Vacationing Amidst the Weight of the Great Depression: The 1933 Chicago World’s Fair

We are pleased to announce the availability of a new collection: the Smith and Andrew Family Papers (#05800), a new collection documenting two white families from Rowland, N.C., Salem, Va., and other locations across the South between the late 1800s and the 1930s. Correspondence and other materials cover subjects such as the American Methodist Episcopal church, medical practices, and courtship during the early twentieth century.

Also of interest is the collection’s documentation of family travel—most notably a trip taken in the backdrop of the Depression’s darkest years. J. McNeill Smith Jr. (1918-2011) traveled with his mother, Roberta Olivia Andrew Smith (1894-1995), to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933. The Fair’s motto of “Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms” was purposefully optimistic in light of the ongoing economic challenges across the country.

J. McNeill Smith Jr.’s guidebook to the fair
A notecard describing the inspired purpose of the institution as it relates to the Technical Ascent of Man and its host of exhibits for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.

Other trips documented in the collection include Minnie Smith’s (sister of J. McNeill Smith Sr.) trip to Europe in 1913, J. McNeill Smith Sr.’s and Roberta’s 1916 honeymoon in New York, and a 1921 trip to Cuba.

The collection finding aid is available online at https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/05800/# and the materials are open for research in Wilson Library.

Items related to the Chicago World’s Fair can be found in boxes 11 (postcards), 13 (letters), 23 (guidebook), and 25 (travel and exhibit ephemera).

Vacationing Amidst the Weight of the Great Depression: The 1933 Chicago World’s Fair

We are pleased to announce the availability of a new collection: the Smith and Andrew Family Papers (#05800), a new collection documenting two white families from Rowland, N.C., Salem, Va., and other locations across the South between the late 1800s and the 1930s. Correspondence and other materials cover subjects such as the American Methodist Episcopal church, medical practices, and courtship during the early twentieth century.

Also of interest is the collection’s documentation of family travel—most notably a trip taken in the backdrop of the Depression’s darkest years. J. McNeill Smith Jr. (1918-2011) traveled with his mother, Roberta Olivia Andrew Smith (1894-1995), to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933. The Fair’s motto of “Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms” was purposefully optimistic in light of the ongoing economic challenges across the country.

J. McNeill Smith Jr.’s guidebook to the fair
A notecard describing the inspired purpose of the institution as it relates to the Technical Ascent of Man and its host of exhibits for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.

Other trips documented in the collection include Minnie Smith’s (sister of J. McNeill Smith Sr.) trip to Europe in 1913, J. McNeill Smith Sr.’s and Roberta’s 1916 honeymoon in New York, and a 1921 trip to Cuba.

The collection finding aid is available online at https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/05800/# and the materials are open for research in Wilson Library.

Items related to the Chicago World’s Fair can be found in boxes 11 (postcards), 13 (letters), 23 (guidebook), and 25 (travel and exhibit ephemera).

A Rare Gateway to an Untouchable Past: Oral Histories of Carrboro Mill Families

Between 1974 and 1978, the Chapel Hill Historical Society conducted interviews with men and women who had lived and worked in and around Chapel Hill and Carrboro during the early twentieth century. One of their first projects, “Generations of Carrboro Mill Families” consisted of 117 interviews with Carrboro residents and textile mill workers. The interviews were in response to the Carrboro Board of Alderman’s decision to tear down the original Carr Mill building. For a rather complicated, and long-winded reason, the Southern Historical Collection holds 40 of the 117 interviews conducted, both the audio cassette tapes and their 30-50 page typed transcripts. Question topics run the gamut, and there was a clear effort on the part of the Chapel Hill Historical Society interviewers to gather information about “everyday life.”

“Textile Mill, Greensboro” in the Bayard Morgan Wootten Photographic Collection #P0011, North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library.
This image of a textile mill in Greensboro, NC shows a carding room ca. 1904-1954, probably similar to the one the interviewees describe from the mills in Carrboro.

Some of this work is captured in Valerie Quinney’s article, “Mill Village Memories” published in Southern Exposure in Fall 1980. Quinney was one of the interviewers from the Chapel Hill Historical Society in the 1970s. She offers a meaningful overview of the oral history collection and provides supportive context. Although she includes direct quotes, there’s value in the raw format of the interview collection that is worth pursuing.

Continue reading “A Rare Gateway to an Untouchable Past: Oral Histories of Carrboro Mill Families”

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 (21 May 2008)

Albert Coates Papers (#3818)

Albert Coates was director of the Institute of Government at the University, 1931-1962, and a professor in the University of North Carolina’s School of Law. The collection includes office and personal files of Albert Coates and his wife, Gladys Hall Coates. Boxes 1-6 contain materials, 1941-1965, relating to North Carolina nonprofit organizations apparently collected by Coates in preparation for a study of these agencies at the local administrative level. Included are annual reports and publications of a variety of social and community organizations, like the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts. Also included are materials about regional organizations arranged by place name, reports of various committees of the North Carolina Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, and information about other North Carolina and national agencies. Miscellaneous items included two original manuscripts by Coates, “The Many Lives of North Carolina Women,” and “Palingenesis: An Example.” Boxes 8-36 chiefly contain office files, many of which relate to Coates’s tenure with the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina.

