New Collections (11 July 2008)

Adkins, Davis, and Fulton Family Papers (#5230)

The collection contains family papers of the related Adkins, Davis, and Fulton families. Correspondence includes letters to and from Hiram Adkins, Emily Caroline Davis Adkins, and their children. There is also correspondence of James William Davis and other Davis family members. Letters discuss family affairs; life in Stokes County, N.C.; finances; and travel. There is also correspondence among the children of Mary Ann Davis Fulton and Wilson Fulton, and letters to Mary Ann Davis Fulton, living in Texas, from her siblings James William Davis and Luretta Campbell Davis in Stokes County, mainly discussing family affairs. Other materials include deeds and probate materials; a 1921 notebook, author unknown, documenting business travel around North Carolina possibly selling insurance; an account book listing family names and insurance information; bills and receipts for lumber mills run by Adkins and Davis family members; and a list of parishioners and financial records of the chapel on Davis property. There are also annotated typed transcriptions of family letters and research notes compiled by J. Daniel Mahar in 2005, donor-generated compact discs that duplicate some items in the collection and may include additional items, and other items.

Brian Bain Collection of Materials on Shalom Y’all (#5331)

The collection consists of elements pertaining to the making of the documentary film Shalom Y’all by Brian Bain, including video footage, photographic stills, audio materials, scripts and other documents, and photographs taken during filming; research materials; business files; and promotional materials. Video footage includes road tapes of raw footage, archival tapes, vignette footage, assembly cuts, original and final trailers, and credit rolls. Audio elements include composer dubs, voice-overs, sound effects, swelltones, music, addons, loops, sound effects, pickups, and papers briefly describing portions of the audio material and printed drafts of the film script with annotated audio cuts. Scripts and other materials include electronic versions of the script and the screen credits, as well as other documents related to the making of the film. There are several hundred printed photographs and accompanying negatives taken during the filming of the documentary. Subjects include interviewees and locations featured in the film, the cast and crew, traveling and filming, and events and openings. Research materials are photographs and videos collected by Bain while conducting research for the film. Images in the photographic research materials cover a wide time span and include subjects such as southern Jewish businesses, Jewish homes, and temples; celebrations, religious ceremonies, and other gatherings; southern Jews and civil rights; individual and family portraits; and other subjects. Research video materials pertain to research done before filming of the documentary, covering a range of subjects from Mardi Gras to civil rights to college football. Research film footage also includes Shalom Y’all scout tapes. Business files consist of correspondence and other papers related to grants, loans, expense accounts, film credits, the official film logos and posters, copyright, and public relations. Promotional materials are newspaper clippings related to the film; film festival schedules and film posters; correspondence related to the opening and showing of the film; digtial photographs and negatives of related merchandise; and press passes for film openings.

Independent Weekly Records (#5319)

The Independent Weekly is a free, alternative, weekly newspaper serving the Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and surrounding communities in central North Carolina. It was founded in 1983 in Durham by Steve Schewel, David Birkhead, and Katherine Fulton. The Independent Weekly is perhaps best known for its coverage of local music, film, visual arts, theater, dance, and pop culture, as well as for its strong focus on progressive politics and social activism. The collection is chiefly photographs, 1982-2004, from the Independent Weekly, including images published in the newspaper; unpublished production images of scenes, events, subjects, and organizations throughout North Carolina; images of individuals–chiefly politicians, artists, musicians, local activists, and civic leaders–such as Mike Easley, John Edwards, Harvey Gantt, Jesse Helms, Jim Hunt, Bill Bell, and others; images created by staff photographer Sadie Bridger; photographs of the newspaper’s staff; and other images. There is also one slide reel (with slides) and a transcript for an Independent Weekly promotional slideshow. The collection also contains papers relating to early efforts to establish a statewide progressive newspaper in North Carolina and the founding of the Independent Weekly (first as the North Carolina Independent, then as the Independent) in the early 1980s, along with correspondence, notes, clippings, and other business and financial materials of the paper.

