Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

[1] Albert Small, an alumnus of the University of Virginia, also donated his large personal collection of "autograph documents and rare, early printings of the Declaration of Independence."

Joining the library's existing Dunlap in the Tracy W. McGregor Collection of American History, Small's copy made U.Va.

Additional strengths include historical papers of James Madison, Dolly Madison and James Monroe, typography and other book arts, trade catalogues, slave narratives, equestrianism and other forms of traditional sports, documents, correspondence and oral records of the Southern Civil Rights Movement, political and public affairs papers of major Virginia political figures, and one of the world's largest collections of miniature books.

Thomas Jefferson situated a library, rather than a chapel, at the center of the University of Virginia's campus, unlike existing American colleges.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, many rare and unique items were added to the library's collections, both books and manuscripts.

Of particular interest are deep holdings in little known writers, and an extensive collectionof editions and other printed materials related to Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.

The library documents the history of the university all the way back to its founding; holdings include the original minute book of the Board of Visitors, written mostly in the hand of the first secretary, Thomas Jefferson, as well as the first matriculation book, which documents every student who entered the university in its early decades, including notables such as Edgar Allan Poe.

Papers of many of the university's most prominent faculty are held in Special Collections, including civil rights activist Julian Bond, physicist Jesse Beams, poet Charles Wright, and novelists Ann Beattie and John Casey.

This collection, converted from a deposit to a gift in 1962, comprises the bulk of the manuscripts and typescripts of the writer's novels and short stories, along with extensive correspondence and other related materials.

In 1960, scholar and bibliographer Linton Massey had donated his massive collection of Faulkner editions, periodicals, and secondary works.

The collections are notable in their representation of regional debates over race, including the archives of influential eugenicists and civil rights activists.

The papers of Edward Stettinius Jr. include a large number of original editorial cartoons about the founding of the United Nations.

[12] In 2012, the Special Collections played a significant role in documenting the ouster and reinstatement of the university's president, Teresa Sullivan.