Shackelford, George Green, 1921-2010
Dates
- Existence: 1921 - 2010
Biographical Note
George Green Shackelford was a professor of history at Virginia Tech. He also was a historical preservation expert and specialist in the age of Washington and Jefferson in Virginia history. In 1985, he received an award from the Virginia Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture in historic preservation.
Shackelford attended the Woodberry Forest School, Columbia University, and then the University of Virginia for his Ph.D. He also earned certificates from the Attingham Summer School and Institute of Historical and Archival Management.
In 1942, Shackelford received his commission in the Naval Reserve and served in anti-submarine warfare in the Atlantic and Pacific. He was a Lieutenant by the end of his service.
Before Shackelford taught at Virginia Tech from 1954 to 1986, he taught at Birmingham Southern College from 1948 to 1949 and worked as a research fellow at the Virginia Historical Society. From 1963 to 1964, Shackelford spearheaded the restoration of Smithfield Plantation. In 1967, he worked as a historical consultant to the Westmoreland David Memorial Foundation for Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia.
Shackelford was also a prolific author. He wrote five books, including Jefferson's Adoptive Son: The Life of William Short, 1759-1849 and Thomas Jefferson's Travels in Europe, 1784-1789. He also wrote many articles and was the co-editor of the Virginia Social Sciences Journal.
Throughout his career, Shackelford was active in numerous associations and boards: He was the President of the Monticello Association from 1969 to 1971. He was on the board of directors for APVA, now Preservation Virginia, and was the President of the Montgomery Branch of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities in 1975. He was a member of the Board of Advisors of the National Trust for Historical Preservation from 1976 until 1979. He was a member of the Virginia Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution from 1987 until 1992. He was the President of the Southwest Virginia Branch of the English Speaking Union.
Found in 5 Collections and/or Records:
Newlee Family Papers
The collection includes a paper on the history of Smithfield Plantation, the Preston family, and Virginia Newlee (Col. Robert Newlee's daughter) written by George Shackelford in 1980. In addition, there is an obituary of Colonel Newlee, and a newspaper clipping from 1916 with the muster roll of the Company of Virginia Volunteers in the Mexican War. Also the collection includes a muster roll of Company L, Fourth Virginia Regiment, of which Newlee was captain.
Marcus L. Oliver Correspondence
The collection contains business correspondence from Marcus L. Oliver's tenure with the Virginia Tech Alumni Association (1950-1968) and the University of the South Alumni Association. The collection also includes personal correspondence from 1947 to 2010.
George Green Shackelford Papers
This collection contains correspondence, research files, project files, and manuscripts of George Green Shackelford, professor of history at Virginia Tech from 1954-1986.
George Green Shackelford Student Papers
The collection contains student papers from Dr. George Green Shackelford's Historic Preservation classes at Virginia Tech, spanning 1963-1989.
William Short Papers
The collection contains correspondence of diplomat William Short with Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, George Tucker and Ben Stoddart, together with other selected materials relating to Short. It also includes microfilm, photostatic copies and typed transcripts. Much of this material was copied from the holdings of the Library of Congress.