Thomas Nelson Page papers, 1739-1927 and undated, bulk 1885-1920

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Summary

Creator:
Page, Thomas Nelson, 1853-1922
Abstract:
Virginia lawyer and writer; ambassador to Italy from 1913-1919. The Thomas Nelson Page Papers span the years 1739-1927. Personal and professional correspondence, legal and business papers, writings, diplomatic dispatches, clippings and other items (chiefly 1885-1920) relate to Page's legal and literary career; his activities as a lyceum lecturer; his marriages and family relations; and his interest in civic affairs, plantation life, social reform and race relations in the United States, particularly during and after Reconstruction; American politics and diplomacy, especially during World War I; and European travel. Many of his papers directly relate to his term as ambassador to Italy during World War I, from 1913 to 1919.
Extent:
12.4 Linear Feet
9329 Items
Language:
Material in English and Italian
Collection ID:
RL.00988

Background

Scope and content:

The Thomas Nelson Page Papers span the years 1739-1927, with the majority of the materials dating from the 1880s to 1920. The papers include personal and professional correspondence, legal and business papers, writings, diplomatic dispatches, clippings and other items, all relating to Page's legal and literary career. Topics include his activities as a lyceum lecturer; his marriages and family relations; his role in and perspective on American politics and foreign relations, particularly during World War II; travels in Europe; and his interest in civic affairs, social reform and race relationsin the United States, particularly during and following Reconstruction. Collection is arranged in the following series: Correspondence, Legal and Financial Papers, Writings and Speeches, Diplomacy, Visual Materials, Personal Papers, and Clippings Two oversize newspapers are described in a series at the end of the finding aid.

In the Correspondence Series, the largest in the collection, letters prior to 1880 include personal correspondence from various members of the Page family, especially between Thomas Nelson Page, his mother, Elizabeth Burwell (Nelson) Page, and brother, Rosewell Page, who lived at the ancestral estate, "Oakland," in Hanover County, Virginia. Page describes his political activities in letters concerning the presidential campaigns of 1912 and 1916. Correspondence from this period also includes personal letters to members of the family describing new experiences in diplomatic life, and routine business correspondence. Significant correspondents in the series include C. F. Adams, Grover Cleveland, Josephus Daniels, J. C. Harris, William D. Howells, Robert Lansing, Robert T. Lincoln, Henry C. Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt, E. Root, J. M. Stoddart, and William H. Taft. For some of these individuals only one or two pieces of correspondence exist. Another set of correspondence, dated 1883-1912 and interfiled at the end of the correspondence series, comprises photocopies of letters (and a few other items, including a telegram, Christmas greeting, and obituary clipping on Henry Hobson) chiefly from Page to close friend Henry Wise Hobson (1858-1898), originally of Virginia, and to his wife Katherine. Notes: Originals for photocopies are in the donor's possession. The collection also includes two scrapbooks, found in the Personal Papers Series, containing cards and envelopes from distinguished persons. This series also houses documents related to Page's ties with the University of Virginia, personal reminiscences, various fragmentary notes, and a journal from 1863. Four folders of carbon copies of diplomatic dispatches from Page to the U.S. State Department and to President Woodrow Wilson, along with other papers related to his diplomatic activities, can be found in the Diplomacy Series. Another small group, the Legal and Financial Series, houses documents relating to Page's properties and other business affairs. The Writings and Speeches Series contains many manuscripts and drafts of political and literary speeches, memoirs, essays, and articles, but none of Page's major literary works. Several folders of materials in this series contain Page's detailed journalistic notes describing his trips in 1916 to the war fronts in Italy and France. Extensive folders of cuttings in the Clippings Series were taken from both American and Italian newspapers, and comprise a significant portion of the collection. The clippings refer to events in Page's career such as lyceum appearances, political appointments, and political speeches, both in the United States and in Italy. In addition, Page clipped articles referring to race relations in the United States, particularly in the South. The clippings also document national and global events during Page's years as an ambassador to Italy from 1913 to 1919, and provide rich background material for a study of United States foreign relations with Italy and other countries during World War I. There are also a few photographs in the Visual Materials Series, some of which depict scenes from wartime Italy.

Biographical / historical:
Chronology
Date Event
1853 Apr. 23
Page born on Oakland Plantation, Hanover County, Va.
1869-1872
Attended Washington College
1874
Graduated from University of Virginia Law School
1884
Published "Marse Chan"
1886 July 28
Married Anne Seddon Bruce
1887
Published "Unc' Edingburgh's Drowndin'" and "No Haid Pawn"
1888 Dec. 22
Death of Anne Seddon Bruce Page
1889-1893
Toured on lyceum circuit
1893
Married Florence Field
1895
Headed alumni campaign to raise funds for rebuilding of University of Virginia rotunda
1899
Oakland Plantation burned
1913
Chairman of Reception Committe for Wilson's Inauguration
1913 July 6
Appointed ambassador to Italy
1916
Returned home on leave
1916 July
Resumed post in Italy
1919 July 5
Resigned post of ambassador
1919
Wrote volume on Italy and the World War
1921 May
Florence Page died
1922 Nov. 1
Died at Oakland Plantation
Acquisition information:
The Thomas Nelson Page Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 1937.
Processing information:

Processed by Ted Holt and David Hershey, Dec. 2006

Encoded by Ted Holt and Paula Jeannet

Completed Dec. 2006

Accessions 1037 and 03-163 were merged into one collection and described in this finding aid.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Thomas Nelson Page Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University