform legislation in 1934-1935, a spate of activity sometimes called "the second New Deal."

Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically by topic; chiefly, the first files are business correspondence re Shannon's Cambridge fellowship followed by files containing research material for and chapter drafts of a book about Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress in 1934-1935.