C. W. Vaughan, Jr.

Conan W. Vaughan, Jr. (1906-90)

Papers, 1923-92, 1.0 cu. ft., Ms91-050

Biography:

Conan Wallace Vaughan, Jr., was born on April 23, 1906, in Norfolk, Virginia. After graduating in 1923 from Maury High School in Norfolk he attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute, earning his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree in 1927, and a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1928. As a member of the local YMCA advisory council during the 1927-28 school year Vaughan was instrumental in inviting George Washington Carver (1861-1943), agricultural chemist and educator of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, to speak at Virginia Tech in April 1928. The two men corresponded often following Carver's visit, and Vaughan visited Carver at Tuskegee that summer.

Vaughan left Virginia Tech in 1928 to work as District Traffic Manager for the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company in Richmond and Roanoke until 1941. He later worked for the company in Norfolk and Richmond from 1946 until his retirement in 1971. He married Elizabeth Leary Tyler in 1935; they had no children.

Beginning in September 1941 Vaughan served as Unit Commander of the 1128th Engineer Combat Battalion in the European theatre, mostly in Iceland, during World War II. By the end of the war he rose from the rank of Captain to that of Colonel. He received the Bronze Star for meritorious service when his unit was instrumental in the Battle of the Bulge and during the Rhineland invasion preceding V.E. Day.

After the war Vaughan was active in the U.S. Army Reserve and from 1951 to 1959 he served as assistant Commandant and then Commandant of the 2086th Army Reserve Service Unit (Norfolk, Virginia, USAR School). Vaughan received the Army Commendation Medal in 1959. He also served as President of the South Hampton Roads chapter of the Association of the U. S. Army.

Elizabeth Vaughan died in 1988, and Conan W. Vaughan, Jr., died on January 24, 1990. The Vaughans left $2.6 million of their estate to the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, which is the largest endowment gift in the college's history and one of the largest ever received by Virginia Tech.

Scope and Content:

The papers consist of photographs, correspondence, awards and certificates, newspaper clippings, files, and other literature almost exclusively from Vaughan's tour of duty (1941-44) in Iceland and Europe during World War II, and his involvement in the U.S. Army Reserve in the late 1940s and 1950s.

Of special interest are copies of correspondence between Vaughan and George Washington Carver, which run from 1928 to 1942. Carver's letters are affectionate and thank Vaughan for his friendship. He often refers to Tuskegee as "God's Little Work Shop."

Provenance:

The Conan W. Vaughan, Jr., papers were donated in March, April, and June 1992 by Edwin W. Vaughan, Conan Vaughan's brother, of Greensboro, North Carolina. Copies of the Carver/Vaughan correspondence were obtained from the Tuskegee Institute Archives. Processing of the papers was completed in March 1992 by L. K. Smith.

List of Contents:

Contents of Box 1

Folder 1: 1923--Maury High School (Norfolk, Virginia) yearbook (separated pages) and class night program
Folder 2: 1926-53--Military appointments
Folder 3: 1926-77--Certificates and diplomas
Folder 4: 1927-32--Letters and awards from Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Folder 5: 1927-87--Awards
Folder 6: 1928--Letters from Vaughan to George Washington Carver at Tuskegee Institute (copies)
Folder 7: 1928-42--Letters from George Washington Carver to Vaughan (copies)
Folder 8: 1928-92--Articles about the work of George Washington Carver
Folder 9: 1930-50--Vaughan's personnel file from the U.S. Army
Folder 10: 1941--Daily Post, December 8, 1941--"Japan and U.S.A. at War"
Folder 11: 1941-42--"The American Forces in Iceland," and "Armed Guardians: One Year in Iceland," booklets
Folder 12: 1941-44--Memoranda, notes, etc., from Iceland tour of duty
Folder 13: 1941-44--Humorous and leisure-related literature from Iceland tour of duty
Folder 14: ca. 1941-45--Photographs of sites in Europe
Folder 15: 1941-45--Photographs from Iceland tour of duty
Folder 16: 1942--Pieces of a JU-88 German plane shot down in Iceland

Contents of Box 2

Folder 1: 1942-43--Organization Day programs
Folder 2: 1942-43--Letters to Vaughan
Folder 3: ca. 1942-45--Undated letters to Vaughan
Folder 4: 1943, n.d.--Maps of Iceland, Belgium, France, England, and Holland
Folder 5: 1944--Photographs of U.S. engineering operations in World War II (confidential photographs stamped "passed for publication by field press censor")
Folder 6: ca. 1944--Roster of 1128 Engineers group
Folder 7: 1944-45--Newspaper clippings and newspapers
Folder 8: 1944-45--Letters to Vaughan
Folder 9: 1944-46--Newspaper clippings about U.S. forces in Iceland during World War II
Folder 10: 1945--"Instrument of Surrender" (copy)
Folder 11: 1946--Vaughan's Separation Qualification Record from the U.S. Army
Folder 12: 1946-58--Newspaper clippings
Folder 13: 1949--Newspaper clippings about Malmedy massacre of U.S. soldiers in 1944 (trial in 1949)
Folder 14: 1949--Reinstatement of active military duty
Folder 15: 1949-60--Letters to Vaughan
Folder 16: ca. 1950-60--Miscellaneous photographs
Folder 17: 1951-59--Army reserve school
Folder 18: 1959--Army Commendation Medal presentation
Folder 19: 1960(?)--Application for retired pay benefits
Folder 20: 1964--Pencil tray made from Miles Stadium seats

Contents of Box 3

Folder 1: 1978-83--Award of Appreciation to Vaughan from the Virginia Tech Alumni Association with Century Member bars
Folder 2: 1981--Letters from and to Vaughan about his donating letters by George Washington Carver to Tuskegee Institute
Folder 3: 1983-89--Letters to Vaughan
Folder 4: 1990--"The Biography of Conan Wallace Vaughan, Jr." by Edwin W. Vaughan
Folder 5: 1992--"Conan and Elizabeth Vaughan: A Tribute," produced by the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
Folder 6: n.d.--Foreign currency (Taiwanese and French bills)

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