James K. Vardaman collection

James Kimble Vardaman was born in 1861 in Texas. He later moved and studied law in Carrollton, Mississippi. At twenty two years old, Vardaman served in the House of Representatives from 1890 to 1896. He unsuccessfully campaigned for governorship in 1895 and 1899. He won the governorship in 1904, and served as a United States senator from 1913 to 1919. He was one of the few senators that voted against entering the First World War. Vardman published his own newspaper titled Vardaman’s Weekly, which encompassed topics on Mississippi politics. He retired in 1922 and died in 1930. Vardman entered Southern politics at the turn of the century and ended before the onset of the Great Depression.

A sixteen inch box with thirteen folders holds the James K. Vardaman Collection, which contains broadsides, publications, two scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings ranging from 1918 to 1937. The newspaper clippings that range from 1918 to 1937 reference or quote Vardaman. The newspaper clippings that range from 1920 to 1930 involve Mississippi politics but do not necessarily reference Vardaman. The collection follows a chronological order that begins with Vardaman’s inaugural address and ends with the last years of his life. There are thirteen folders, but the largest scrapbook rests outside of the folders. This scrapbook is restricted due to its brittleness and fragility. Many of the newspaper clippings have been photocopied and placed in a separate folder in order to preserve the clippings. An original folder contained newspaper clippings labeled as “miscellaneous,” but those have been labeled as newspaper clippings about Mississippi politics. Both original and photocopied newspaper clippings have been sorted in a chronological order as well. The organization and preservation of the collection took one history graduate student approximately two weeks to complete.

Mrs. Milton E. Bacon of Scobey, MS, niece of James K. Vardaman, donated the James K. Vardaman collection in 1969. According to her correspondences with the library, the materials mainly contain newspaper clippings because Vardaman did not keep a diary or write many letters. An initial inventory was taken of the collection. A new inventory was taken of the collection in 2015. Included was a photocopied version of “A Great Man has Fallen” from the Magnolia Gazette June 3, 1930 that was not noted in the initial inventory. Additionally, included was a photocopied version of Vardaman’s Weekly volume 14 number 48 September 7, 1922 that was not noted in the initial inventory.