Harvie Branscomb

With his deep understanding of nonviolent protest, the Rev. James M. Lawson (1928–2024) showed us the way forward for fighting injustice and left a legacy of courage and compassion. Read More

The Rev. James Morris Lawson Jr., a leader of the Civil Rights Movement who trained scores of activists during his time in Nashville—many of whom went on to prominence—and whose expulsion from Vanderbilt in 1960 led to national headlines and prompted some faculty members to resign in protest, died Sunday, June 9, in Los Angeles. He was 95. Read More

In 1913 a farmer’s son named Oliver Cromwell Carmichael became the first Rhodes Scholar from Alabama. Just 21, he had earned an A.B. from the University of Alabama and had taught German and French there and at Florence Normal School. In 1914 a 20-year-old Methodist minister’s son named Harvie Branscomb… Read More

World War I marked the beginning of a great adventure that took Harvie Branscomb and Oliver Carmichael from Oxford, England, to Belgium, where they played a vital role in the largest hunger-relief effort the world had ever known. Read More

Kathleen Smith, associate director of special collections for Vanderbilt’s Jean and Alexander Heard Library system, and her team occasionally find themselves on the receiving end of unique objects that have been passed along to the university, from vintage movie posters to—as in the case of items highlighted here—armaments and other war-themed matériel. Read More

The stately magnolias that protect campus from the dust and noise of busy West End and 21st avenues are the living legacy of former Vanderbilt first lady Margaret Branscomb and the members of the Vanderbilt Garden Club. Read More