Abstract: The Atlantic Coast Line was based in Wilmington, N.C., and possessed rail that ran through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida. The Atlantic Coast Line later formed part of the CSX Transportation System. The collection contains records, 1900s-1950s, of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Files are divided between President’s Files, which document railroad operations and relations with other companies, and Tax Files, which contain records of federal, state, and local taxes paid by the Atlantic Coast Line. There are also a set of financial journals and a series of files related to the reorganization of the Florida East Coast Railway Company. Addition of 2011 consists of records, 1918-1963, of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company Police Department. Reports document often extensive investigations into crimes such as trespassing and vandalism, especially by juveniles; petty larceny of railroad and personal property; vagrancy and train hopping; public drunkenness; and assault. Reports typically mention age, race, and sex of the suspects, many of whom were African American, and often personal or family information. There are also lost luggage claims, reports of injuries sustained in the rail yard, and personnel records that document relief checks, retirement traditions, job applications, and funerals.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Collection Highlights: The addition of October 2011 contains records of the Atlantic Coastline Railroad Company Police Department, and includes investigative reports and arrest records for juveniles as well as adults. Many of the records involve African American men and women, suspected of crimes as well as victims.

Abstract: Stan Woodward is a southern auteur and documentary filmmaker. The Woodward Studio Limited produces documentaries on southern folk culture through the themes of American foodway and related traditions. In the 1980s, Woodward served as director of the Media Arts Center and the Communication Wing at the Capital Children’s Museum in Washington, D.C., where he got to know animator Chuck Jones. Woodward also worked as filmmaker-in-residence in Georgia, South Carolina, and other locations where he was involved in mentoring independent filmmakers and advising classroom teachers on how to teach students to create Super 8mm films. In the 1990s, Woodward worked on productions of Satellite Distance Learning Broadcasts for various television networks. The R. Stanley Woodward Collection consists of about 1400 items created or collected by Woodward, 1932-2004, including films, moving image materials, production notes, distribution and licensing contracts, and promotional and educational materials related to his films and other work promoting independent filmmaking. Films cover a wide range of topics, including southern food traditions; southern families, storytelling, folklore, and customs; African American dance and folk art; NASA, the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, the Skylab Program, and astronauts; media programs on the novel To Kill a Mockingbird ; educational films; teaching filmmaking to students; the Capital Children’s Museum; the University of South Carolina; serpents; and sharecroppers. Locations include South Carolina; Virginia; Georgia; North Carolina; Kentucky; Washington, D.C.; New York City; and Alabama. Some of the people associated with the films are food critic Craig Claiborne, John A. Burrison, filmmaker Frank Eastes, John Egerton, Harold Hausenfluck, Fred Wolfe, animator Chuck Jones, Richard Pillsbury, and folklorist Saddler Taylor. The moving image materials are in various media formats, including 16mm print film, DVCAM video, U-Matic video, Betacam SP video, Digital Betacam video, MiniDV video, VHS video, and DVDs. Descriptions have been derived from the original container, film, video, or notes.

Repository: Southern Folklife Collection

Collection Highlights: This collection contains materials related to African American dance and folk art. In Series 1, about the tradition of Brunswick Stew in Georgia, Videotape VT-20446/262-267 contains an author’s note about meeting with an African American stewmaster.

Series 2 focuses on Southern Stews and Videotape VT-20446/35-37 depicts the cooking of Frogmore Stew by the African American Faulkenberry family and a neighboring chef in Saint Helena, S.C.

There is also a 1971 film in Subseries 6.1 (Video and Film) entitled Afro-American Dance: Establishing A Cultural Heritage (Film F-20446/17)

