University of Virginia History and Research

Researching a specific building or area of Grounds? Start with these resources: 

Clippings Files: Find newspaper articles from the Cavalier Daily and local papers, press releases, and other ephemera organized by topic. This collection covers more than 1,000 topics including most buildings and areas of Grounds. Browse the UVA and Local History folder topics. Arrange a visit by emailing library@virginia.edu or visiting the 4th floor desk in Shannon Library. 

Card Index: A handwritten index to College Topics / The Cavalier Daily (through 1994) is located in the Shannon Library Reference Room. Ask at the Shannon Reference Desk for an introduction. On 35k slips of paper housed in a card catalog, you'll find both broad and specific topics including buildings and areas of campus, in addition to individuals, events, and broad topics such as 'budget'. 

Photographs: photos are available in Virgo and in Special Collections. These include photos from many time periods, photos of now-destroyed buildings, and more. 

Books, reports, and other documents: Search Virgo for names of buildings or areas of campus, i.e., 'the lawn', for print and online resources available at the Library. These materials may be available for circulation or available to view in Special Collections' University Archives. 

ARTstor: ARTstor is a digital library of nearly one million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences. Search 'university of virginia' to find architectural drawings and images of Grounds.

Materials in the University Archives: Materials in the  University Archives are vast. For building-specific research, consider looking in the files of the President or other administrator whose tenure overlapped with the construction, the school for which the building was built, etc. Consult the University Archivist on the left-hand column of this page for further assistance. 

Encyclopedia Virginia: This state-wide resource from VA Humanities and the Library of Virginia includes entries and primary sources on buildings and areas of Grounds and UVA history. 

Further Architectural Research: Consult the Architectural History and Preservation research guide for more in-depth information on conducting architectural research. 

For general histories of Grounds on the whole, start with these recommended resources:

Books: 

University of Virginia: Its History, Influence, Equipment and Characteristics, With Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Founders, Benefactors, Officers and Alumni. By Paul Barringer, James Garnett, and Rosewell Page. Available online or in print. 

Online Resources: 

From the Grounds Up: In the beginning, Monroe created a law office on a hill: Chapter and verse on what was to follow. A helpful timeline from Virginia magazine beginning with the oldest building on Grounds - Monroe Hill House, 1790 - and running through 2021. Names many specific buildings. 

From Village to Grounds: Architecture after Jefferson at the University of Virginia. Online version of a physical exhibit at Special Collections, 2009-10. 

UNESCO World Heritage Site information: With Monticello, the Rotunda and Academical Village - the lawn, Pavillions, gardens - have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. The Rotunda and Academical Village, as well as Monticello, are also National Historic Landmarks since 1966 and 1971, respectively. 

This section offers specific resource that will support in-depth research into various time periods in the ideation and building of Grounds. Arranged roughly chronologically, these materials include academic research, architectural drawings, online resources, and more. 

Thomas Jefferson Architectural Drawings, 1732 - 1898. This series primarily consists of architectural studies on structures found at the University of Virginia, at Thomas Jefferson's private properties like Monticello and Poplar Forest, and studies on structures in Richmond, VA. The studies in the collection contain elevations, plans, and sections, most of which include Jefferson's specifications. These architectural drawings were created mainly by Thomas Jefferson. Some were created or augmented by John Organ, Dr. William Thorton, James Dinsmore, John Neilson, John Hartwell Cocke (possibly), Robert Mills, and Cornelia J. Randolph. Images of the architectural drawings are available online or in person in Special Collections. 

Documentary History of the Construction of the Buildings at the University of Virginia, 1817-1828. By Frank Edgar Grizzard, Jr., in completion of his PhD in History at UVA, 1996. Use the plus signs on the left to display chapter titles and full text. An extensive document with numerous citations. 

Jefferson's University... the early life (JUEL)  Welcome to the website for the Jefferson’s University—Early Life Project, 1819-1870 (JUEL), a place to encounter what life was like in the first years of the University of Virginia. Jefferson’s vision of a secular university, dedicated to enriching public life and sustaining the new republic, was both embodied in and transformed by the people who lived, worked, and studied at the University. Bringing together a trove of personal and administrative documents, as well as archival images of the university and three-dimensional digital renderings, JUEL invites users to discover the people and places of the University’s early years, stretching from its founding in 1819 through the end of the Civil War.

McKim, Mead, and White architectural drawings. The architectural drawings document building projects at the University of Virginia designed by Stanford White following the fire of 1895, including: the rebuilding of the Rotunda, the construction of the Academical Building (Cabell Hall), the Mechanical Laboratory (Cocke Hall), the Physical Laboratory (Rouss Hall), a Boiler House, the Refectory (Garrett Hall), the President's House (Carr's Hill) and a proposed dormitory that was never built. With these are copies of letters pertinent to the above drawings including a letter from E. A. Alderman to Stanford White on the design for the University of Virginia president's home and student dining hall, 1906 May 1; a reply dictated by Stanford White on the style of the proposed president's home, May 31; and a 1942 list of blueprints made from White's original drawings and sent to the University at the request of librarian Louise Savage. The drawing "Design for Terrace" is the work of the McDonald Brothers studio, circa 1895, the firm first hired to rebuild the Rotunda. The steel I-beams were undersized and the design was later corrected by Stanford White. The collection also contains a blueprint map of the University by Kaigiro Sugino, 1899, showing the gas, water, and sewer systems. Some items available online; collection available to view in Special Collections. 

UVA Facilities Management (FM) GeoSpatial Engineering Services (GES)

The GES office within FM provides information on UVA facilities and infrastructure to the University community. They have a searchable database, the GES Document Management System, that includes architectural and engineering drawings and specifications for University buildings, landscapes, and infrastructure, historical maps, surveys, and aerial photographs of the University Grounds and Charlottesville. Materials are available digitally and include Historic Preservation Resources, Archaeological Investigations, Planning Materials, Geological Boring logs, and much more.

Additional services include customized cartography, GIS mapping and data - available in ESRI or AutoCAD format, energy modeling, energy use tracking, and detailed, accurate mapping of our base layers (buildings, parking lots, roads, etc.), utility infrastructures, including watersheds and storm water management BMPs.

GIS Mapping - UVA Library Scholars' Lab

Check out the GIS LibGuide to access to online mapping resources, including local aerial maps and regional Sanborne maps (under 'Data), upcoming workshops, and contact information. 

This section offers additional specific resources on select areas and buildings on Grounds.

UVA Cemetery and African American Cemetery: The Cemetery and Columbarium, founded in 1828, is the resting place for hundreds of individuals connected with the university, including former university presidents, professors, and students. Adjacent is the Confederate Cemetery.

The Cemetery was enlarged in 1882, 1913, 1940, and 2016. In 2012, the African-American Cemetery was 'rediscovered' after more than a century of neglect. This cemetery is the resting place for at least 67 formerly enslaved laborers.

Resources on the campus cemeteries: 

The Scholars' Lab Reveal Project: Cemetery: find history, images, further resources, and maps. 

The Cemetery and Columbarium at UVA: the official site, includes information on currently available plots.

Tombstone Photographs: Photographs of headstones in the University Cemetery arranged alphabetically by last name of the deceased, as of spring 1969. Also includes an electrostatic copy of an 1938 map of the plots in the cemetery, and a list of those buried there keyed to the map.

Artwork, including paintings, sculpture, reliefs, and more owned by the University