Conditions Governing Use

The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the Head of Special Collections.

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation: [Identification of item], Joseph James Murray Diaries, WLU Coll. 0302, Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA

In some cases the citation format may vary. Please contact Special Collections' staff to verify the appropriate format.

Scope and Contents

The diaries give a precise record of Joseph James Murray's four years as superintendent of home missions in Wilmington, North Carolina, as well as of his life as pastor, family man, traveller, lover of the arts and ornithologist while in Lexington, Virginia (1924-1968). Reminiscences include information about his family, including his wife, Jane Dickson Vardell Murray, and children, J. J. (Jimmy) Murray, Jr. and Jane Murray, and close friends, including Matthew Paxton, Nell Paxton, James G. Leyburn, and Mary Monroe Penick. The diaries also contain information about Frank Price, a missionary to China for fifty years who was sponsored by the Lexington Presbyterian Church. The collection also includes a notebook of birding notes by Southgate Y. Hoyt from 1934-1938.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• China
• Clergy
• Diaries
• Lexington Presbyterian Church (Lexington, Va.)
• Leyburn, James Graham
• Missionaries
• Murray, Jane
• Murray, Jane Dickson Vardell
• Murray, Joseph James
• Murray, Joseph James, Jr.
• North Carolina -- Wilmington
• Ornithology
• Paxton, Matthew W., Sr.
• Paxton, Nell
• Penick, Mary Monroe
• Price, P. F. (Philip Francis)