Nestled in Virginia’s Southside region, just outside of Farmville and about 65 miles south of Charlottesville, lies the campus of Hampden-Sydney College (H-SC). Despite its isolated rural setting, Hampden-Sydney boasts a rich legacy as one of America’s oldest institutions of higher education. Founded as an all-male academy in 1775, HS-C is the tenth oldest college in the United States and the oldest private charter college in the South. Among its early Trustees were Patrick Henry and James Madison. Notable alumni include the ninth president of the United States, William Henry Harrison; four Virginia governors; and comedian Stephen Colbert.
Considering this history, one might be surprised to learn that Hampden-Sydney didn’t have a college archivist until 2019. Today, the school’s early collections are managed by Archives & Digital Projects Librarian Dawnelle Ion, who has held the role since 2024. Ion is tasked with cataloging and inventorying Bortz Library’s collection of rare books, photographs, blueprints, maps, and other documents—most from the seventeenth through the early twentieth centuries, but with a few items dating back as early as the thirteenth century. Ion credits her predecessor with laying the vital groundwork for cataloging these collections. Nevertheless, although a majority of the college’s rare materials are indexed in the library’s catalog, most do not have bibliographic descriptions, or their provenance is unknown.
Ion has faced the added challenge of acquiring on the job the skills necessary to tackle such a massive project. “I have a bit of a unique background,” she explains, “having worked at a pharmacy, a veterinarian’s office, and as a waitress before finding my way into a public library. And while my schooling prepared me for the archives, my knowledge of rare books was limited, despite always having had a fascination with early printed books and manuscripts. I did not feel prepared to properly care for these materials; I did not have a true appreciation for how they were even made and why they were so special.”
Ion therefore decided to audit English professor and RBS alumnus Evan R. Davis’s H-SC course, Authorship and the History of the Book. It was from Davis that she learned about Rare Book School. He “told me about RBS and how beneficial it could be for me as the caretaker of H-SC’s collection,” Ion says. With that in mind, she applied to Rare Book School, and in summer 2025 enrolled in David Whitesell’s course G-20: Printed Books to 1800: Description and Analysis to better understand the hand-pressed books that she oversees.
In Whitesell’s course, Ion enjoyed setting type and learning to use the handpress. “One of the most standout lessons was learning collational formulas,” she adds. Whitesell’s lessons on bibliographical description made what had been an opaque and often discouraging process come together for her in a way that was “not only fascinating but sort of life changing.” While at RBS, Ion also bonded with her fellow students over their shared interests, forming new friendships that have lasted beyond the classroom.
Back at Hampden-Sydney, Ion has been putting her new skills to the test. She gives the example of a handwritten eighteenth-century vellum antiphonary in the college’s archives. “After my RBS course, I was able to talk about this item with more knowledge and greater confidence than before,” she says. Particularly rewarding has been how her RBS experience has helped Ion connect with Hampden-Sydney’s students: “When students ask me questions about the books I bring to their class, I can answer their questions with an excitement that spreads and entices them to learn more.”
Ion hopes to return to RBS soon so that she can learn how to better care for the machine-pressed texts in Hampden-Sydney’s collections. In the meantime, she is grateful for the new skills and increased confidence that Rare Book School has provided her.
