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 Thomas Hume Papers, #3239, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from the South Caroliniana Library, Columbia, S.C., October 1956.

Additional materials received from John M. Derrick of Irmo, S.C., November 1982, and from Debbi Bushee in September 2011 (Acc. 101494).

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: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, September 2009

Updated because of addition, November 2018

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.

Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.

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.

• Baptists--Virginia--History--19th century.
• Baynham family.
• Borland family.
• College teachers--Selection and appointment--North Carolina.
• Crocker family.
• English literature--Study and teaching (Higher)--North Carolina.
• Europe--Description and travel.
• Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Godwin family.
• Gregory family.
• Hodges family.
• Hume, Thomas, 1812-1875.
• Hume, Thomas, 1836-1912.
• North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Sermons, American--Virginia.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Faculty--Selection and appointment.

Thomas Hume (1836-1912) was a Baptist clergyman of various locations in Virginia, and professor of English at the University of North Carolina, 1885-1912. Hume was born in Portsmouth, Va., the son of Rev. Thomas Hume, a Baptist minister, and Mary Anne Gregory Hume. He attended Virginia Collegiate Institute at Portsmouth in preparation for college and gained distinction as a student of languages. At the age of 15, Hume entered Richmond College from which he graduated four years later (B.A. 1855). One year later Hume entered the University of Virginia where he obtained degrees in several fields. While attending this institution he served as Washington society editor of The Literary Magazine and as president of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), which he helped to organize.

In the late 1850s Hume accepted the position of professor of English and French Literature at Chesapeake Female College; however, the Civil War soon broke up the institution. Hume joined the 3rd Regiment, Virginia Infantry, and served as chaplain. Soon he was transferred to the post chaplaincy at Petersburg, Va. He remained in Petersburg as chaplain to the Confederate hospitals until the end of the war.

After the war Hume became principal of the Petersburg Classical Institute, a college preparatory school. He traveled and studied abroad and, on his return, became president of Roanoke College in Danville, Va. He served the Baptist church there for several years. Hume returned to Norfolk, Va., in 1874 to succeed his father as pastor of the First Baptist Church. In 1878 he became professor of English and Latin at Norfolk College, a position he held until his move to Chapel Hill, N.C.

Thomas Hume married Annie Louise Whitescarver in October 1878, and to them were born four children: Thomas, Ann Wilson, Mary Baynham Gregory, and Helen. In 1885 Hume became professor of English Language and Literature at the University of North Carolina. Throughout his life, he devoted much time to religious work and biblical assemblies. The National Executive Committee of the YMCA nominated Hume as director of their Christian work in towns and colleges in North Carolina, a position which he served for five years after coming to this state.

Hume received his bachelor's degree and later a doctor of divinity degree from Richmond College in Virginia. He also received an LL.D. from Wake Forest College in North Carolina. He was a member of the Modern Language Association of America and served as president of the Shakespeare and the Philological clubs of the University of North Carolina, and the North Carolina Baptist Historical Society. In 1907 the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching granted Hume an annuity, the first award of its kind to be bestowed on a North Carolina teacher. Subsequently, Hume resigned his position with the University partly because of his poor health, but apparently primarily out of a desire to devote more time to research.

Correspondence and volumes comprise the bulk of this collection. Correspondence mainly consists of recommendations for Thomas Hume's appointment as professor of English Language and Literature at the University of North Carolina and expressions of sympathy to the family on his death. Other letters concern family, business, and church-related matters. The volumes chiefly consist of sketches of sermons and class lecture materials. Other volumes concern Hume's travel through Europe, financial accounts, and genealogy. Biographical material relates to Thomas Hume and his father, Rev. Thomas Hume (1812-1875), while genealogical material includes data on the Crocker, Gregory, Godwin, Borland, Baynham, and Hodges families. Some financial and legal materials and some printed materials are also included.

• Photographs (PF-3239/1)
• Oversize papers (X-OPF-3239/1)