Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.

Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction .

Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives ( specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Existence and Location of Copies

The collection has been digitized and is available online.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Lucy Dickinson Urquhart Papers, 1865-1973, Ms1987-046, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Lucy Dickinson Urquhart Papers were donated to Special Collections in 1987.

Processing Information

The description of the Lucy Dickinson Urquhart Papers was completed in 1987. Additional processing, arrangement, and description was completed in February 2011.

Biographical Note

Lucy Dickinson Urquhart was born in 1881 in Marion, Virginia, to Dr. Smelt W. and Sarah Isabel Look Dickinson. She attended Virginia Intermont College, Vassar College, and Columbia University's Teacher College. She worked as an advertising copywriter in Lynchburg, Virginia, and was also heavily involved in the Smyth County Historical Society and the Marion Baptist Church. She married George D. Urquhart, and they had no children. She died in Roanoke on January 27, 1975.

Scope and Content

The Lucy Dickinson Urquhart Papers, 1865-1973, contain correspondence, newspaper clippings, and poetry and advertisements by Lucy Dickinson Urquhart. The collection also includes correspondence, papers, and other materials related to her family.

Various family announcements, including wedding invitations and funeral service programs from family members are present. Stories, poetry, and advertisements by Urquhart are also in the collection. Many of Urquhart's stories depict life in the South and are written in a Southern dialect. Beyond her and her family's papers, other notes on the Baptist Church, the Smyth County Museum, and Norfolk and Western information from the 1917 War Revenue Act are in the collection.

Of special note, the collection contains a letter from K. D. Urquhart dated from the American Civil War asking for command of an all Black regiment. There are comments, supposedly written by Lucy Urquhart, on the bottom suggesting the letter is a fake, as the name is spelled incorrectly. There is also correspondence between Lucy Urquhart and Time and Life Magazine in New York City surrounding the coverage of African Americans in Southern newspapers in the wake of Emmett Till's murder. Furthermore, a few published materials, including a 1911 VPI Student Handbook and a 1912 Spalding Catalogue are part of the collection.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into two series:

Series I: Correspondence, 1865-1958, contains letters to and from Lucy Urquhart. Where possible, correspondence is organized by author and date. The last folder in the series is made up of correspondence from multiple authors. Much of it is condolence letters regarding the death of Lucy Urquhart's parents, but the file also includes correspondence that could not be otherwise identified.

Series II: Subject Files, 1876-1973, includes remainder of the collection and is arranged in subject files. Material within each file is in chronological order. The series also includes oversize materials.

Related Material

See the following related materials, which are also at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives:

Lucy Dickinson Correspondence, Ms1988-014

Dickinson Family Papers, Ms1989-094

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Dickinson family
• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
• Women -- History

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Lucy Dickinson Urquhart Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).