Otis N. Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection, circa 1920s-1986

Creator: Pruitt, Otis N. (Otis Noel), 1891-1967.
Shanks, Calvin, 1926-1981.
Collection number: 5463
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Abstract: Otis N. Pruitt and Calvin Shanks photographed life in Columbus, Miss., between the 1920s and 1980s. Pruitt, born in Mississippi in 1891, became interested in photography while photographing his children. He moved to Columbus to work in Henry Hoffmeister’s photography studio, also attending the Illinois School of Photography early in his career. In or around 1920, Pruitt bought Continue reading “Otis N. Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection, circa 1920s-1986”

John Kenyon Chapman Papers, 1969-2009

Creator: Chapman, John Kenyon.
Collection number: 3419
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Abstract: John Kenyon Chapman (1947-2009), known as Yonni, was a life-long social justice activist, organizer, and historian who focused his academic and social efforts on workers rights and African American empowerment in central North Carolina. Chapman was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, in 1947; graduated from Harvard University in 1969; and then moved to Atlanta, Ga., to join the fight for African American equality. He relocated to North Carolina in 1975 and worked as a laboratory technician at the North Carolina Continue reading “John Kenyon Chapman Papers, 1969-2009”

Southern Governors’ Association Records, 1983-2010

Creator: Southern Governors’ Association (U.S.)
Collection number: 5443
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Abstract: The Southern Governors’ Association, formerly the Southeastern Governors’ Conference, is a regional association of state governors that was founded in 1934 to represent the common interests of chief executives of the southern states and to provide a vehicle for promoting those interests. The collection consists of annual meeting transcripts and programs, annual reports, and other related publications. Materials span 1983-2010 and cover such topics as aging, agriculture, banking, business, climate change, diversity and Continue reading “Southern Governors’ Association Records, 1983-2010”

Raymond B. Mallard Papers, 1937-1970s

Creator: Mallard, Raymond B.
Collection number: 5518
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Abstract: Raymond Bowden Mallard was born in Faison, N.C., in 1908. He was an attorney, state legislator, North Carolina Superior Court judge, and first chief judge of the North Carolina State Court of Appeals. Mallard died in 1979 in Tabor City, N.C. The collection documents Raymond B. Mallard’s judicial career and related civic activities. Materials include correspondence; briefs and other legal documents for a variety of cases, most of which probably duplicate the official records that are filed with the North Carolina Court System; writings; court notes; his diary from the Superior Court special terms of 1964; informal notes and annotations on envelopes and other materials; speeches; newspaper clippings; and photographs, including a few relating to the civil rights protests in Chapel Hill, N.C. The bulk of the materials documents Mallard’s judicial career on the North Carolina Superior Court and the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Topics include the establishment and function of the Court of Appeals; the trials stemming from the civil rights demonstrations in Chapel Hill; the North Carolina Civil Rights Advisory Committee’s reports on African American participation in instrumentalities of justice and voting history; judicial responsibility for protection of rights of the defendant in high profile cases; preparation and delivery of jury charges; inherent powers of the courts of North Carolina; the Henderson Cotton Mills trials; conflicts with the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI); inmate requests for parole and Mallard’s opinions on criminal recidivism; his interest in student activism on campus; and the North Carolina Bar Association position on legal aid clinics. The collection also documents Mallard’s early work as an attorney for the town of Tabor City, N.C., and board of trustee matters at Pembroke State College, including the conflict over administrative decisions and planning that purportedly diminished the roles and presence of Native Americans at the school.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Collection Highlights: Folders 186-188, 196, 197 document cases in the Superior Court relating to Civil Rights. Folders 206-233 particularly contain legal documentation, clippings, letters, and other materials related to the Civil Rights protests in Chapel Hill in 1964.

Image Folder PF-5518/1 also contains a number of photographs of the protests from 1964.

William Stevens Powell Material for Iredell and Adjacent Counties, N.C., 1793-1924

Creator: Powell, William Stevens, 1919-, collector.
Collection number: 3300
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Abstract: Papers collected by William S. Powell pertaining to Iredell and adjacent counties of North Carolina. The bulk consists of family correspondence, 1867-1901, and account books of two generations of the Goodman family. Letters are personal correspondence of Tobias Continue reading “William Stevens Powell Material for Iredell and Adjacent Counties, N.C., 1793-1924”

Digby Gordon Seymour Papers, 1893-1902

Creator: Seymour, Digby Gordon, 1855-1927.
Collection number: 5372
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Abstract: Digby Gordon Seymour (1855-1927) was a railroad engineer who lived and worked in the southeastern United States. He was the father of Knoxville, Tenn., lawyer and businessman Charles Milne Seymour (1882-1958), who was the father of Tennessee medical doctor and historian Continue reading “Digby Gordon Seymour Papers, 1893-1902”

Ruth West Ramsey Papers, 1961-1972

Creator: Ramsey, Ruth West.
Collection number: 5502
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Abstract: Ruth West Ramsey worked for the Wayne County (N.C.) Welfare Department in the 1960s and attended graduate school at the University of North Carolina School of Social Work, first for a masters in social work, 1961-1962, and then for a supervisory certificate, 1964-1965. The collection contains letters, graduate school papers, a lecture transcript, and Continue reading “Ruth West Ramsey Papers, 1961-1972”