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Size | 4.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2300 items) |
Abstract | Francis Preston Venable, son of Charles Scott Venable, aid-de-camp to General Robert E. Lee, 1862-1865, and professor of mathematics, University of Virginia, 1865-1896, was born 17 November 1856 in Farmville, Virginia. In 1893 Venable identified calcium carbide, thereby laying the foundation for the success of the Union Carbide Corporation--but was never financially rewarded for this discoverry. From 1900-1914 he served as president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1930 Venable retired from teaching and four years later on 17 March 1934, Venable died. The collection includes correspondence, writings, pictures, and other material of Francis Preston Venable, professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1880-1930, and president of the University, 1900-1914. Professional writings and personal correspondence of members of the Venable family constitute the bulk of these papers. |
Creator | Venable, F. P. (Francis Preston), 1856-1934. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Linda Griggs, May 1984; William T. Auman, July 1984
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Back to TopThe 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.
1856 | F.P. Venable born November 17, in Farmville, Virginia, son of Charles Scott Venable, aid-de-camp to General Robert E. Lee, 1862-1865, and professor of mathematics, University of Virginia, 1865-1896. |
1877 | Graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in Chemistry; taught high school in New Orleans after graduation. |
1879 | Earned an MA degree in Chemistry, University of Virginia. |
1880 | Offered chair in chemistry at the University of North Carolina. |
1881 | Earned Ph.D. degree in chemistry, University of Gottigen, Germany; elected fellow of the Chemical Society in London. |
1883 | Co-founder and first president of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society; published A Course in Qualitative Chemical Analysis. |
1884 | Married Sallie Charlton Manning, daughter of University of North Carolina law professor John Manning. They had five children. |
1889 | Attended lectures for four months at the University of Berlin. |
1893 | Occupied the first endowed chair at the University of North Carolina, the Mary Ann Smith Professorship; identified calcium carbide, thereby laying the foundation for the success of the Union Carbide Corporation--but never financially rewarded for this discovery. |
1894 | Published A Short History of Chemistry. |
1896 | Published The Development of the Periodic Law. |
1898 | Published Inorganic Chemistry. |
1899 | Elected vice-president of the chemistry section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. |
1900 | Appointed president of the University of North Carolina. |
1903 | Nominated president of the Southern Educational Association. |
1904 | Co-authored The Study of the Atom. |
1905 | Elected president of the American Chemical Society. |
1909 | Served as president of the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges. |
1914 | Resigned as president of the University of North Carolina, and returned to teaching and research. |
1917 | Co-authored A Brief Account of Radio-activity. |
1918 | Appointed Kenan Professor. |
1922 | Published Zirconium and its Compounds. |
1925 | Dedication of the new chemistry building, Venable Hall, at the University of North Carolina. |
1930 | Retired from teaching. |
1934 | Died March 17. |
There is some documentation in these papers for virtually all aspects of the life of Francis Preston Venable. Venable's family life is best documented, beginning with letters from his childhood and college years, and continuing with letters sent from Germany to his mother, letters to his parents from Charlottesville, and including a steady flow of correspondence between Venable and his wife and children from 1884 to 1930. Other family materials include brief memoirs and reminiscences by Venable, personal and family financial records, and family photographs. Personal experiences of Venable also are recorded in his memoirs, travel diaries, and other autobiographical writings, by biographical sketches of him, and by miscellaneous items.
Venable's professional activities are documented in correspondence with professional colleagues and publishing houses and in numerous essays and articles by Venable on chemical topics. His role in the discovery and identification of acetylene gas, leading to the founding of the Union Carbide Corporation, is evidenced by legal documents and correspondence.
There is relatively less coverage in these papers of Venable's presidency of the University of North Carolina. About sixty letters from the period 1900-1914 do relate to Venable's activities as university president. Beyond these items, researchers can consult pertinent records in the University of North Carolina Archives.
This collection contains several noteworthy items not suggested by its title. Among them are a Confederate map of the Kentucky-Tennessee theater in 1862; a few Civil War letters from Venable's father, Charles Scott Venable, aid-de-camp to General Robert E. Lee; and an account by William Campbell Preston, FPV's maternal grandfather, of travels in Europe, 1812-1819. Another unusual item is a rare photograph, circa 1890, of the Chapel Hill campus.
