A Guide to the John Harper Dawson Book Manuscript, [1981?] Dawson, John Harper Book Manuscript Ms2009-005

A Guide to the John Harper Dawson Book Manuscript, [1981?]

A Collection in
Special Collections
Collection Number Ms2009-005

Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Contact Information:
University Libraries
P.O. Box 90001
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, Virginia 24062-9001
USA
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Email: specref@vt.edu
URL: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/
Processed by: John M. Jackson, Special Collections Staff
2009 By Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. All rights reserved.

Repository

Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.

Collection Number

Ms2009-005

Title

John Harper Dawson Book Collection [1981?]

Physical Characteristics

1 container; 0.1 cu. ft.

Language

English

Abstract

Typescript draft of John Harper Dawson's Wildcat Cavalry: a Synoptic History of the Seventeenth Virginia Cavalry Regiment of the Jenkins-McCausland Brigade in the War Between the States (published by Morningside House in 1982).

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the John Harper Dawson Book Manuscript must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: John Harper Dawson Book Manuscript, Ms2009-005 - Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Acquisition Information

The John Harper Dawson Book Manuscript was donated to Special Collections.

Processing Information

The processing and description of the John Harper Dawson Book Manuscript commenced and was completed in January 2009.

Biographical/Historical Information

John Harper Dawson, the son of John A. and Julia Peters Dawson, grew up in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. Dawson attended the University of Pittsburgh before transferring in 1935 to Adrian College, from which he graduated in 1938. In 1941, Dawson married fellow Adrian alum Virginia Bates; the couple would have two children. Dawson was a 40-year-old Methodist minister in Pittsburgh when he returned to Adrian in 1955 to serve as the college's president. He would hold that position until 1978. Following retirement, Dawson remained active in the community and published two books. John Harper Dawson died on April 20, 2002.

The 17th Virginia Cavalry was organized at Salem, Virginia in January, 1863, through a combination of three newly raised companies with seven companies which had been in the 33rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry. The 17th served in the Jenkins-McCausland Brigade, seeing action in the Gettysburg Campaign and in western Virginia. The regiment served in the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain, in Early's Shenandoah Campaign, and at Appomattox.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of a typescript draft of John Harper Dawson's Wildcat Cavalry: a Synoptic History of the Seventeenth Virginia Cavalry Regiment of the Jenkins-McCausland Brigade in the War Between the States (published by Morningside House in 1982). The draft, comprised of 100 pages, contains only a few handwritten revisions, though its text is noticeably different from that which would be eventually published.