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 Richard D. Arnold Papers, #1261, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Purchased from Mrs. Albert Stoddard of Savannah, Ga., April 1947.

Additional Descriptive Resources

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

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.

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Adam Fielding, Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, September 2010

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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.

• Arnold, Richard D. (Richard Dennis), 1808-1876.
• Physician and patient--Correspondence--History--19th century.
• Physicians--Georgia--History--19th century.
• Savannah (Ga.)--Politics and government.
• Scrapbooks--Georgia--History--19th century.

Richard Dennis Arnold (1808-1876), native of Savannah, Ga., was a physician, educator, and Georgia state legislator. In his medical practice, Arnold was particularly interested in yellow fever and was instrumental in founding the American Medical Association in 1846, and the Medical Association of Georgia in 1851. He was also a founder and teacher at the Savannah Medical School.

Arnold's political involvement arose out of his position as owner and editor of the Savannah Georgian. He was a Union Democrat, against nullification in 1833, and a supporter of secession in 1860 as a last resort. Arnold served in the Georgia state House of Representatives and Senate and held many municipal offices in Savannah including mayor, health officer, chairman of the Board of Aldermen, and chairmen of the Board of Education. As mayor, Arnold surrendered Savannah to William Tecumseh Sherman in December 1864.

The collection includes letters received, mainly 1875-1876, by Richard D. Arnold from colleagues, patients, friends, and family. Also included is a scrapbook, 1850s to 1870s, concerning Savannah, Ga., civic affairs and state and national politics.