Burr P. Harrison Papers

167 WFCHS

Inventory created by 12/1984.  Last revised 03/2018.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright.

EXTENT: 0.96 linear feet, plus scrapbooks, 2 volumes

DATE: 1813-1973

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The Burr P. Harrison Family Papers collection contains material related to the history and genealogy of the Harrison family. It includes correspondence, political papers, speeches, and other miscellaneous material. Also included are nine scrapbooks (1916-1963) concerning the political careers of Burr P. Harrison and his father, Thomas W. Harrison.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL: Burr Powell Harrison was born in Winchester, VA, on July 2, 1904. He attended Woodberry Forest School, Virginia Military Institute, Hampton-Sydney College, and the University of Virginia. He graduated from Georgetown Law School in 1926 and commenced his law practice in Winchester the same year.  Harrison was the son of the noted Thomas Walker Harrison and Nellie Cover. 

Thomas Walker Harrison, State Senator, Judge and Congressman, father of Burr P. Harrison, graduated from the University of Virginia with both an M.A. and a B.L. in law. He was an associate with R.E. Byrd in the practice of law and in ownership of the Winchester Times.  As Judge of the 17^th Judicial District of Virginia, he was a major figure in determining the Handley Board of Trustees and their administration of the Judge Handley bequest to the City of Winchester. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served until 1929. He died in 1935 and is buried in Mt. Hebron Cemetery.

Burr P. Harrison was elected as Frederick County Commonwealth Attorney in 1932 and served in that office through 1939. He was elected to the Virginia State Senate in 1940 and served through 1942. He was appointed Circuit Judge in 1942 for Frederick, Clarke, Warren, and Shenandoah counties and served through 1946. On November 5, 1946, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of A. Willis Robertson and served in that post through successive sessions of Congress until 1962. When he left Congress, he resumed his law practice in the firm of Harrison and Johnston where he served until his death on December 20, 1973.

He was married to the former Dorothy W. Green with whom he had two children, Thomas B. and Alice B. He was buried in the Mount Hebron Cemetery in Winchester on December 31, 1973

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Quarles, Garland R.  Some Worthy Lives, Winchester, VA: Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, 1988, pp. 118-119.

CITE AS: Burr P. Harrison Papers, 167 WFCHS, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA.

ACQUISITION INFORMATION: Acquired as a gift.

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1 

Account of visit to Europe by Congressman Thomas Harrison, April 27-30, 1919, 1 item, 4 leaves, typescript

Correspondence – Burr W. Harrison and W(?). Harrison to unknown person, April 21, 1855, 1 leaf, manuscript

Correspondence - 1813-1915, 36 items, manuscript 

Correspondence - 1840-1863, 20 items, (photocopy) 

Correspondence - undated, 20 items, manuscript 

“Our American Government” – Q&A Booklet, 1953 edition 

Political papers of local elections - Harrison family, 3 items, printed 

Speech - Thomas Harrison, 1924, "Army Appropriation Bill," 2 items, printed 

Strother trial, 1907 - Judge Harrison presiding, news clippings of trial events, 3 items, printed 

Wedding invitation - Thomas W. Harrison to Nellie Cover, 1903, 1 item, printed 

The following boxes comprise Scrapbooks containing news articles reflecting on the political careers of Burr P. Harrison and his father, Thomas W. Harrison (1916-1963):

BOX 2

Harrison, Thomas W. - 1916-1922

Harrison, Thomas W. - 1920-1923

Harrison, Thomas W. - 1924-1926

Box 3

Harrison, Burr P. - 1946-1947

Harrison, Burr P. - 1948

Box 4

Harrison, Burr P. – 1949 (see below for 1950-1957)

Harrison, Burr P. - 1961-1963

Oversize, SHELVED WITH COLLECTION 

Harrison, Burr P. - 1950-1951

Harrison, Burr P. - 1954-1957