Washington and Lee University, University Library Special Collections and Archives
Mary Lee Bowman collection
Bowman, Mary Lee
WLU.Coll.0543
/repositories/5/resources/1169
0.25 Linear Feet
1 half document case, one oversize folder
1868-1923
English
.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection came to us from the Trustees of the Mary Lee Bowman Estate in February 2024. Her collection of family papers and art was distributed among several institutions in Virginia.
Biographical Note
Mary Lee Bowman was the daughter of George Bolling Lee and Helen Keeney Lee and the great-granddaughter of Robert E. Lee. She married A. Smith Bowman in 1960. She died in December 2022.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the Head of Special Collections.
Scope and Contents
This collection primarily focuses on the W. H. F. "Rooney" Lee family. Rooney was the son of Robert E. Lee. Included are photographs, correspondence among family members, invoices and receipts, and a couple of recipes. The primary recipient of the correspondence was Rooney's wife, Mary Tabb Bolling Lee. Correspondents include G. W. C. Lee and Robert E. Lee, III. The photograph subjects include George Bolling Lee, Robert E. Lee, Robert E. Lee, III, W. H. F. Lee, and the President's House at Washington and Lee University. There is also a photograph of the Lee Recumbent statue.
Primary correspondence subjects include White House (Lee farm), Robert E. Lee, III's health, and other family matters. Of particular note is a letter written by Mary Custis Lee in 1922 while on board a ship after spending the day in Athens, Greece. This letter relates to the Mary Custis Lee travel scrapbooks housed in Special Collections (WLU-Coll-0576). Also of note is a letter written by John D. Letcher in 1922 to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee which goes into great detail about how the remains of her young children were reinterred in the Lee family crypt/mausoleum. There is also a typed 1923 letter to Washington and Lee from Giles Buckner Cooke, "sole survivor of the staff of General Robert E. Lee," asking that the Chapel be left intact and a separate auditorium be built elsewhere, if needed.
The collection ranges in date from 1868-1923.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Mary Lee Bowman Collection (WLU Coll. 0543), Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va.
Bowman, Mary Lee
Lee, William Henry Fitzhugh, 1837-1891
Lee, Robert E., III, Colonel (Robert Edward), 1869-1922
Lee, Mary Tabb Bolling
Lee family
Lee, George Washington Custis, 1832-1913
Lee, George Bolling
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University. Chapel
W. H. F. "Rooney" Lee letters to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237581868-188311W. H. F. "Rooney" Lee letters to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/23759undated12Letter from Virginia to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/23760undated13Joseph Wheeler letter to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237611891 October 1714George H. Sweet letters to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237621917 February 7, 1920 January 115Julia Lee letter to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237631917 September 3016Robert E. Lee, III letters to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237641903 May 1517Robert E. Lee, III letters to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237651915 March 1418Robert E. Lee, III letters to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/23766192219Mary Custis Lee letters to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237671922 March 9, undated110Thomas B. Love letter to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237681922 July 19111John D. Letcher letter to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237691922 September 22112Thomas B. Scott letter to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237701923 October 22113G. W. C. Lee letter to W. H. F. Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237711873 October 26114William A. Anderson letter to Mary Custis Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237721884 August 12115Joseph E. Washington letter to Robert E. Lee, III/repositories/5/archival_objects/237731895 November 19116Robert E. Lee, III letter to George Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/237741916 October 31117Fitzhugh Lee letter to Agnes Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/23775[?] January 24118Mary M. Lee note/repositories/5/archival_objects/23776undated119Scope and ContentsWife/widow of Robert E. Lee, III
Giles Buckner Cooke letter to Washington and Lee University/repositories/5/archival_objects/237771923 November 23120Mary Tabb Bolling Lee: Invoices and Receipts/repositories/5/archival_objects/237781887, 1913-1915121Recipes for English Plum Pudding and White Cake/repositories/5/archival_objects/23779undated122Photographs of Two Unidentified Children/repositories/5/archival_objects/23780circa 1873-1875123Scope and Contentspossibly Robert E. Lee, III and George Bolling Lee
Photographs of W. H. F. "Rooney" Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/23781circa 1869-1870, circa 1880-1890124Scope and ContentsMilitary images are copies of earlier originals
Photographs of Robert E. Lee, III/repositories/5/archival_objects/23782circa 1873-1875, circa 1880s125Photograph of Unidentified Woman/repositories/5/archival_objects/23783circa 1880s-1890s126Photographs of Robert E. Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/23784circa 1880s-1890s127Scope and ContentsCopies of earlier originals
Photograph of Robert E. Lee, Jr./repositories/5/archival_objects/23785circa 1880-1885128Photograph of George Bolling Lee/repositories/5/archival_objects/23786circa 1885129Photograph of Four Young Men/repositories/5/archival_objects/23787circa 1890s130Scope and ContentsGeorge Bolling Lee (front left) and Robert E. Lee III (front right)
Photograph of Washington and Lee University President's House/repositories/5/archival_objects/23788circa 1890-1900131Photograph of Washington and Lee University President's House/repositories/5/archival_objects/23789circa 1870sManuscripts Oversize Box 1Folder 4Photograph of Robert E. Lee Recumbent Statue in Chapel/repositories/5/archival_objects/237901930Manuscripts Oversize Box 1Folder 4Scope and Contentsinscribed on back to Dr. George Bolling Lee from C. C. Pinckney, Lexington, Virginia October 24, 1930