Eben Alexander (1851-1910) was a professor of Greek at the University of North Carolina, 1886-1910, and the United States minister to Greece, Romania, and Serbia, 1893-1897. The collection contains chiefly personal, semi-official, and social letters received by Eben Alexander while he was U.S. minister to Greece, 1893-1897, and material relating to his appointment at the University of North Carolina; letters, chiefly after 1910, received by his widow, Marion Howard-Smith Alexander; a manuscript book of verse, 1832-1833, by Marion Alexander's grandmother, Eleanor Spurrier Rand; letters, 1901-1943, from the Alexanders' son, Eben Alexander Jr. in medical school in Philadelphia, Pa., interning at Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York, N.Y., and practicing medicine in Knoxville, Tenn.; two scrapbooks of clippings and a journal kept by another son, John Howard Alexander, while he was traveling in Europe and the U.S., 1896; letters from Eben Alexander's brother, Charles W. Alexander, serving with the 59th Tennessee Regiment detailing camp life, 1862; and other family and personal papers. Also included are letters of John Howard Alexander, student at Bingham School in Asheville, 1896-1897, and at the University of North Carolina, 1899. The Addition of 2008 includes letters from Eben and Marion Alexander to their friends and family while they were in Greece. The letters discuss travel, family affairs, diplomatic affairs, Greek customs, and the 1896 Olympic games. There is also a photograph of the crowd in the Olympic stadium, 8 April 1896. Also included are a few maternity reports, 1904, compiled by Eben Alexender Jr. while attending Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pa.; photographs of Eben and Marion Alexander; newspaper and journal clippings; a Greek grammar book; and various certificates.
