Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Richard Heath Dabney Papers, Accession #2533, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Dabney collection was given to the University in November of 1943 by Mrs. Richard Heath Dabney, Rugby Road, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Scope and Content Information

The Richard Heath Dabney papers, 1860-1945, consist of three shelf feet. This collection contains various correspondence and papers pertaining to Dabney's teaching career and the Dabney family.

Richard Heath Dabney was born in 1860 in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Virginius Dabney and Ellen Maria Heath. He was raised in Virginia and attended the University of Virginia during 1878-1881. After receiving his M.A. degree, Dabney studied in Germany from 1883-1885. The years abroad were fruitful, for study at the universities of Munich, Berlin, and Heidelberg resulted in his Ph.D. degree in 1885. Following his return to the United, Dabney delivered at Washington and Lee University a series of lectures on the French Revolution. From 1886-1889 Dabney was Professor History at Indiana University, but he moved to Virginia in 1889. He taught at the University of Virginia until 1938, and was the first Dean of Graduate Studies from 1905-1923.

Dabney's papers tell the story of a man deeply devoted to social activism and practical teaching. Although a constant contributor to newspapers and periodicals, Dabney published only two extensive historical studies: Causes of the French Revolution , 1888, and John Randolph, A Character Sketch , 1898. Indeed, he seems, in this respect, to have been much like Frederick Jackson Turner.

The correspondence is chiefly letters to Dabney. There are some general family papers, but these are minimal. Various drafts of speeches, articles, lecture and research and notebook notes, shed considerable light on Dabney's teaching career, but are less satisfactory for his personal life, personality, etc. There is much information about academic life at the University of Virginia, controversies, and general administration.

Organization

The papers were originally organized in folders in ten boxes in a straight chronological run. The collection is now arranged in seven boxes. Correspondence has been arranged in the first two boxes alphabetically by correspondent, with folders A to Z of miscellaneous correspondence. The remainder of the collection is organized topically. Box 3 contains research notes and German study notebooks. Box four contains class roll books, exam questions, lecture notes, and drafts of speeches, articles, etc. Examination papers (1919-1935) fill box five. Box six contains miscellaneous items including bibliography card. Newspaper clippings have been arranged by subject and occupy box seven. Most of the items are dated, but some items, such as newspaper clippings, exams, and some correspondence, are undated. Date ranges are indicated on the folders.