The Manuscripts Department had itsorigin in the establishment of the Southern Historical Collection in 1930. Acollection of mostly private manuscripts from the states of the former Confederacy,the Southern Historical Collection was assembled by Dr. J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton,who became its first director. Though housed in the University Library, the SouthernHistorical Collection was supported through its early years by grants and donations.In the 1940s, however, it began to receive partial support from the Library, andgradually it was integrated into the Library's administrative structure. In 1958,the Library created a more comprehensive unit called the Manuscripts Department, andmade the Southern Historical Collection part of it. From 1958 to 2008, theManuscripts Department administered not only the Southern Historical Collection, butalso the Southern Folklife Collection, General Manuscripts, and the UniversityArchives and Records Service. A reorganization of the Library's Special Collections,effective 1 July 2008, eliminated the Manuscripts Department from the administrativestructure. Records includes correspondence and other files relatingto the establishment of the Southern Historical Collection and, later, to thedevelopment and administration of the Library's Manuscripts Department, includingGeneral Manuscripts, the Southern Folklife Collection, and University Archives andRecords Service. Heads of the department who figure in these records include J. G.de Roulhac Hamilton, James Welch Patton, J. Isaac Copeland, Carolyn A. Wallace, andDavid Moltke-Hansen. Also included is a series of audiotapes from the SouthernSources Symposium, 18-19 March 2005, held to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversaryof the Southern Historical Collection.