Edmiston, Kelley, and Flowers Family Papers (#5230)

The Edmiston, Flowers, and Kelley families, primarily of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, are related through the marriages of William Kelley (1844-1897) to Mary Seraphina Flowers Kelley (1844-1937), and their daughter, Olive Kelley Edmiston (1887-1979), to Paul C. Edmiston Sr. (1881-1927). William Kelley was a physician in Tallulah, La., in the 1880s and 1890s. The papers consist primarily of family correspondence and genealogical materials, chiefly from Mississippi and Louisiana, gathered by Edmiston family members. Correspondence chiefly consists of letters between Saraphina Brooks Flowers of Bovina, Miss., and her daughter, Mary Saraphina Flowers Kelley, 1867-1868; letters between William Kelley of Tallulah, La., and his wife, Mary Saraphina Flowers Kelley, 1878-1897; telegrams sent to William Kelley regarding yellow fever cases in Louisiana, 1880s-1890s; and letters between Olive Kelley Edmiston and her mother, Mary Saraphina Flowers Kelley, 1900-1915. Some letters are from girls in school in Mississippi or Louisiana in the mid-19th century and early 20th century; others relate to African Americans in 19th-century Louisiana. Also included is a 1864 letter from Saraphina Brooks Flowers regarding her visit to the Union Army prison in Rock Island, Ill., where her son, a soldier serving with a Mississippi regiment, was a prisoner; an autograph album of William Kelley containing signatures of friends and acquaintances; naval records and other papers of Paul C. Edmiston Jr. serving as a naval radio officer, 1940s-1950s; photographs of various Edmiston and Flowers family members, 1850s-1950s; and a photograph album belonging to Olive Kelley Edmiston, circa 1900-1910, with some images of the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Saint Louis, Mo. Genealogical materials include notes, prepared works, and a compact data disc documenting the lineage of the Edmiston, Kelley, and Flowers families.

John Burgwyn MacRae (#478)

John Burgwyn MacRae of Jackson, Northampton County, N.C., son of Episcopal rector Cameron F. MacRae and Julia Burgwyn MacRae, was a lawyer, owner of a large Roanoke River plantation, and diarist. The collection includes MacRae’s nine-volume daily diary, 1883-1916; letterpress copy books, 1886-1896, of MacRae; speeches by MacRae; and miscellaneous volumes and papers. The diary describes day-to-day life and events in Jackson, including including MacRae’s long-term relationship with a local African-American woman, his fishing expeditions, and his work as a steward in the State Penitentiary in Raleigh, N.C. Among others discussed in the diary are various members of the Burgwyn family and Matt Whitaker Ransom (1826-1904). Also included are letters, 1869-1870, from Kate MacRae to her father Cameron MacRae describing her travels in Europe; class notes from the University of North Carolina, 1886; a baseball club treasurer’s book and constitution, 1883; an account book, 1880-1889, containing accounts for meat, corn, cotton, and other goods; and political speeches and addresses given by MacRae at Confederate reunions and Masonic, Episcopal Church, and other organization meetings.

Miscellaneous Papers (#517)

Single or small groupings of items arranged in units by provenance. Included are tax forms, records of accounts, slave lists and bills of sale, land patents, schedules of debt, wills, marriage licenses, naturalization papers, invitations, proclamations, commissions, sermons, speeches, and reminiscences, predominantly from North Carolina, Virginia, and other southern states. There is little correspondence.

Mordecai Family Papers (#847)

Mordecai family of Warrenton and Raleigh, N.C., and Richmond, Va. Prominent family members included Jacob Mordecai (1762-1838); his sons Samuel (1786-1865), Solomon (1792-1869), and George W. (1801-1871); and his daughters Ellen (1790-1884), Emma (1812-1906), and Rachel Mordecai Lazarus (1788-1838). The collection consists of primarily personal letters (bulk 1810-1850) containing detailed information about family, social, and local events in Richmond and Petersburg, Va.; Raleigh, Warrenton, and Wilmington, N.C.; and Mobile, Ala. Subjects include the Mordecai Female Academy at Warrenton, N.C., 1809-1818; correspondence between Rachel Mordecai Lazarus and novelist Maria Edgeworth; activities in Virginia, North Carolina, and New Orleans during the War of 1812; travels of family members; Judaism; Ellen Mordecai’s writing and publishing; and births, deaths, and domestic activities. Emma Mordecai’s journal, 1864-1865, chronicles the fall of Richmond, Va. The Addition of January 2007 includes personal letters between family members; 1816 letters by Maria Edgeworth and Richard Lovell Edgeworth responding to Rachel Mordecai Lazarus’s letter concerning Edgeworth’s literary treatment of Jews; and reminiscences, song lyrics, and fragments. The Addition of September 2007 includes letters written to and by Mordecai family members, 1865 and 1916-1917, and one poem dated 1945.