Robert H. Moore Audiocassettes (#5355-z)

The collection of history and literature professor Robert H. Moore includes audio recordings of William Faulkner’s April 1962 remarks at the United States Military Academy (with an introduction by William C. Westmoreland), conversations between Moore and Faulkner scholar James B. Meriwether, Ralph Ellison’s 1969 remarks at the United States Military Academy, Moore’s reading of several Kurt Vonnegut articles that appeared in the New York Times, and conversations among United States Military Academy professors and others who were also Vietnam War veterans regarding their perspectives on the war. A more detailed description of the content and context of each tape has been provided by the donor. Note that original cassette titles have, for the most part, been retained.

Newly Revised and Described (11 July 2008)

Harry Lee Harllee Films (#4773)

Harry Lee Harllee was a naturalist, ornithologist, taxidermist, and founder of the Harllee Museum of Natural History in Florence, S.C. In 1927, he founded the Harllee Construction Company, also in Florence, S.C. In 1947, his nephew, Alexander McQueen Quattlebaum (1913-1987) joined the company as a partner, and it was renamed Harllee-Quattlebaum, Inc. The collection consists of 41 reels of silent, black and white, color and tinted 16-mm film, including both home movies and commercially released films. The home movies were shot, edited, and titled by Harry Lee Harllee. Subjects include members of the Harllee, Quattlebaum, Blackwell, and Dargan families; friends; former slaves; hunting and fishing scenes in North Carolina and South Carolina; Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston, S.C.; members of the Woodstone Hunting Club; and trips to Washington, D.C., the Florida Keys, and Elon College, N.C., in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Many of the films are extensively edited and contain numerous intertitles identifying people and places. Some also have identifying information written on paper inserts or on their boxes. The commercially released films are primarily short nature documentaries.

Lawrence Foushee London Papers (#4958)

Papers of Lawrence Foushee London (1908-), a retired Curator of Rare Books at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an active member of Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, N.C., and the Episcopal Church of North Carolina, and an avid family historian. The collection includes personal, church, and family papers documenting London’s relationships with family, friends, and colleagues, and his interest in research and preservation of church history and family history. Correspondence documents family life, including the experiences of his son, Alexander Claypoole London, at boarding school during the 1960s, and later in the Navy Hospital Corps during the Vietnam War; family history and church history research; the response to publication of London’s book on Bishop Joseph B. Cheshire; the experiences of friends serving in the South Pacific during World War II; friendships that grew from common interests in collecting Caruso recordings and bird watching; and the North Caroliniana Society Award that London received in 1991. There is a small amount of material relating to library administration matters. Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina materials document London’s efforts to research and preserve the history of the Diocese and the Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, N.C.). London family papers chiefly consist of 18th- and 19th-century correspondence, indentures, deeds, and other papers of John R. London, Henry Adolphus London, William Lord London, and other family members. Included are deeds transferring ownership of slaves and land, and letters with news of family, business, and political affairs of various family members, chiefly in Chatham County, N.C. Civil War materials include letters from William Lord London regarding camp life and news at home and an 1863 muster roll for the 32nd North Carolina Regiment. Letters of Frank Marsden London to his parents document his art school experience and life in New York. Other materials include miscellaneous writings, a memorial, and genealogical materials.

Matthew Cary Whitaker Papers (#768)

Matthew Cary Whitaker was a physician and planter of Halifax County, N.C. The collection contains family correspondence and other materials, 1728-1870. Included are letters received by Whitaker when he was studying medicine in Baltimore, Md., 1823-1824, and bills, receipts, accounts, and business papers related primarily to plantation operations, including records of slave transactions. Items before 1823 are deeds, accounts, and other papers of the related Fort family, including letters concerning plantations in Lawrence County, Ala. Letters from Fort family members in Alabama to Hilliard Fort of Halifax County, N.C., indicate that Alabama land was more productive than North Carolina land and encourage him to speculate in unclaimed lands in Alabama. Letters to Matthew Whitaker from his brother, Spier Whitaker, and other family members discuss family news, Halifax County political news, opinions of presidential candidates, monetary and other changes made by President Andrew Jackson, and the rising price of grain due to scarcity in Europe. The Addition of 2006 contains correspondence between Whitaker and Fort family members and friends. Topics include family news, Halifax County news, plantation matters, and politics. Included is an 1864 letter from Jefferson Davis to Mrs. Ransom, a Whitaker family friend, discussing the whereabouts of her husband, Major General Robert Ransom Jr. The Addition also contains financial records and receipts including records of slave transactions.