The F.P. Venable Papers remained for decades in the home of Venable's daughter, Louise Venable (Mrs. W.C.) Coker. In 1983, they were given to the Southern Historical Collection by another daughter, Francis Venable (Mrs. Leo) Gardiner. Since the papers as received had no particular arrangement, the following scheme was imposed:
Diplomas and other items relating to Francis and Louise Venable.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Family and professional correspondence of Francis Preston Venable (1856-1934), professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina 1880-1930, and president of the University, 1900-1914. About two-thirds of the correspondence is between family members. The remaining letters are chiefly professional correspondence. A few letters relate to personal business matters.
Most of the correspondence from 1861 to Venable's marriage in 1884 consists of letters from members of his family: sisters Mary, Natalie, Cantey, his mother and stepmother, and his father. These letters relate mainly to family matters and daily life in Charlottesville, Virginia. There are a few letters dating from the Civil War period from his father, Charles Scott Venable, offering fatherly advice but telling very little about the war or its participants. Several letters, October-December 1879, are from Venable to his stepmother, describing his studies in Germany and giving his impressions of life there.
After Venable's marriage in 1884, personal letters between him and his wife, Sallie Manning Venable, and in time, their children, predominate. Professional correspondence with scientific colleagues and letters concerning publishing begin to appear, as do items relating to personal business, real estate, and bonds.
The correspondence from 1900 to 1914 includes few items relating to Venable's tenure as president of the University of North Carolina. An exception is a group of over fifty letters, from autumn, 1912, concerning a hazing incident in which a student died. Correspondents concerned with the hazing incident include W.B. Phillips, James Sprunt, and W.H.S. Burgwyn. Another item of note during this period is a letter from W.R. Kenan, 27 May 1907, concerning Union Carbide legal matters.
After 1913, there is a gradual decline in numbers of letters from family members and an increase in professional correspondence. In 1914, there are several letters from the Bureau of Mines relating to Venable's research in radioactive metals, a few personal letters from James Sprunt, and a letter from R.D.W. Connor accepting Venable's resignation as president of the university on behalf of the board of trustees. In a letter dated 6 September 1918 Venable was notified of his appointment as "consulting chemist" to the War Department. A few letters concerning the disposition of the estate of Venable's stepmother (Mary Southall Venable) appear in April 1920.
Other letters of interest from the 1920s include: a letter from Louis Round Wilson 22 April 1922 on raising money to build a new library; rejection letters 25 October 1923 and 10 April 1924, from publishers; May 1924 letters concerning the illness of James Sprunt; a 24 June 1924 letter about the atomic weight of zirconium, an important research project of Venable's; a letter to George Washington Carver, 14 February 1925, discussing Carver's work with sweet potatoes (unmailed?); a letter from Archibald Henderson, 27 December 1926, on Venable Hall; and a letter from E.A. Alderman, 20 June 1928, concerning a six million dollar gift by an anonymous donor to the University of Virginia.
After 1929, the volume of correspondence diminishes rapidly, with the chief subjects being Venable's retirement in 1930 and his death in 1934. An item of special interest in this period is a letter from Frank Porter Graham, 1 February 1930, asking Venable to endorse a statement "To the people of North Carolina" urging the acceptance of social change brought about by industrialization. There are several letters from Venable's half-brother, Charles S. Venable, to his mother, 1943-1945.
The last four folders in the series contain undated letters that are almost entirely between family members.
