Two new local history collections available in the Special Collections

JMU Libraries Special Collections recently acquired two new collections that hold local interest, and which have already been accessed by history students at JMU for research projects.

TheMassanutten Hatchery Photographs, 1934-1948  documents a chicken hatchery that was once the home of JMU's theater department and is now a parking lot. It includes black-and-white photographs of chickens likely used for the hatchery's promotional materials and sales catalogs. Photographs of the Massanutten Hatchery interior and exterior and the hatchery's breeding farm in McGaheysville are also included.

TheJ. W. Tate Ledgers, 1888-1905 collection comprises four ledgers from a 19th century blacksmith shop in the Amberly area of Rockingham County, Virginia. Additional materials include correspondence, printed ephemera, and an incomplete autobiographical sketch of Luna Tate, J. W. Tate's daughter.

Researchers wishing to access these collections should contact library-special@jmu.edu before visiting the JMU Libraries Special Collections to view them.