The collection contains material related to the professional life of Thomas Blossom, a professor in the Department of History at Old Dominion University. The collection also contains some genealogy information on Blossom's family. An oral history with Thomas Blossom is available on the Old Dominion University Libraries Digital Collections website.
The papers are organized into two series: Series I Personal; and Series II, Professional.
Open to researchers without restrictions.
Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from Special Collections and University Archives, and the holder of the copyright, if not Old Dominion University Libraries.
Dr. Thomas Blossom
Gift. Accession #A76-57
Oral Histories in the Perry Library: Dr. Thomas Blossom
[Identification of item], Box [insert number], Folder [insert number and title], Dr. Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Thomas Blossom was born on February 15, 1912, to Harold H. and Mary Dawson Blossom in Dedham, Massachusetts. His secondary education was at the Boston Latin School (1926-1929) and at the Beacon School in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Blossom received his BA from Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1934, his M. A. in 1935 from Columbia University in New York and his Ph.D. from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, in 1956.
Blossom taught history at the secondary level from 1935 to 1940 when he entered the U.S. Navy for the duration of World War II. Blossom served with the Interior Department at Cherokee, North Carolina, as Naval Convoy Liaison Officer for the Atlantic and Mediterranean and with the Naval Separation Center interviewing separatees. From 1946 until 1963 Blossom served as a reserve officer with the U.S. Navy.
From 1946 to 1956 Blossom was assistant and then associate professor of history at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1956 Blossom accepted the position of chairman with the Social Studies department at Southern State College in Magnolia, Arkansas. In 1958 Blossom became assistant professor of Humanities at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Blossom wrote three books: The Americas (1964), Narino (1967), and a biography of Santander. He was a contributor to the 1972 edition of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia. Blossom also wrote many book reviews and scholarly articles. He was listed in Who's Who Among American Authors and International Who's Who.
Thomas Blossom married the former Mildred Underwood, (1940). They resided in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They had four children: Frances (Mrs. John L. Caughey), Katherine Eleanor, Mary (Mrs. Terry Springle) and Martha (Mrs. James Medeiros). Dr. Blossom died in 1992.
Note written by Sonia Yaco
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 1, Genealogical Paper on Maternal Grandfather; Jackson Dawson and His Medal, 1925, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 2, Military Certificates, 1946-56, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 3, Vita: Blossom, 1963, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 4, Boston Latin School Catalogue and Related News Clippings, 1965, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 5, M.A. Thesis: Congressional Opposition to the World War, 1935, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 6, Paper: Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza…, 1947, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 7, Paper: The South Sea Bubble, 1949, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 8, Script: Unto These Hills, 1950, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 9, Sermon: Material Progress is Not Enough, 1953, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 10, Paper: Antonio Narino, 1953-1958, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 11, Antonio Narino, Notes and Pictures, 1962, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 12, University of Florida, 1962-1967, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 13, Paper: Agony and the Ecstasy, 1963, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 1, Folder 14, Paper: Origin and Development of Pan American Union and the OAS, 1963, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 1, Cruise on the USS Carver Representing Old Dominion College, 1966, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 2, Correspondence With HEW concerning International Education Act, 1966, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 3, Correspondence With McGraw Hill Encyclopedia Articles, 1969-1971, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 4, Correspondence, General, 1970-1975, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 5, Course Material: History 101/102, undated, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 6, Course Material: History 302, undated, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 7, Course Material: History 371/372, undated, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 8, Course Material: History 376, undated, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 9, Course Material: History 439, undated, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 10, Course Material: History 493/494, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 11, History Department Faculty Minutes, 1973 January 11, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 12, ODU History Dept. Faculty Info Sheets, 1970-1976, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 13, Graduate Studies. Elizabeth Blandin--Paper and Materials, 1972, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 14, Radio Talks Material, 1973, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 15, Western Society for the Study of French History--Annual Meeting, 1975, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 16, Correspondence, 1975, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 17, PACE--Birdfarm News--USS Kennedy, 1975, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 18, PACE--Collision Material.Kennedy--Belknap, Fall 1975, 1975, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 19, PACE. Correspondence. USS Kennedy, Fall 1975, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 20, PACE--Casa Materna, Naples, Italy, Summer 1977, 1977, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
[Identification of item and date], Box 2, Folder 21, Paper: Latin Americans in Norfolk and Norfolk Ties With Latin America, undated, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Framed Bachelor of Arts Diploma, Amherst College, 1934, Oversize Box 3, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.
Do Dull, Dry, Dreary History Textbooks Turn You Off?, Posters Advertising History 396, undated, Oversize Box 3, Thomas Blossom Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Old Dominion University Libraries.