The Stanley Library Special Collections is almost wholly located in a dedicated, climate-controlled archive room among the top floor’s book stacks, on the north side of the building. The remainder of the collection, the Inge Methodist Archive, has a special room in the upper book stacks on the building’s south / Annex side, at the entrance to the book stacks.
The archives are free for viewing by anyone in the campus community and outside visitors, but materials cannot be checked out, must remain within the library at all times, and may be viewed only under supervision by a member of library staff.
The college archives are a multifaceted collection of material directly and indirectly related to the school from its beginnings in 1913 as the Ferrum Training School to the present day.
A wide-ranging collection of books, photographs, maps, and ephemera related to this history of the county since its establishment in 1786.
The Ferrum Methodist Archive was made possible in part by a donation from the Rev. Dr. John Wesley (Wes) Inge, Jr. (1917-2011), area minister and Ferrum College professor.
The archive is dedicated to all aspects of the Methodist Church and its services, particularly missions such as the one that helped establish what would become Ferrum College. The books and magazines are catalogued, and relate to the church and Methodism at large, Ferrum College, and the church in southwest Virginia.
Thomas Bahnson Stanley (1890-1970) was a southwest Virginia industrialist – the founder of Stanley Furniture – a Virginia state delegate, members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and governor of Virginia from 1954 to 1958. He and his wife Anne Bassett Stanley (1898-1979) provided a $200,000 donation to what became the college’s Stanley Library, allowing it to be constructed in 1970. The Stanley family also donated the family home, Stoneleigh, to Ferrum College in 1980.
The Stanley Archive is an uncatalogued collection of nineteen boxes of Stanley’s personal and political papers, material related to Ferrum College, material related to Stoneleigh, newspaper clippings, photographs, and related ephemera; books primarily related to Virginia politics and acquired during his time as a politician; and various items of political memorabilia acquired during his time in office.
Thomas Keister Greer (1921-2008) was a Franklin County lawyer, historian, and lifelong county resident. He studied law under and worked for former Franklin County Commonwealth’s Attorney and Ferrum College counsel C. Carter Lee (1906-1958). Greer is best known for his book The Great Moonshine Conspiracy of 1935 and various works about local history.
The Greer Archive was donated by his widow and former Ferrum College Trustee Elizabeth Taylor (Ibby) Greer (1950- ), who billed it as "The library of a Southern Gentleman”. The uncatalogued collection consists almost wholly of books, primarily the history of Britain and the American Civil War, as well as other histories related to the U.S. and Western Europe. There is also a small collection of law books, some of which were passed down to Greer by Carter Lee.
Thomas Keister Greer (1921-2008) was a Franklin County lawyer, historian, and lifelong county resident. He studied law under and worked for former Franklin County Commonwealth’s Attorney and Ferrum College counsel C. Carter Lee (1906-1958). Greer is best known for his book The Great Moonshine Conspiracy of 1935 and various works about local history.
The Greer Research Collection includes the complete collection -- approximately 9 linear feet -- of Greer’s research for his book The Great Moonshine Conspiracy of 1935.
Wingfield (1893-1961) was a Franklin County native and historian best known for writing a history of the county to the 1930s, biographies of early county settlers, and publishing county court records from the late 18th century.
The Wingfield items are catalogued. They include books he authored, a bibliography of works by and about Wingfield, collections of letters, and ephemera primarily consisting of newspaper articles.
Grid maps corresponding to 24 1/2" x 24 1/2" aerial photographs of the county taken in 1937, 1955, 1959, and 1971. The photographs are not comprehensive and most in the collection date to 1955, but they are a valuable resource documenting the changing landscape of Franklin County, particularly in the area that is now Smith Mountain Lake, and as a chronicle of farmland being developed into neighborhoods over the years.
Oversized southwest Virginia-related maps, including reconnaissance, mineral resources, topographical, TVA, and older and antique road maps.
A catalogued trove of mostly 19th century religious / Methodist books, including thirteen volumes of John Wesley's sermons, donated to Ferrum by Mrs. Lucy Stilwell on May 13, 1970.