Folder 1 |
1861 |
Folder 2 |
1862 |
Folder 3 |
1863-1864 |
Folder 4 |
1865 |
Folder 5 |
1866 |
Folder 6 |
1867 |
Folder 7 |
1868 |
Folder 8 |
1869 |
Folder 9 |
1870 |
Folder 10 |
1871-1872 |
Folder 11 |
1873 |
Folder 12 |
1874 |
Folder 13 |
1875 |
Folder 14 |
1876 |
Folder 15 |
January-July 1877 |
Folder 16 |
August-December 1877 |
Folder 17 |
1878 |
Folder 18 |
January-October 1879 |
Folder 19 |
November-December 1879 |
Folder 20 |
January-March 1880 |
Folder 21 |
April-June 1880 |
Folder 22 |
July-December 1880 |
Folder 23 |
January-March 1881 |
Folder 24 |
April-July 1881 |
Folder 25 |
August-December 1881 |
Folder 26 |
1882 |
Folder 27 |
1883 |
Folder 28 |
1884 |
Folder 29 |
1885 |
Folder 30 |
January-April 15, 1886 |
Folder 31 |
April 16-December 1886 |
Folder 32 |
1887 |
Folder 33 |
1888-1889 |
Folder 34 |
1890 |
Folder 35 |
1891 |
Folder 36 |
1892 |
Folder 37 |
1893 |
Folder 38 |
1894 |
Folder 39 |
1895 |
Folder 40 |
1896 |
Folder 41 |
1897 |
Folder 42 |
1898 |
Folder 43 |
January-August 1899 |
Folder 44 |
September-December 1899 |
Folder 45 |
1900 |
Folder 46 |
1901 |
Folder 47 |
1902 |
Folder 48 |
1903 |
Folder 49 |
1904 |
Folder 50 |
1905 |
Folder 51 |
1906 |
Folder 52 |
1907 |
Folder 53 |
1908 |
Folder 54 |
1909 |
Folder 55 |
1910 |
Folder 56 |
1911 |
Folder 57 |
1912 |
Folder 58 |
1913 |
Folder 59 |
1913 January-June 1914 |
Folder 60 |
July-December 1914 |
Folder 61 |
1915 |
Folder 62 |
January-June 1916 |
Folder 63 |
July-September 1916 |
Folder 64 |
October-December 1916 |
Folder 65 |
January-May 1917 |
Folder 66 |
June-September 1917 |
Folder 67 |
October-December 1917 |
Folder 68 |
January-May 1918 |
Folder 69 |
June-July 1918 |
Folder 70 |
August-December 1918 |
Folder 71 |
1919 |
Folder 72 |
1920 |
Folder 73 |
1921 |
Folder 74 |
January-April 1922 |
Folder 75 |
May-August 1922 |
Folder 76 |
September-December 1922 |
Folder 77 |
January 1923 |
Folder 78 |
February-December 1923 |
Folder 79 |
January-April 1924 |
Folder 80 |
May-June 1924 |
Folder 81 |
July-December 1924 |
Folder 82 |
1925 |
Folder 83 |
1926 |
Folder 84 |
1927-1928 |
Folder 85 |
1929 |
Folder 86 |
1930 |
Folder 87 |
1931-1933 |
Folder 88 |
1934-1935 |
Folder 89 |
1936-1943 |
Folder 90 |
1944-1945 |
Folder 91 |
1946 |
Folder 92-95
Folder 92Folder 93Folder 94Folder 95 |
Undated |
Correspondence, 1893-1941, legal documents, patents, and printed material concerning the discovery of calcium carbide and acetylene gas and their commercial uses, and the formation of the Union Carbide Corporation.
Noteworthy items include a "Memorandum of agreement," 27 March 1893, between F.P. Venable, Thomas L. Willson, and W.R. Walker to organize "a company for the manufacture, application and introduction of calcium and similar carbides" (folder 97), and a letter, 9 September 1921(?), from Venable to John Motley Morehead, claiming that Venable had been promised seventeen percent of the stock in said company as a reward for his role in identifying calcium carbide and acetylene gas (folder 96).
Two items of interest among the printed material (folder 98) are Calcium Carbide and the Process of Manufacture (1940?) by William R. Kenan, Jr., and "Some of the Properties of Calcium Carbide" (1895) by F.P. Venable and Thomas Clarke.
Folder 96 |
Correspondence |
Folder 97 |
Legal Documents |
Folder 98 |
Printed Material |
Folder 99 |
Patents |
Arrangement: chronological.
These are the minutes of four "annual" meetings of the "Research Club," a social organization of Chapel Hill professors that periodically poked fun at academic research. Included in its membership were Venable, Edward Kidder Graham, J. G. deRoulhac Hamilton, W. C. Coker, W. M. Dey, C. S. Mangum, and others. The club met at least six times: in 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1920, and 1921. The minutes of all but the 1916 and 1921 gatherings are in this series. A complete set of minutes is in the University of North Carolina Archives.
