Today over on the DigitalNC blog we’re sharing 10 examples of North Carolina student protests, beginning with the historic Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in on this date in 1960 and continuing up to 2012. The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center is located in Wilson Library and works closely with the North Carolina Collection. We’ll occasionally be cross-blogging some […]
Today over on the DigitalNC blog we’re sharing 10 examples of North Carolina student protests, beginning with the historic Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in on this date in 1960 and continuing up to 2012.
The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center is located in Wilson Library and works closely with the North Carolina Collection. We’ll occasionally be cross-blogging some posts that North Carolina Miscellany readers may find interesting.
While looking through correspondence in the University of North Carolina Papers (#40005), we came across a striking note from Corea A. Jarman of Franklin County, North Carolina to UNC president Kemp Plummer Battle.
It’s not unusual to find letters from prospective students about the possibility of attending the university, but this one stands out because the author, a clearly well-educated young woman, is inquiring on behalf of a male friend and her brother. At the time, she herself could not attend UNC – women would not be admitted to UNC as undergraduates until 1897 when President Battle’s successor, Edwin Alderman, opened enrollment to women.
Honored Sir,
Please excuse the boldness of a country girl in writing to one who is so much occupied as yourself; I plead a deep interest in the education of a brother and friend as an excuse. I was told last year by one who professed to be a pupil of the University, that a young man desiring an education and willing to work for it, would be carried through the course, and then a situation obtained for him, by which he could pay his tuition, or he would be given a situation in which he could work before and after school hours and pay his expenses in that way. The friend I spoke of is eighteen years old, but has had no advantages. He understands as far a [sic] Compound Quantities in Arithmetic, the rudiments of Grammar and Geography; is a tolerably good speller and reader, and writes a passibly [sic] good hand. He is apt, sober, honest, truthful and industrious, and will work hard at almost any honest calling in order to get an education. My brother is very well advanced. I don’t think there are any two boys in the state who are more desirous of educational advantages, or who would work harder, more earnestly, or conscientiously for it.
You may never have heard of me, but you know my grandfather – Augustus J. Foster -, and I have heard my mother and father – Ferneyfold Jarman – speak of you many, many times.
I hope I may succeed in arousing your interest on the behalf of the boys, and if you wish for references I can furnish them.
I remain,
Yours Very Respectfully
Miss Corea A. Jarman,
Pughs,
Franklin Co.,
N.C
Letter from Corea A. Jarman to Kemp Plummer Battle, 20 November 1889. From the University of North Carolina Papers (#40005), University Archives, Wilson Library, UNC Chapel Hill
It’s not clear whether Battle responded to her inquiry, or if her brother and friend were admitted. However, curious about the writer of this letter, we learned that Corea Jarman (later Andrew) was born in 1868, making her 21 years old at the time of this letter. As a student she was, according to honor roll lists published in the Wilson Advance, consistently at the top of her class at the Wilson Graded School. The grandfather she mentions, Augustus Foster, graduated in the class of 1835 according to Kemp Battle’s history of the university.
Item description: Report card, dated 22 December 1862, for John Steele Henderson, a student at the University of North Carolina. More about John Steele Henderson: John Steele Henderson (1846-1916) was born in North Carolina, the son of Archibald and Mary Henderson. … Continue reading →
Item description: Report card, dated 22 December 1862, for John Steele Henderson, a student at the University of North Carolina. More about John Steele Henderson: John Steele Henderson (1846-1916) was born in North Carolina, the son of Archibald and Mary Henderson. … Continue reading →
Item description: In this letter of 28 August 1862, Preston H. Sessoms writes from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., to his sister Bettie. Sessoms tells his sister that only 50 students are enrolled, and board is expensive. … Continue reading →
Item description: In this letter of 28 August 1862, Preston H. Sessoms writes from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., to his sister Bettie. Sessoms tells his sister that only 50 students are enrolled, and board is expensive. … Continue reading →
Item description: A commencement ball invitation from 5 June 1862. As the war progressed the student body at the University of North Carolina began to change drastically. By the fall of 1861, only 91 students remained at the University after many … Continue reading →
Item description: A commencement ball invitation from 5 June 1862. As the war progressed the student body at the University of North Carolina began to change drastically. By the fall of 1861, only 91 students remained at the University after many … Continue reading →
Item description: At the 31 May 1862 meeting of the Philanthropic Society, a committee recommended passage of the following law: “That fifteen lashes be inflicted upon any colored man or woman, who, for the sake of convenience, and unaccompanied by … Continue reading →
Item description: At the 31 May 1862 meeting of the Philanthropic Society, a committee recommended passage of the following law: “That fifteen lashes be inflicted upon any colored man or woman, who, for the sake of convenience, and unaccompanied by … Continue reading →
[Each month we feature a “creator” or one of the SHC’s manuscript collections. In archival terms, a creator is defined as an individual, group, or organization that is responsible for a collection’s production, accumulation, or formation.] Guion Griffis Johnson of … Continue reading →
[Each month we feature a “creator” or one of the SHC’s manuscript collections. In archival terms, a creator is defined as an individual, group, or organization that is responsible for a collection’s production, accumulation, or formation.]
