Hugh Anderson Moran Papers
Collection 005
.4 linear ft.

Moran was a student at Washington College (1867-1869) during Robert E. Lee's tenure as president. He was from Madison County, Kentucky and later was a farmer and a professor at Central University. He died in 1886. The papers (1865-1879) are primarily correspondence between Moran and his family as well as his fellow students. They are valuable for the view of life at Washington College in the late 1860s. They also discuss farm life in Kentucky in the 1870s. His correspondents include the daughters of General Lee. Class notes, including those from a William Preston Johnston course, further enhance the collection.

William Taylor Thom Papers
Collection 048
.2 linear ft.

Thom (1849-1930) was a student at Washington College from 1865 to 1870. His years as a student coincided with Robert E. Lee's years as President. He later became a professor at Hollins Institute (now Hollins College) and was an editor for the United States Geological Survey. His papers include letters written as a student to his father. Though typical letters of a young man in college they present a good picture of student life at W&L during the period. Included in this collection is a letter from George Washington Custis Lee as President of Washington and Lee University.

Benjamin Franklin Doswell Papers
Collection 061
.2 linear ft.

Doswell (d. 1891) was a student at Washington College from 1847 to 1849. These letters are a good example of the several collections of original commentary describing student life among Special Collections' manuscript holdings. The letters to family members describe classes he took, a military uniform used by the college, his impressions of the town of Lexington and the 1849 commencement. Doswell, from Hanover County, Virginia, went on to practice law and settled in Arkansas.

William Jackson Humphreys Memoir
Collection 095
.2 linear ft.

Humphreys (1862-1949) received two degrees from Washington and Lee in the 1880s. His memoir consists of an eight page typescript letter written in 1941 to Leslie Lyle Campbell (1863-1964), longtime Lexington resident who was also at W&L in the 1880s. The letter is a good reminiscence of student life during the period. For more description of student life at W&L in the 1880s see Leslie Lyle Campbell's papers in the Rockbridge Historical Society collection.

Frank M. Cockrell Papers
Collection 135
.2 linear ft.

Cockrell was an 1877 graduate of Washington and Lee. His letters written from W&L as a student from 1873 to 1877 describe his campus life. His grade reports, certificates of proficiency and diploma are also included. Cockrell went on to a career in law in Dallas, Texas.

Charles E. McCorkle Notebook
Collection 139
.2 linear ft.

McCorkle was a member of the Washington and Lee University Class of 1871. The notebook, also kept by his brother, Walter L. McCorkle (WLU 1878), contains lecture notes from classes in chemistry, natural philosophy and language from 1869 to 1874. At one point in his writings Charles McCorkle described Robert E. Lee as performing his duties as college president "very well considering his age." The McCorkle brothers were from Rockbridge County. Charles went on to represent the county in the Virginia legisla ture. Walter became a teacher and a lawyer.

Graham Philanthropic Society Records
Collection 149
13.4 linear ft.

The Graham Philanthropic Society was a literary and debating society founded at Washington Academy in 1809 and named for the first president of Liberty Hall Academy, William Graham. Its name was changed to the Graham-Lee Society in 1871 following the death of Robert E. Lee. It was an important student organization fostering intellectual and social development. The records include accounts of debates on social and political questions, minute books, treasurerÕs books and roll books. For similar collections see the Marshall Society Records (collection 158) and the Washington Literary Society Records (collection 159). A related study from our Faculty Publications collection is Susan M. Coblentz, The Graham Philanthropic Society and the Washington Literary Society at Washington College: A Study of Their Libraries Through 1864.

Washington Literary Society Records
Collection 159
15.4 linear ft.

The Washington Society, like its counterpart, the Graham Society, was a student literary and debating society that flourished at W&L in the nineteenth century. It was founded in 1812 and named for George Washington. Its popularity declined after World War I and it ceased to exist about 1953. The records include minutes of meetings, treasurer's books, library record books, roll books and copies of the Society's constitution. There are interesting accounts of contemporary student debates on political and social questions. For similar collections see the Graham Philanthropic Society Records (collection 149) and the Marshall Society Records (collection 158). For a related study on these materials see the entry in this guide for the Graham Philanthropic Society Records.

Walter Henry Hoffman Notebooks
Collection 161
.2 linear ft.

Hoffman (b. 1854) was a student at Washington and Lee from 1872-1876. He later became a civil engineer in New Orleans. The notebooks, written in a fine precise hand, contain information from W&L courses in civil engineering (applied mathematics). There is also an account book with records of HoffmanÕs expenditures as a student.