Walter Lynwood Fleming was born April 8, 1874 and died August 3, 1932. He attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute and received his B.S. in 1896 and his M.A. in 1897. In 1897, Walter Fleming served as an officer in the Third Alabama Volunteer Army during the Spanish-American War. His early teaching experience was at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, where he served as librarian and instructor in history. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1904, and was a lecturer in history at Columbia while he was a graduate student. Dr. Fleming was a professor of History at the University of West Virginia from 1903-1907 and at Louisiana State University from 1907-1917. Walter Fleming came to Vanderbilt University as the Holland N. McTyeire Professor of history in 1917 and remained at Vanderbilt until his death in 1932. While at Vanderbilt he served as Dean of the College of Arts and Science, director of the Division of Social Sciences, head of the department of History and Political Science, and on numerous committees concerning graduate education and the development of the library. Professor Fleming was primarily known in the scholarly world as a specialist in southern history, especially the reconstruction period. The manuscripts in this collection do not strongly reflect that interest. These papers deal primarily with his concerns and interests in developing teachers of history, particularly teachers on the primary and secondary level.