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 to research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Elizabeth Kent Adams Papers, Ms1990-045, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Elizabeth Kent Adams Papers were donated to Special Collections in 1990.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement and description of the Elizabeth Kent Adams Papers commenced in November 2007 and was completed in December 2007.

Biographical Note

Elizabeth Kent Adams, resident of Radford, Virginia and local historian, was born on June 1, 1908, in Pulaski County, Virginia. The daughter of John Putnam and Elizabeth Kent Cowan Adams, she was a graduate of Radford College, a member of Radford Presbyterian Church and of the William Campbell Chapter of the D. A. R. As evidenced by her papers, Adams maintained throughout her life an interest in the history of Southwest Virginia, especially as it pertained to the history of her own ancestral lines. Adams died on April 3, 1994, and was buried at Sunrise Burial Park in Radford, Virginia.

Scope and Content

This collection contains the papers of Elizabeth Kent Adams (1908-1994), Radford, Virginia resident and local historian. The collection contains such materials as correspondence, newspaper clippings, unpublished writings, and miscellaneous records, all relating to the history of Southwest Virginia and Adams' ancestral lines, particularly the Cloyd, Kent, McGavock and Putnam families.

Much of the correspondence in the collection focuses on Kentland, the Kent family home at Whitethorne (Montgomery County), Virginia--specifically the inclusion of Kentland on historic landmark registers the maintenance of Kentland's cemetery. (Other correspondence relates to the papers of A. W. Putnam at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.) Also relating to Kentland is a history of the plantation, written by Louisa Dekker and annotated by Adams.

Adams' subject files, arranged here in an imposed alphabetical order, consist largely of newspaper clippings, the majority of these being of Goodridge Wilson's long-running "Southwest Corner" newspaper column. Among the topics addressed within the subject files are the Adams, Bingamin, Cloyd, Harman, Heavin, Howe, Ingles, Kent, McGavock, and Sifford families; and the communities of Alleghany, Catawba, Dunkard's Bottom, Elliston, Fort Chiswell, Highland, and Whitethorne, with the latter receiving the most extensive coverage (particularly relating to Whitethorne history and latter-day development proposals for the area). Included also is a special issue of Virginia and the Virginia County (July 1949) devoted to Wythe County. Several items relate to Radford residents Saul Simon and Mary Ledger "M'Ledge" Moffett.

The miscellaneous file contains a number of items relating to the Kent family, including a Kent coat of arms certification, a photocopy of the will of James R. Kent, and photographs of the ferry and mill at Whitethorne. Together with these Kent family items is a small collection of ephemera, including a poem about Mountain Lake by Carolee Pleasants Otey, notes on the Cowan family, a 1922 letter from Elizabeth Kent Cowan Adams to her son, Richard Putnam Adams, genealogical notes on the Cloyd, Cowan, and McGavock families, and an early description of the resort at Montgomery White Sulphur Springs.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by document type. Documents within the subject files have been arranged in an imposed alphabetical order.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Blacksburg (Va.)
• Cloyd family
• Kent family
• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
• McGavock family
• Montgomery County (Va.)
• Women -- History

Rights Statement for Archival Description

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