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”

Bedford Brown Papers, 1779-1906.

Creator: Brown, Bedford, 1795-1870.
Collection number: 92-z
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Abstract: Bedford Brown was a state legislator and United States senator from Caswell County, N.C. The collection includes scattered papers of the family of Bedford Brown and of his son, Livingston Brown, whose wife was a daughter of John Bullock Clark (1802-1885), United States and Confederate congressman of Fayette, Mo. Papers include Brown and Clark family letters, beginning in 1836; political correspondence of Bedford Brown only in 1860, and of Livingston Brown, 1866-1876; and Caswell County deeds and miscellaneous papers.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Collection Highlights: Folder 3 contains a 12 May 1860 letter from an enslaved man in Arkansas (name unknown) to his Uncle Ned on another plantation. There is also a bill of sale dated 31 August 1863 for an enslaved woman named Lucy.

Chang and Eng Bunker Papers, 1832-1874, 1933-1967, 1998

Creator: Bunker, Chang, 1811-1874. Bunker, Eng, 1811-1874.
Collection number: 3761
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Abstract: Chang and Eng Bunker, the original Siamese twins, married sisters Sarah and Adelaide Yates in 1843 and established homes and families in Wilkes County and later Surry County, N.C. The collection includes correspondence, bills, and receipts, including slave bills Continue reading “Chang and Eng Bunker Papers, 1832-1874, 1933-1967, 1998”

Harriet Jacobs Family Papers Project Records, 1890s-2005 (bulk 1989-2005)

Collection number: 5464
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Abstract: Harriet Jacobs was an escaped slave and abolitionist who wrote about her experiences in her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861). Jean Fagan Yellin, head of the Harriet Jacobs Family Papers Project, is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Continue reading “Harriet Jacobs Family Papers Project Records, 1890s-2005 (bulk 1989-2005)”

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”