Edgar E. MacDonald (1917-2011), Senior Cabell Scholar

Dr. Edgar E. MacDonald, 1998

Born in Richmond on 5 March 1917, Dr. Edgar E. MacDonald attended the University of Virginia School of Architecture and worked in New York before serving in the army in Europe during World War II. He served with the 99th Infantry Division in northern France, the Ardennes (the Battle of the Bulge) and central Europe and received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Returning home, he earned a bachelor's degree at Richmond Professional Institute (the forerunner to VCU on the Monroe Park campus), and a master's degree in English at the University of Richmond. He earned his doctorate in comparative literature at The Sorbonne, University of Paris. He taught English from 1953 until 1984 at Randolph-Macon College. In 1983, he served as a Fulbright Senior Lecturer at the State University of Leningrad in the former Soviet Union. Dr. MacDonald became VCU Libraries' Senior Cabell Scholar in the late 1980s and served in that role until his death on 8 September 2011.

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First issue of the Ellen Glasgow Newsletter, Oct. 1974. It has grown into the Ellen Glasgow Journal of Southern Writers. Past issues of the newsletter/journal are available online.

Dr. MacDonald., along with long time VCU English professors E. Allan Brown and Maurice Duke, are credited with convincing VCU in 1968 to name its Monroe Park campus library after Richmond author James Branch Cabell. Dr. MacDonald helped persuade the Cabell family to donate James Branch Cabell’s personal library - a collection of some 3,000 volumes and other materials - to what became VCU Libraries.  They are housed in the Cabell Room in Special Collections and Archives.

He also helped revive scholarly interest in another Richmond native, Ellen Glasgow. He founded the Ellen Glasgow Society in 1974, serving as editor of the organization’s newsletter for 10 years and contributing articles.” He also helped organize panel discussions on her work at numerous college English seminars. All of which led to an increased interest in Glasgow by scholars nationally..

Dr. Edgar E. MacDonald, 1958.

As Senior Cabell Scholar, Dr. MacDonald helped numerous students, professors, and other library patrons with a variety of research topics. Many focused on various aspects of Virginia literature, genealogy, and Richmond history .He often knew of obscure articles and other publications that might help the researcher. Many times the best information he shared were his own memories on events and topics. He seemed to have a bottomless memory of interesting stories. 

He loved challenging people too.  There were many times when he would stroll up to some unexpecting staff member in Special Collections and Archives and ask them, "So... what's it all about?"  The longtime English professor enjoyed hearing other people's perspectives on the meaning of life - his own theories constantly changed.

Dr. MacDonald spent almost every weekday morning in Special Collections and Archives writing and editing (he published throughout his life) and helping staff with various projects. He is greatly missed by library staff and the entire VCU community.

In the early 1990s, The Richmond Quarterly published Dr. MacDonald's remembrances of growing up in Richmond in the 1920s. He talked about his parents, going to the movies, streetcars, dancing, various Richmond neighborhoods, and other topics. His essays appeared in three different issues and are available below.

"Growing Up in Richmond in the '20's" Part One - by Edgar MacDonald, The Richmond Quarterly, Vol. 13, No. 3, Winter, 1990.

"Growing Up in Richmond in the '20's" Part Two - by Edgar MacDonald, The Richmond Quarterly, Vol. 13, No. 3 [sic], Spring 1991.

"Growing Up in Richmond in the '20's" Part Three - by Edgar MacDonald, The Richmond Quarterly, Vol. 14, No.1, Summer 1991.

James Branch Cabell and Richmond-in-Virginia (1993)