Collections : [Alexandria Library]

The Thomas Swann Correspondence is a small collection of letters mostly written by Helen Swann to her husband Thomas. A single letter from Thomas to Helen also lives with the collection, as well as a handful of letters by other authors. Helen's cousin Henrietta Alexander is included as an author of a letter, as well as a P. W. White, who writes to Helen's cousin John Chapman regarding a list of named slaves.

This collection contains numerous documents, either personal or business, of Thomson Mason. All correspondence is Mason's unless otherwise indicated. Other documents found are legal ones dealing with all phases of Mason's practice, both in and out of Virginia. Several items are from his period as Mayor of Alexandria and President of Middle Turnpike Corporation. Early documents deal with the buying and selling of slaves.

This collection contains printed matter such as brochures of George Washington's birthday, the Washington Board of Trade, the Suburban Spectator and others. Additionally, there are limited correspondence, reports of the Historic Alexandria Foundation, annual reports of the Alexandria Library, several booklets, photographs, and postcards.

The 1853-1854 diary documents the intimate details of Carne's daily life, and includes scraps of paper dated 50 years later (1903-1904), which at times seem to comment upon those earlier events.