This collection consists of a photocopy of Cathleen Carlson Reynolds' master's thesis, "A Pragmatic Loyalty: Unionism in Southwestern Virginia, 1861-1865," completed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1987. Employing records of the Southern Claims Commission and the federal census, Reynolds explores the mythology of the "solid South," with an emphasis on southwestern Virginia. Chapter titles of the 120-page thesis include "The Road to War," "Unpopular Civil Policies," "Conscription and Desertion," and "Cooperation with the Yankees."