In addition to farcical parliamentary preliminaries, each set of minutes includes a tongue-in-cheek "paper" by each member. Topics of Venable's papers included "The Ontological Basis of the Atomic Theory of Darwinism in Relation to the Cosmological Basis of the Electron Theory of Modern Dances" (1914), and Chapter IV of The Laundry Ticket: A Story of Love and Adventure .
Folder 100 |
1914 |
Folder 101 |
1915 |
Folder 102 |
1917 |
Folder 103 |
1920 |
Except where otherwise noted, these writings are by, or presumed to be by, F.P. Venable.
Printed articles, drafts of articles, the manuscript of a textbook, and miscellaneous notes and fragments. Folders 104-111 contain typed drafts of chapters for a basic chemistry textbook. Other writings include printed versions and handwritten drafts of articles on various topics, including the atomic weight of zirconium and the periodic system.
Arrangement: seven sub-categories.
Arranged alphabetically by title. Includes commencement addresses, speeches and essays on teaching, the place of athletics in education, the "responsibility of the college-bred man," etc. Most items are typescripts, some with annotations.
Folder 128 |
A-C"Acceptance of the Monument" "Address before Washington and Lee University" Address of President Venable "Choosing a Profession" "The College and Scholarship" mss. (two) [commencement address] (two) |
Folder 129 |
D-E[Davidson College Anniversary] "The Deeper Vision" "The Duty Owed by the Educated Man to his Country" "The Educated Man [and the State]" "The Educational Value of College Athletics" |
Folder 130 |
H-M[Hazing 1912] "The History of the University and of the State" "How the Public Schools Promote Higher Education" "Introduction of Woodrow Wilson: Commencement 1912" "Is a College Education Worth While [sic]"? "The Mission of the Teacher" |
Folder 131 |
P-R"Presidential Address Before the Southern Educational Assoc." "The Question as to the Best Method of Teaching" "A Question of Morals" "Responsibility of the College-Bred Man." (two) |
Folder 132 |
T-U"The Task of the Teacher" "The Teaching of Chemistry in Secondary Schools" [Teaching] "To What Extent Should Non-Athletic Activities Be Encouranged"? [Tulane University Address] "Universities and Secondary Schools" "The University and the State" [The University of N.C.: A Historical Sketch] "University Research" |
Folder 133 |
V-W"The Value of Research" "What Factors Shall Mold Higher Education in the U.S." "What of the A.B. Degree?" |
Folder 134 |
Biographical sketches and memorialsEben Alexander Dr. [Kemp Plummer?] Battle (fragment) Henry Carrington Bolton Robert Brown ["The Brownian Movement"] Joseph Caldwell Joshua Walker Gore James McDowell Charles D. McIver John William Mallett Walter Hines Page Edgar Fahs Smith Justus von Liebig |
Folder 135 |
Religious writings"Building the Universe" "God and His Universe" "The Mission of Christ" "My Idea of God" "The One Thing Needful" [Presentation of a Church] "The Source of Authority" |
Folder 136 |
Religious writings: "Notes for Sunday School Talks" |
Folder 137 |
Civil War Memoirs |
Folder 138 |
Remembrances of his parents by Francis P. Venable |
Various versions of an autobiographical account of William Campbell Preston's travels in Europe 1812-1819. Preston was FPV's maternal grandfather. Venable edited this material and submitted it, apparently unsuccessfully, for publication.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Folder 143 |
A-E"Age" (2 manuscripts, 1 typescript) "Birmingham" "The Confession of a Scientific Man" "A Cruise on Lake Ponchartrain" "The Economic Condition of the Negro in North Carolina" |
Folder 144 |
H-S"Historical Sketch of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society" "Love's Dear Memory" (poem) "My Garden in the Cool of the Day" "The People and their Board of Health" "The Reconstruction of a State" "A Struggle and a Victory" |
Folder 145 |
T-W"Temperament" "An Unfinished Business" "United Daughters of the Confederacy" "The Value of Human Life" "..with Apologies to Leeacavello" "The World's Waste" |
Folder 146 |
Notes and Fragments |
Pamphlets, genealogies, newspaper clippings, and other items concerning Venable and members of his family, including ancestors.
