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Preferred Citation

Papers from Atcheson Laughlin Hench's terms on the Charlottesville, Virginia School Board, Accession #927, -a, -b, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This material was made a gift to the Library by Atcheson Laughlin Hench of Charlottesville, Virginia on June 19, 1954 (#927,-a), and May 28, 1974 (#927,-b).

Scope and Content Information

These papers, 1939-1948, of Atcheson Laughlin Hench as a member of the School Board of the City of Charlottesville, consist of ca. 665 items, including correspondence, memoranda, reports, meeting dockets, and related material. Hench served for many years on the Curriculum and Personnel Committees, and worked closely with the Committees on Educational Facilities for Negroes and on the Office of Superintendent and the Special Committee to Investigate Conditions at Jefferson High School.

Hench (December 31, 1891-August 9, 1974) received his B.A., 1912 from Lafayette College and his M.A., 1917, and Ph.D., 1921, from Harvard University. After teaching for brief periods at Lafayette College, Pennsylvania Military College, and Wesleyan University, he came to the University of Virginia as an associate professor. In 1925 he became a full professor, and married Virginia Bedinger Michie. He held the Linden Kent Memorial Chair as Professor of English from 1940 until his retirement in 1962, when he was made professor emeritus; he served as chairman of the Department of English from 1951-1954.

Specific topics of interest include the opening of Lane High School (as the new white high school) in 1940, petitioning for equalization of salaries for blacks and whites in the school system, and conflicts between the principal and teachers at Jefferson High School during 1945-1946. General school board material covers the school budgets, teachers' salaries, Miller School applicants, activities and programs of the schools, statistics on students, and the schools' war activities. As a member of the Committee of Admission to Miller School, a standing committee of the School Board, Hench was involved in the process of accepting applicants for enrollment into Miller School, the Albermarle County military prepatory school.