Statesman, author, clergyman, diplomat, and educator, of Richmond, Va. Chiefly letters relating to Curry's career in education and diplomacy after the Civil War. Most of the letters were written by Curry to his son Manly Bowie Curry, giving him advice and discussing family matters and political and social questions. Includes two letter books covering the period of his envoyship to Spain and containing comments about Spanish customs and government. Also, a typewritten journal kept by M. B. Curry while serving with the United States Marine Corps in Nicaragua, 1930-1931.

The major part of the collection is the correspondence of J. L. M. Curry with his son, Manly Bowie Curry, mainly in the years 1884-1903. The correspondence is personal, for the most part, but there are occasional references to Curry's career in education. The collection also contains two letter books covering a portion of the time Curry served as United States minister to Spain (1885-1888) which have extensive observations on Spain, its rulers, customs, and environment; a few items of correspondence with relatives; newspaper clippings; photographs of the Curry family and of the Philippines; and a typewritten journal kept by Manly Lamar Curry while serving with the United States Marine Corps in Nicaragua, 1930-1931.

This collection contains business and personal correspondence, orders, price bulletins, and other papers, relating to the tobacco business of James Thomas, the tobacco industry in general, and the economic life of Virginia (1850s). Includes information on Thomas' assistance to the Virginia Baptist Seminary (now the University of Richmond). Correspondents and persons mentioned include J. L. M. Curry, George Frederick Holmes, and Basil Manly.

This collection consists principally of the apparently complete business papers and records, 1850-1863, of James Thomas, Jr. (1806-1882), one of the largest of antebellum tobacco manufacturers. In addition to an extensive business correspondence, numerous orders for tobacco from Maine, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Georgia, the Netherlands, England, and Australia are included, as well as prices current bulletins from firms throughout the world. The collection not only gives a detailed history of Thomas's enterprises, but affords much information on the tobacco industry in general and on other phases of the economic life of Virginia in the 1850s. Some of Thomas's private correspondence is also in the collection, including an occasional letter from such men as J. L. M. Curry and George Frederick Holmes. Some information is given on Thomas's aid to Basil Manly in his work with the Virginia Baptist Seminary (later the Univesity of Richmond), and on his financial assistance, which made it possible for the institution to remain open after the Civil War.