Folder 147 |
Pamphlets |
Folder 148 |
Newspaper clippings |
Folder 149 |
Memorials, obituaries, and genealogies |
Arrangement: chronological.
Bills and receipts, invitations, calling cards, programs, insurance policies, honors and appointments, stocks, Confederate bonds, research reports, maps, and other items.
Two of the Confederate bonds were issued by the state of North Carolina in 1862 and signed by Governor Zebulon Baird Vance; another Confederate bond was issued by the Confederate government in Richmond in 1864 (folder 158).
The two maps (folder 161) are of special interest. One map (probably hand-drawn by Confederates) depicts the Kentucky-Tennessee area in 1862, with railroad lines and distances between towns marked in. Another map, printed by C. Crozet, shows "the Internal Improvements of Virginia According to the Resolutions of the Assembly of April 7, 1838."
Other items of interest are two research reports to the Secretary of the Interior on problems related to gas warfare, 1917-1918 (folder 162), and two poems (folder 162) "written by moonlight" in 1932 in Chapel Hill, by James Asa Johnson.
Folder 150 |
Bills and Receipts: domestic 1872-1895. |
Folder 151 |
Bills and Receipts: domestic 1896. |
Folder 152 |
Bills and Receipts: domestic 1897. |
Folder 153 |
Bills and Receipts: domestic 1898-1918, and no date. |
Folder 154 |
Bills and Receipts: foreign 1880-1897, and no date. |
Folder 155 |
Invitations, calling cards, programs, circa 1880-1934. |
Folder 156 |
Insurance policies, 1896-1904. |
Folder 157 |
Honors and appointments, 1880-1912. |
Folder 158 |
Confederate bonds, 1862-1864. |
Folder 159 |
Stocks |
Folder 160 |
Research reports on gas warfare, 1917-1918 |
Folder 161 |
Maps |
Folder 162 |
Other items |
Class and laboratory notebooks, financial records, calendars of outgoing letters, travel accounts, and other volumes. Most of the nineteen class and laboratory notebooks date from 1879 to 1881 and 1889, and were compiled by Venable when he was a student in Germany. The seven financial record books include bank account books, records kept by Venable as administrator of an estate, records of personal expenses and income, and "Purchases for U.N.C., 1889," (incomplete). The travel accounts document travel in Italy, Germany, and the United States in 1880-81, 1908, and 1910. Particularly notable is a 34-page travelog of a trip on the steamer Konig Albert in March 1908 from Germany to New York City (volume 30). Two calendars of outgoing letters list the names and addresses of persons to whom Venable sent letters between 1923 and 1927 and between 1929 and 1931. The other volumes include a class register and grade book, 1881, a North Carolina Geological Survey field book, 1915, "A List of Addresses, Papers and Other Publications [by] F.P. Venable, 1879--" (volume 38), and other items.
Volume 1-19
Volume 1Volume 2Volume 3Volume 4Volume 5Volume 6Volume 7Volume 8Volume 9Volume 10Volume 11Volume 12Volume 13Volume 14Volume 15Volume 16Volume 17Volume 18Volume 19 |
Volumes 1-19: Class and lab notes, circa 1872-1890 |
Volume 20-27
Volume 20Volume 21Volume 22Volume 23Volume 24Volume 25Volume 26Volume 27 |
Volumes 20-27: Financial records, circa 1881-1927 |
Volume 28-30
Volume 28Volume 29Volume 30 |
Volumes 28-30: Travel accounts, circa 1880-1910 |
Volume 31-32
Volume 31Volume 32 |
Volumes 31-32: Calendars of outgoing letters, 1923-1927, 1929-1930 |
Volume 33-38
Volume 33Volume 34Volume 35Volume 36Volume 37Volume 38 |
Volumes 33-38: Other volumes, circa 1879-1915 |
Note: P-4368/47-63 are identified and unidentified classmates and friends of FPV from the University of Virginia.
Diplomas and other items relating to Francis and Louise Venable, 1905-1920.
Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-4368/1 |
Addition of November 1992 |
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-4368/1 |
Addition of November 1992 |