Special Collections
The Stockton Archives holds many of the papers and other memorabilia of Cumberland University’s long history, as well as a collection of old and rare books including an original edition of the War of the Rebellion series. The Library’s Tennessee Collection focuses on state and regional materials with an emphasis on Wilson County. The Military History Collection contains materials on military history around the globe. The Library also has a collection of over 3,000 juvenile and young adult books. The juvenile and young adult book collections contain Caldecott and Newbery winners and other award-winning titles in the area of children's and young adult literature.
George W. Franz Historical Research Collection
The George W. Franz Historical Research Collection of 1,836 volumes represents a great depth and breadth of resources in early American history. Biographies and personal papers of prominent individuals, examinations of colonial life in urban and agricultural settings, and in-depth exploration of the birth of American political parties, including especially the impact of Martin Van Buren, eighth President of the United States, together offer students a wealth of research materials on this foundational period.
Dr. George W. Franz served Pennsylvania State University for three decades. In addition to his role as a faculty member, Franz acted as a PSU administrator in various capacities. He was Director of Academic Affairs at the Brandywine campus for ten years and served as Interim Chancellor for the Brandywine campus in 2013-2014. Dr. Franz was instrumental in directing the Papers of Martin Van Buren project at Penn State Brandywine. He began on the project as Associate Editor (1975-1976), then oversaw completion of the project as Editor (1976-1986) and Project Director (1976-1988). Under his leadership, the project produced 55 microfilm reels containing approximately 13,000 documents from over 260 different repositories. Since 2015, Franz has served on the advisory board of the Papers of Martin Van Buren at Cumberland University, which is producing print and digital editions of the eighth president's papers. His donation of books to Cumberland University is intended to assist this project, as well as to provide the University's students with more resources for historical research.