Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.
The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).
[identification of item], [box #, folder #], William H. Keister Papers, 1924-1955, SC 0123, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.
In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in the spring of 2017.
William Hampton Keister (1865-1962) was born in Highland County, Virginia to William Renick and Martha McCoy Keister. He enrolled at Washington and Lee University at the age of twenty-five and upon graduation in 1894, took the position of principal to the Harrisonburg Public School where he also taught. In 1900 he married Virginia Fletcher of Harrisonburg. Keister served as President of the Virginia Education Association in 1910 and in 1916 was appointed superintendent of the Harrisonburg city schools. While he was superintendent, the Harrisonburg school system grew tremendously with new buildings and more students. The quality of education also improved as Harrisonburg High School was the first high school in the South to be accredited by the New York State Board of Regents. Keister served as a member of various community organizations including the Rotary Club, the Masons, and the Presbyterian Church. He retired in 1947 at the age of eighty-two.
The William H. Keister Papers, 1924-1955, consist of one bound volume of letters, loose correspondence, and miscellaneous materials pertaining to Keister.
The bound volume of appreciation letters from former students, friends, various state education superintendents and officials, was presented to Keister at the Mayflower Hotel in Lexington, Virginia on March 18, 1941. The collection also contains a certificate for the 1924 National Illiteracy Conference in Washington, D.C., a program for a 1934 commemorative ceremony honoring Keister, newspaper articles from the
The collection is arranged topically in three folders.