Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

E. Griffith Dodson Papers, 1923-1962. Accession 25244, Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Accession 25244, Gift of E. Griffith Dodson, Richmond, Virginia, 27 October 1960; Accession 39503, Purchased from Jan Hanna, Belfast, Maine.

Biographical/Historical Information

Edward Griffith Dodson was born in Norfolk, Virginia on 30 April 1884. He received a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1907. He married Harriotte Jones Winchester of Macon, Georgia on 29 January 1913. Dodson served on the Norfolk Board of Alderman from 1912 to 1918; member of the Democratic State Central Committee from 1916 to 1938; member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1918 to 1920; Virginia State Senate, 1922; member of the State Commission on Conservation and Development from 1926 to 1934; and Clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1934 to 1962. He was also director of the Seaboard Citizens National Bank of Norfolk. Dodson also authored several books on Virginia history, including The Capitol of the Commonwealth of Virginia at Richmond (1937), The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1919-1939 (1939), and Speakers and Clerks of the Virginia House of Delegates, 1776-1955 (1956). He died in Norfolk, Virginia on 8 April 1969.

Scope and Content Information

Papers, 1923-1962, of E. Griffith Dodson, including correspondence, as well as files relating to his work on several books on Virginia history. The CORRESPONDENCE FILES contain incoming and copies of outgoing correspondence. Correspondents include Arthur Bevan, R. E. Burson, Harry F. Byrd, A. C. Carson, William E. Carson, Colgate W. Darden, Hamilton J. Eckenrode, Elmer O. Fippin, Junius Fishburn, Richard A. Gilliam, Chapin Jones, Lee Long, Thomas W. Ozlin, George C. Peery, John Garland Pollard, Rufus G. Roberts, and Coleman Wortham. There is a substantial amount of correspondence between Dodson and Harry F. Byrd. When Byrd ran for Governor of Virginia in 1925 against G. Walter Mapp of Accomack County, Dodson served as his campaign director in Norfolk. The correspondence in this portion of the collection documents Byrd's stance on campaign issues such as liquor law enforcement, voter registration procedures, revisions of the fee system, tax equalization, road building and the gas tax, and Byrd's votes on the 1916 Vice Bill and Bible Bill while serving in the Virginia General Assembly, as well as machine politics, and economy, efficiency, and simplicity in state government. The correspondence between Byrd and Dodson continued while Byrd was Governor, and later United States Senator. Most of the correspondence from this time period focuses on state and national issues, and political appointments.

The remainder of correspondence files detail Dodson's work as a member of the State Commission on Conservation and Development. There is a large amount of correspondence with William E. Carson, who served as chairman, as well as other members of the Commission. Topics covered include the use of Virginia's scenic and historic assets to attract tourists and industry, and plans to foster recreational areas, such as the creation of the Shenandoah National Park. There is a large amount of documentation concerning the park's pledge campaign, and efforts to reduce the park's size. Other issues covered include the preparation of a system of historical markers placed along the state's highways, the formation of a state park system, and the move to reorganize the Commission under Governor Pollard. There is also a box of miscellaneous publications, annual reports, legislation, programs, newsletters, pamphlets, and brochures concerning agriculture, conservation and development, geology, parks and water power in Virginia and other states.

THE CAPITOL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA AT RICHMOND series contains files on various individuals and topics included in this volume which was first published in 1937. This series is alphabetical, and includes correspondence seeking information on portraits, busts, and statues of all the governors of Virginia since 1776, and other famous Virginians, contained in the Capitol, and biographical information on those particular individuals. Also contained in this series are miscellaneous notes and a bound volume of cut-up galleys. Accession 39503 is a copy of the book inscribed by Gov. George Campbell Peery to Dodson's wife, which also includes a handwritten dedication by Dodson, as well as various annotations throughout. This volume is number seven of two thousand printed.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, 1919-1939, series contains biographical questionnaires and sketches, as well as correspondence, which Dodson used to compile this register of members published in 1939. The biographical questionnaires were sent out to all members or their descendants, were completed, and returned. These questionnaires were then used to compile member sketches which are included in the book.

The SPEAKERS AND CLERKS OF THE VIRGINIA HOUSE OF DELEGATES, 1776-1955, series includes correspondence and research notes concerning individuals who served as Speaker or Clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates. The correspondence is with the particular individual or his descendants, and includes genealogical and biographical information which Dodson used to compile his sketches for the book which was published in 1956. There is a large amount of information on John James Beckley, Benjamin Harrison, Charles Hay, John Winston Jones, Larkin Smith, John Stewart, and Zephaniah Turner, Jr. Also included in this series are court orders, resolutions of respect, and memorials of former members, miscellaneous research notes, as well as various drafts, some of them bound, a card index, and wood block printing plates used in the production of the volume.

Also included in this collection is a bound typescript entitled "The General Assembly of Virginia, 1885-1918, Index" which Dodson compiled in 1959, and had apparently hoped to publish. The volume is an alphabetical index of entries mostly in House journals and partly in Senate journals, including resolutions, documents, reports, addresses, election of judges, State officers, House officers, electoral boards, other confirmations of boards and school superintendents, and items of historical interest. This volume was intended to be a supplement to his book THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, 1919-1939. The volume also includes a listing of all counties and cities in Virginia showing their several judicial circuits from time to time.

Arrangement

Arranged in four series: I. Correspondence Files. II. The Capitol of the Commonwealth of Virginia at Richmond. III. The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1919-1939. IV. Speakers and Clerks of the Virginia House of Delegates, 1776-1955.