Special Collections Department
University Libraries
Virginia Tech

Robertson, James I. Jr., papers, 1963-91
Ms94-021
3.0 cu. ft.

James I. ("Bud") Robertson, Jr., was born in Danville, Virginia, in 1930. He was educated at Randolph-Macon College (B.A., 1955) and Emory University (M.A., 1956; Ph.D., 1959). From 1956 to 1958 he served as a teaching fellow and then from 1958 to 1959 as Instructor in History at Emory University. He was editor of Civil War History, a quarterly journal published by the University of Iowa, from 1959 to 1961. He was appointed Executive Director of the National Civil War Centennial Commission by President John F. Kennedy from 1961 to 1965, where he supervised the national observance of the centenary of the Civil War. He was Professor of History at the University of Montana from 1965 to 1967 before he joined the faculty at Virginia Tech in 1967. He served as History Department head from 1969 to 1977. From 1977 to 1992 he was C.P. Miles Professor of History and became an Alumni Distinguished Professor in 1992.

Robertson is the author of numerous books about the Civil War. They include 4th Virginia Infantry (1982), 18th Virginia Infantry (1984), Soldiers Blue and Gray (1988), Civil War Virginia: Battleground for a Nation (1991), and Civil War! America Becomes One Nation (1992). Soldiers Blue and Gray received a Pulitzer Prize in History nomination in 1988.

The papers consist of manuscript and typescript drafts, edited working copies, and galley proofs of three of Robertson's books: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, published by Random House in 1987; Soldiers Blue and Gray, published by the University of South Carolina Press in 1988; and Civil War! America Becomes One Nation, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1992.

The James I. Robertson, Jr., papers were donated by James I. and Libba Robertson of Blacksburg, Virginia, in May 1996. Processing of the materials was completed in May 1996 by Helen Harrison, student assistant, and Laura Katz Smith, Manuscripts Curator, Special Collections Department.

Box 1

• Folder 1: Literature about the preservation of Manassas Battlefield Park, 1988
• Folder 2: List of articles written by Robertson, December 1957 through January 1991
• Folder 3: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, original manuscript and typescript copy
• Folder 4: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, typescript draft with corrections by Richard Harwell in the preface
• Folder 5: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, corrections to first draft, 1986 (corrections by Beth Brown, Chris Calkins, Dennis Frye, Robert Krick, Harry Pfanz, Ed Raus, and Libba Robertson.)
• Folder 6: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, Random House, master galley, 1986

• Folder 1: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, Random House, master copy, 1987
• Folder 2: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, setting copy 1, title page through chapter 7
• Folder 3: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, setting copy 1, chapters 8 through 15
• Folder 4: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, setting copy 1, chapters 16 through 21
• Folder 5: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, setting copy 1, endnotes and index

• Folder 1: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, setting copy 2
• Folder 2: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, galley proof 1
• Folder 3: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, galley proof 2, chapters 1 through 11
• Folder 4: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, galley proof 2, chapter 12 through index
• Folder 5: General A.P. Hill: The Story of a Confederate Warrior, galley proof maps (Battles of Williamsburg, Mechanicsville, Gaines's Mill, Frayser's Farm, Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, Antietam Creek, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, and The Battle of the Wilderness, The March to Gettysburg, and Petersburg -The Siege)

• Folder 1: Soldiers Blue and Gray, copy of manuscript, title page through chapter 5
• Folder 2: Soldiers Blue and Gray, copy of manuscript, chapters 6 through 11
• Folder 3: Soldiers Blue and Gray, copy of manuscript, notes, works cited, and index
• Folder 4: Soldiers Blue and Gray, copyedited manuscript from the University of South Carolina Press, with revisions (folder 1 of 2), 1988
• Folder 5: Soldiers Blue and Gray, copyedited manuscript from the University of South Carolina Press, with revisions (folder 2 of 2), 1988

• Folder 1: Civil War! America Becomes One Nation, original version of the book written for the National Civil War Centennial Commission, 1963
• Folder 2: Civil War! America Becomes One Nation, copy of typescript
• Folder 3: Civil War! America Becomes One Nation, original manuscript
• Folder 4: Civil War! America Becomes One Nation, copy of book with picture captions, February 1990
• Folder 5: Civil War! America Becomes One Nation, copy of the book, August 1990

• Folder 1: Civil War! America Becomes One Nation, master with revisions, May 1991
• Folder 2: Civil War! America Becomes One Nation, Alfred A. Knopf galley proof with revisions, October 1991
• Folder 3: Civil War! America Becomes One Nation, edited copy with revisions, November 1991
• Folder 4: Civil War! America Becomes One Nation, edited copy with revisions, December 1991

URL: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/mss/robertsn.htm
Last modified on: Tuesday, 23-Nov-2004 14:09:03 EST modified by: (cdk)