Abstract:  Helen Laura Ruth was a teacher at Leland University in New Orleans, La., a private institution of higher learning for African Americans founded in 1870. It closed in 1915; was re-named Leland College and re-opened in Baker, La., in 1923; and finally closed in 1960. The collection includes two scrapbooks of Helen Laura Ruth and a student essay. The 1913 scrapbook contains photographs of Ruth’s family and Leland students, some taken on the Leland University campus, and pictures, postcards, and brochures relating to her travels to Washington, D.C.; around New Orleans; Altlanta, Ga.; and other locations. Most of the scrapbook items have diary-like annotations. The 1940 scrapbook documents travel with friend Jenny Feiser around the western half of the United States, including Los Angeles, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle, Wash. The undated and unascribed essay, “School in the Year 2000,” appears to have been written by a Leland student.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Abstract: Carhart & Roff was a merchant firm based in Macon, Ga., that was founded in 1841. The firm was named for its originators and principal investors, Elijah H. Carhart (1827-1885) and Aaron A. Roff (1815-1880). The collection consists of a letterpress copybook maintained by Carhart & Roff in its business from 13 September 1854 to 27 January 1855. The firm dealt in a wide variety of goods with parties across Georgia. Letters are frequently directed to merchants in Savannah, Ga., with whom Carhart & Roff appear to have numerous dealings; there are also letters to a number of customers with regular accounts. The letters often indicate shipment of goods, receipt of payment, the need for cash remittance, or payment overdue. Topics addressed in the letters include yellow fever in Savannah, the difficult economic environment, and the purchase or sale of whiskey. There are a small number of references to the use of slaves in business dealings. There are also numerous, regular letters addressed to a Mr. F.J. Ogden of Savannah, who was possibly the firm’s purchasing agent there. The letters urge him to send goods quickly and regularly direct him to invest amounts of money on the New York Stock Exchange, with further directions to remit payments to Carhart Brothers and Co., likely the grocery owned by the brothers of Elijah H. Carhart in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Collection Highlights: A letter from 15 November 1854 alerted the Savannah firm of Bingham, Kelly, & Co. of the impending arrival of four slaves. Another letter on 7 December 1854, likely in response to a client’s complaint, apologizes for the quality of the buyer’s liquor upon arrival, but blamed the issue on the slaves responsible for handling and transporting the shipment.

Abstract: Microfilm only. Record kept by James P. Postell of Kelvin Grove Plantation, St. Simons Island, Ga., including lists of slaves and stock, diagrams of the plantation, and notations, 1853-1854, of daily work in growing cotton, corn, and potatoes.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Repository: Southern Folklife Collection

Collection Highlights: Commercial recordings of Slim Bryant and his Wildcats, playing traditional fiddle tunes, polkas, and hillbilly standards at KDKA in Pittsburgh in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. There are also commercial recordings of the Golden Gate Quartet performing a dozen gospel songs. [3 sound recordings, FT2651- 2653]

Repository: Southern Folklife Collection

Abstract: Edward C. Anderson (1815-1883) of Savannah, Ga., was a United States Navy officer, planter, Confederate Army officer, mayor of Savannah, insurance company representative, and railroad director. He was married to Sarah McQueen Williamson (1816-1884). Family letters and volumes of Edward C. Anderson and Sarah McQueen Williamson Anderson of Savannah, Ga. Most of the letters, 1837-1882, are to Sarah Anderson from female friends and relatives, and her husband. Topics include social life in various northern and southern cities, family news, and wartime conditions in Savannah and in Charleston, S.C. Eight volumes of notes and diaries of Anderson record his experiences as a United States naval officer, 1835-1839 and 1842-1846, serving in the Mediterranean, in Florida coastal waters, and with the United States Coast Survey; as a Confederate Army officer traveling to England, 1861-1864, trying to purchase military supplies there, and later serving with the Savannah River defenses; and as a resident of Savannah, 1869-1875 and 1877-1882, active as mayor, insurance agent, and director of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad Company and the Central Railroad and Canal Company of Georgia. Anderson’s interests in family, social, economic, racial, and civic affairs during Reconstruction and later are also represented. Other materials include the minutes, 1813-1868, of the Chatham Academy of Savannah and miscellaneous plantation and slave records.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Collection Highlights: This collections contains materials that have been digitized and are available online. Click here to link to the finding aid for this collection and to access the digitized content.

Correspondence covers various topics including black Union soldiers (1863) and African Americans living in Savannah (1868). Manuscript volumes include slave papers which document slave births and deaths (1817-1866) and blankets and shoes distributed to slaves (1853-1866). Anderson’s diary mentions conferences to establish an African-American hospital (1870), a riot connected with segregation on street cars, African-American education in Savannah, and national race relations (1872). Microfilm available.

Abstract: Miscellaneous items including slave bills of sale, 1853-1858, involving Thomas Threewits of Columbus, Ga., as buyer or seller.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Abstract: Papers of Joseph Clay, mainly 1860-1865, including Confederate passes, circulars, military orders, tax returns, army engineers’ records of slaves impressed to work on Savannah defenses, bills, and receipts; and property papers from Chatham, Bryan, and Thomas counties, Ga.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Collection Highlights: Papers include a record of slaves impressed to work on Savannah defenses (1864).