Sam Ragan Papers (#4490)

Samuel Talmadge Ragan (1915-1996) was managing and executive editor of the News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), 1948-1969; editor and publisher of The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.), 1969-1996; award-winning poet; writing teacher; and supporter of the arts in North Carolina. Ragan served as the first secretary of the North Carolina Department of Art, Culture, and History from 1972 to 1973. In 1982, he was named Poet Laureate of the state of North Carolina by Governor James B. Hunt. He was also chair of the North Carolina Arts Council, chair of the North Carolina Writers’ Conference, and president of the Friends of Weymouth, which operates the Weymouth Center for Arts and Humanities in Southern Pines. Ragan died at his home in Southern Pines on 11 May 1996. Papers document Sam Ragan’s career as a journalist and his role as patron of the arts in North Carolina. Correspondence files include materials relating to newspaper organizations, the North Carolina Arts Council, North Carolina Writers’ Conference, North Carolina Writers’ Network, and the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities. Subject files include information about the Freedom of Information Act and on the Free Press-Fair Trial confrontation of 1968, along with correspondence from various North Carolina writers. Writings include materials regarding Ragan’s The Tree in the Far Pasture (Blair, 1964), typescripts of commentaries from “Sam Ragan Reports,” which aired on WTVD television in Durham, and drafts of works by other writers. There are also materials relating to Ragan’s tenure at the News and Observer, typescripts of the columns, and letters to the editor used on the editorial page of The Pilot. Financial information chiefly relates to the The Pilot. Also included are photographs of Sam Ragan alone and with others and recordings of North Carolina Writers’ Conference banquet dinners.

David L. Swain Papers (#706)

David L. Swain was governor of North Carolina, president of the University of North Carolina, and a state legislator. The collection includes correspondence relating to Swain’s position as president of the University of North Carolina; his interest in the history of North Carolina in the colonial, Revolutionary War, and early national periods; and his activity as a collector of historical manuscripts. Also included are scattered items on politics and on railroad promotion in North Carolina and South Carolina. The few items of earlier and later dates are miscellaneous and family materials, with little relating to Swain’s active political career. Papers include correspondence with prominent state leaders and men of national importance in the fields of education and history, including William A. Graham, William H. Battle, William H. Haywood, Elisha Mitchell, John Motley Morehead, Thomas Ruffin, William W. Holden, Charles Phillips, and Cornelia Phillips Spencer. The volume, 1855-1868, contains accounts of debts owed to Swain and a list of his slaves. Also included are typed transcriptions of Swain correspondence, 1827-1868, probably prepared by former Southern Historical Collection Curator Carolyn Wallace as part of her research on Swain in the mid-1970s. These are not transcriptions of the original correspondence in these papers, but are likely transcriptions of original Swain materials held in the North Carolina Collection (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and elsewhere.

Alfred M. Waddell Papers (#743)

Alfred M. Waddell was an author, historian, lawyer, Confederate Army officer, United States Representative, 1871-1879, and mayor of Wilmington, N.C., 1898-1905. The collection includes correspondence, writings, scrapbooks, and miscellaneous papers of Alfred M. Waddell. The bulk of the collection, 1875-1900, consists of correspondence with national and state Democratic Party leaders and members of the Cameron family and other prominent North Carolina families, legal correspondence, manuscripts and clippings of writings and speeches of a religious, literary, political, or historical nature, genealogical research into the DeRosset, Waddell, Moore, and Myers families, and correspondence with other writers and historians. There are some papers related to Waddell’s service in the Confederate Army during the Civil War with the 41st North Carolina Infantry Regiment, as well as his activities as mayor of Wilmington, N.C., especially his involvement in the white supremacy campaign and Wilmington Race Riot of 1898. Also included are a few colonial and early nineteenth-century papers of the related DeRosset, Moore, Nash, and Waddell families of Hillsborough, N.C., and Wilmington, N.C. Volumes in the collection include a letterpress copybook, 1886-1894, of Waddell’s law office; a recipe book, 1890, and scrapbooks belonging to Gabrielle (DeRosset) Waddell related to her involvement in the United Daughters of the Confederacy and Colonial Dames; and two notebooks belonging to Hugh Waddell, one containing notes on legal subjects, 1820s, and another containing notes on art, architecture, and classical literature.