Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Alfred Proctor James Papers, 1898-1982. Accession 39414, Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Lent for microfilming by the Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library, Lancaster, Virginia, 5 March 2002.

Biographical/Historical Information

Alfred Procter James was born 7 February 1886 in Fox Hill, Virginia, to Cyrus Rosser James and Annie Elwood Shields James. He graduated from Chesapeake Academy in 1903, and received an AB from Randolph-Macon College in 1906. A Rhodes Scholar from 1907 to 1910, James received a BA and an MA from Oxford University in England in 1910 and 1915 respectively. He received an AM from the University of Chicago in 1912 and a PhD from that university in 1924. James taught Latin at Randolph-Macon in 1905-1906, and taught Latin, Greek, and history at Castle Heights School in Lebanon, Tennessee from 1906 to 1907. James was a fellow in history at the University of Chicago from 1910 to 1911. He worked as a salesman for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company from 1911 to 1912 and as an agent for Ginn and Company from 1912 to 1916. James taught as a history instructor at Ohio Wesleyan in 1916-1917, and as an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas from 1917 to 1918. Moving to the University of Pittsburgh in 1918, he was an assistant professor there until 1924, when he was appointed a full professor. James remained at the University of Pittsburgh until he retired. James wrote books on the Ohio Company and on the Civil War in Mississippi Valley. He also edited the works of General John Forbes (1707-1759). James married Mabel Elizabeth Williams (1896-1979) 22 June 1916 and they had one son. James died in Delaware, Pennsylvania, in November 1971.

Scope and Content Information

Papers, 1898-1982 (bulk 1938-1956), of Alfred Procter James (1886-1971) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, concerning the Chesapeake Academy which operated in Lancaster County, Virginia, from 1889 to 1906 and consisting of: Correspondence, Subject Files, Manuscript Draft, and Card files. Correspondence consists of letters, 1930-1956, regarding research on the Chesapeake Academy and containing correspondence from former students and faculty. Subject Files contain biographies of some students and teachers of the Academy; catalogs, 1898-1904, of the Chesapeake Academy; a circular, 1906, for the Academy; commencement programs, 1892, 1897-1898, and 1900-1901; bibliography of Alfred James' publications; lists of faculty and students at the Chesapeake Academy; miscellaneous items; newspaper abstracts on the Chesapeake Academy; photograph, ca. 1892, of the student body; questionnaires filled out by former students of the Chesapeake Academy; stock certificate for the Chesapeake Academy issued 3 July 1905; and a letter, 6 December 1941, from Wendell Willkie (1892- 1944) to James. Manuscript Draft consists of several drafts of James' proposed book on the Chesapeake Academy. Card Files consist of cards containing: information on the students of the Chesapeake Academy; the Academy's faculty; James' research for his book on the Ohio Land Company; miscellaneous items; newspaper extracts on the Chesapeake Academy; Academy catalogues; and directors of the Chesapeake Academy.

Organization

Organized into four series: I. Correspondence, 1930-1956. II. Subject Files. III. Manuscript Draft. IV. Card Files.

Note

Microfilm targets give dates as 1898-1956, bulk 1938-1956.