|
Last Updated: 02/25/2005
The Rockbridge Report is produced
under the supervision of the Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communications
at Washington and Lee University.
Reporting supervisors: Prof. Doug Cumming
Technical supervisor: |
1,000 genealogical books
donated to Southern Virginia University By Ashley Metzloff Southern Virginia University recently received a donation of more than 1,000 genealogical books and 10 years' worth of genealogical magazines. Dr. John Scott Davenport, a genealogical-research enthusiast, chose to donate the materials to the school’s Von Canon Library because he wanted to give to an institution that supports his Mormon faith. In addition, Davenport’s two daughters graduated from SVU. According to FamilySearch, a genealogical research Web site operated by the Mormon Church, genealogy is important because Mormons believe family ties extend beyond death. The Web site says that Mormons believe they pass into a spirit world after death where they await resurrection and Final Judgment. It also says that members of the church believe they can make covenants with their dead ancestors which will unite them with their family members for eternity. “We have always had a smattering of genealogy ‘how-to’ books.,” said Michael Beier, director of library services at SVU. “But this donation from the Davenport family now gives us a core collection of material focusing on Virginia, North Carolina, and the East, which has already drawn the interest of both university and local community patrons interested in genealogical research.” The library has also purchased access to two online genealogy research databases to augment the collection. The databases show U.S. Census results from 1790 to 1930, historic newspapers, birth and marriage records, and thousands of published family and county histories. Beier said that he has been working on his family history for about 30 years. “The collection was particularly valuable to me as a librarian because it covers this locality,” he said. “They tell you what person did what when, how a family helped build a community, how they helped fare against the adversities of the day.” Beier said that through his research he has discovered many interesting things. “[The research] gives you insight into the lives of the people--what it was like to be there.” Beier has uncovered intricate details about his ancestors during his research. He found out that he had a French-Canadian relative in the 16th century who married into the Chippewah tribe and helped prepare a new reservation when the tribe was relocated. This relative served a visiting government official turtle soup with the turtle’s head, and when his tribe traveled to the new reservation, they had to travel through mountain ridges lined with snow drifts 20 feet deep. Davenport taught broadcast journalism at Washington and Lee in the late 1970s, and his son is a graduate of Virginia Military Institute. One of his daughters is currently the house manager at W&L’s Phi Kappa Pi fraternity. Davenport said that he began researching his own family history about 35 years ago. He also donated his journalistic research to Brigham Young University, where he taught and headed a communications research center.
|