General Jefferson Randolph Kean to his son Robert Hill Kean, explaining how a bequest from W. W. Corcoran to the University of Virginia led to the University's President being a member of the Monticello Association. General Kean was the prime force behind the formation of the Association; he was its President from 1913 to 1920, and its Historian from 1920 to 1948, except for the year 1937-1938. He died in 1950. (Collected Papers, 1965, pages 186 to 188.)
2804 N Street, N.W.
Georgetown May 14, 1935
Washington, D.C.
Mr. Robert H. Kean
My dear Robert
The way that it came about that the President of the University is, ex officio, a member of the Monticello Association is as follows. On April 171h 1912 1 went to the State Department to look up the history of the erection by the U. S. of the present monument over Mr. Jefferson in 1882. Among the papers I found a correspondence of Mr. W. W. Corcoran with the Board of Visitors of the Univ. in which he gave them $50,000 to endow a chair of Natural History, with the condition that the University undertake to care, in perpetuity, for the grave of Thomas Jefferson. The letter of the Rector Mr. Alex. H. H. Stuart accepting the condition was on file there. When there- fore the Monticello Association was formed in 1913 for the purpose of caring for the graveyard at Monticello, at their first meeting, they adopted a resolution reciting these facts and inviting the University to fulfil its obligation by accepting membership in the Association and making an annual contribution to be expended by the Monticello Association. This proposition was accepted by the Board of Visitors in a letter addressed to me as President. The University has accordingly made an annual contribution since that time to the Secretary of the M. A. of $50~. This correspondence is doubtless on file in the Office of the President of the University.
The meetings of the M. A. were, in the first years of the Association, on April 13th and, in this way, conflicted with the official celebration of Founder's Day at the University, so that the President could not attend our meetings, but as the dates of the latter have been changed so as to avoid this conflict it is hoped that President Newcomb may be able to join us on May 26!!! .
Affectionately your Father
J.R.Kean
Editor's note: The writers of both of these letters usually made a dash at the end of a sentence instead of a period. Such marks have been transcribed as periods. Cornelia Taylor used dashes in the middle of sentences to replace most other punctuation marks. These have been transcribed as dashes, including those which could legitimately have been intended as such. Wherever punctuation was added in the transcribing, the added mark has been enclosed in brackets; as have any added words.