In 1950 a 14-member Special Documents Committee, chaired by Dr. Richard Beal Davis of the English Department, was formed to conduct a statewide “hunt” for documents that shed light on the life and times of past generations. Documents donated were to be preserved in the university’s fireproof library for use by present and future generations of students of Tennessee history. The committee accepted outright gifts or loans and accepted also restrictive conditions on use of the documents.
In 1959 Librarian John Dobson was appointed to turn these materials, other documents, and rare books into a “special collections” division of the UT Library. He served as the first and only head of the Special Collections Department until his retirement in 1986. Under his management, early manuscripts, books, letters, and ephemera were purchased or included in the collection by gift, becoming a major research asset of the institution. The oldest item in Dobson’s purview was the 1481 edition of Cicero’s De Officilis, one of more than twenty-five thousand rare books he systematically cataloged. Dobson also initiated systematic cataloging and collection of materials related to the University of Tennessee as the University Archives. He also was instrumental in establishing the World War II collection (first headed by Dr. Charles Johnson, UT Knoxville History Professor), one of the few in the country that specializes in personal papers and reminiscences of junior officers and enlisted personnel.
Special Collections was housed in the Kefauver Wing from the completion of the wing in 1966 until structural problems with the wing required relocation of the services. The services and materials were relocated during summer semester of 2009 to Hodges Library and other parts of Hoskins.