McGregor Collection

The 317 titles in this collection were purchased by the college throughout the 1930s and 1940s as part of the "McGregor Plan for the Encouragement of Book Collecting by American College Libraries." The bulk of the collection was published between 1700-1830 and provides excellent primary source material on the founding and early development of the United States. Wooster's collection includes texts tied to discovery, including early contact with Native Americans and the settlement of New England. Works document the establishment of the colonies, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and westward expansion.

Tracy W. McGregor (1869-1936) was an avid book collector and a great supporter of higher education. In 1925 he and his wife Katherine Whitney McGregor (1874-1954) established the McGregor Fund to support charitable works that supported his interest in higher education and her interest in social welfare. Upon Mr. McGregor's death in 1936, his personal collection was donated to the University of Virginia. His collection reflected his interest in English and American history, with a particular focus on American history. The McGregor Plan, administered by the Committee on Americana for College Libraries of the American Historical Association, allowed colleges and universities to purchase similar texts for their own libraries.

Wooster's collection is housed in Special Collections. Books are listed individually in the library catalog and are searchable by author, title, subject, and collection name.