Title: Hugh T. Keenan/Dr. J. Douglas Bruce Collection

Date/Date Range :   1922-1976

Extent: 0.5 linear feet

Abstract:

This collection, dating from 1922-1976, contains materials from Dr. Hugh T. Keenan's research on Dr. James Douglas Bruce, including letters from former students about their recollections of Bruce, materials related to the Bruce library donation and subsequent sale of duplicates, and articles about Bruce's death.

Call number: MS-2478

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

Collection is property of the UT Special Collections Library.

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], Hugh T. Keenan/Dr. J. Douglas Bruce Collection, MS-2478. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of five folders divided into five series: Bruce articles & letters; Correspondence (1923-1928); Correspondence (1971-1976); Research Materials; and Books cataloged from James Douglas Bruce Collection.

Hugh Thomas Keenan was born January 16, 1936. He received a B.S. degree in 1957, an M.A. in English in 1960, and a B.A. in classics in 1963 from Memphis State University. He attained a PhD from the University of Tennessee in 1969. He taught high school for several years and in 1968 became a professor at Georgia State College in Atlanta, Georgia.

James Douglas Bruce was born on December 9, 1862, in Staunton, Virginia. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1883, and then studied at the Universities of Berlin and Stassburg from 1886 to 1888. From John Hopkins University, Bruce received his PhD in 1894. He taught Modern Languages at Centre College in Kentucky (1890-1891), English and philology at Bryn Mawr (1891-1900), and English at the University of Tennessee (1900-1923). He was head of the Department of English at the time of his death on February 19, 1923, after suffering a stroke the previous week during a class lecture.

Dr. Bruce wrote numerous books, articles, and reviews. He was a member of several societies, including the English Association of Great Britain, Keats-Shelby Society of New York, and Delta Kappa Epsilon. He had also been vice president then president of the American Dialect Society and at the time of his death he was president of the International Chaucerian Society.

This 1922-1976 collection contains materials from Dr. Hugh T. Keenan's research on Dr. James Douglas Bruce. It contains letters to Keenan from former students of Bruce about their recollections of him. There are also copies of materials related to the books donated by Bruce in his will -- including Keenan's notes, a catalog of the donated books, and letters to and from the school about the sale of duplicates. Several articles about Bruce's death and a few copies of his letters are also in the collection.

See also UTK-MS-1383: J. Douglas Bruce Notebooks, 1888-1920, which include research, class notes, notes on English and German languages, literary citations and quotes. Half of this material is from his time at Bryn Mawr. UTK-MS-1720 contains a letter from Wallace McClure to Bruce, UTK-MS-963 a letter to Keenan from Clarence Kolwyck on the death of Bruce (a copy of which is in this collection), and UTK-MS-553 which is the Books cataloged from the JDB collection (MS-553 is referenced in this collection).

• Bruce, James Douglas, 1862-1923.
• Keenan, Hugh Thomas, 1936-.
• University of Tennessee (Knoxville Campus).