Guion Griffis Johnson of Chapel Hill, N.C., was a professor, author, scholar, journalist, women’s advocate, and general civic leader. Johnson held a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Carolina. She published three books: A Social History of the Sea Islands (1930), Antebellum North Carolina (1937), and Volunteers in Community Service (1967). Her husband was Guy Johnson, professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In the 1920s and 1930s, Johnson and her husband worked together at the Institute for Research in Social Science at University of North Carolina.
Guion Griffis Johnson was born in Wolfe City, Tex. After graduating from Greenville (Tex.) High School, Johnson attended Burleson College for two years, then received her A.B. from Mary Hardin-Baylor College, where she later served as head of the Department of Journalism. Johnson also earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri (1923) and a Ph.D. in history and sociology from the University of North Carolina (1927). On 3 September 1923, she married Guy Benton Johnson.
Beginning in 1924, the Johnsons worked at the Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina, where Guy also served as professor in the Department of Sociology. For the most part, Johnson spent most of her academic career researching historical and current problems of the poor and disadvantaged. After completing her dissertation, Johnson studied the African American population on St. Helena Island, S.C., as a staff member for the National Research Council Study of the Negroes of St. Helena Island. In 1930, she published her first book, A Social History of the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia, which was based on this research. Her later research on North Carolina history resulted in Antebellum North Carolina: A Social History in 1937. During 1939-1940, Johnson participated in the Carnegie-Myrdal Study of the Negro in America.
During World War II, Johnson took an active role in the civic life of Chapel Hill. As a volunteer, she was head of the Community Service Committee of the Chapel Hill Rationing Board, information executive for the Chapel Hill Office of Civilian Defense, and collector of war records for Orange County, N.C.
For three years, Johnson lived in Atlanta, Ga., where she was heavily involved in church work. Upon returning to Chapel Hill in 1947, she began an intense period of work with women’s organizations. During this time, she founded the North Carolina Council of Women’s Organization, while also serving on the boards of the American Association of University Women, the North Carolina Federation of Women’s Clubs, the North Carolina Council on World Affairs, and Church Women United, and working with other organizations at both the local and national level.
North Carolina delegation to the Biennial Convention of the AAUW, Atlantic Ciy, N.J., 22 April 1951 (Guion Johnson shown front row, second from right)
The Johnsons were frequent visitors to Africa, touring and working in Liberia, Nigeria, Zaire, Morocco, and South Africa, where Johnson lectured at Rhodes University in 1960. Johnson’s trips to Africa permitted her to continue her academic research and promote her educational goals, and also be involved in Christian missionary work. Her missionary work also took her to Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Johnson published her third book, Volunteers in Community Service, funded by the North Carolina Fund, in 1967. She also collaborated with Guy on a history of the Institute for Research on the Social Sciences (1980).
Johnson was progressive politically, acting as a strong proponent of school desegregation, social welfare programs, and women’s equality. She was also an advocate of greater concern for and involvement in world affairs and supported the effort to build a strong United Nations.
In her later years, Johnson continued to serve on advisory boards and gave many lectures in North Carolina. She was also honored with many lifetime achievement awards, including the University of North Carolina’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and the Chi Omega Distinguished Service Award for Women. Johnson died at her home in Chapel Hill on 12 June 1989.
The Southern Historical Collection is proud to serve as the repository for the personal and professional papers of Guion Griffis Johnson. The Johnson collection contains over 32,000 items ranging in dates from 1873 to 1987. Materials in the collection include correspondence, writings, subject files, and other materials relating to Johnson’s professional and family life.
View the finding aid to see a complete list of the contents of the Guion Griffis Johnson Papers in the SHC.
Today over on the DigitalNC blog we’re sharing 10 examples of North Carolina student protests, beginning with the historic Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in on this date in 1960 and continuing up to 2012.
[Each month we feature a “creator” or one of the SHC’s manuscript collections. In archival terms, a creator is defined as an individual, group, or organization that is responsible for a collection’s production, accumulation, or formation.]
