Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the William Russell Smith Papers, #1873-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Mrs. P. L. Payton of Bronxville, N.Y., July 1951.

Additional Descriptive Resources

A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Alabama--Politics and government.
• Alabama--Social life and customs.
• American poetry--Alabama--19th century.
• Family--Alabama--Social life and customs.
• Legislators--Confederate States of America--Correspondence.
• Smith, Mary, fl. 1862-1870.
• Smith, Wilhelmine M. Easby, fl. 1898-1903.
• Smith, William Russell, 1815-1896.
• Wheeler, Joseph, 1836-1906.
• Women--Education--Alabama--History--19th century.

William Russell Smith (1815-1896) was a United States and Confederate representative from Alabama, president of the University of Alabama, poet, and author. Smith was married to Wilhelmine M. Easby Smith (fl. 1898-1903). Their daughter was Mary Smith (fl. 1862-1870).

The collection includes letters written by William Russell Smith to his family during and after the Civil War, including eight letters to his daughter Mary, 1862-1870, about her education, his feelings for her, and family affairs; a few letters received from friends and political figures; manuscript poems; and five letters, 1898-1903, from General Joseph Wheeler to Wilhelmine M. Easby Smith.