Creator: Pope family.
Collection number: 5085
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Abstract: Pope family of North Carolina, including Jonas Elias Pope of Northampton County, a man of color who was free before the Civil War; his son, M.T. Pope, who was born in Northampton County and later lived in Henderson, Charlotte, and Raleigh; M.T. Pope’s wife, Delia H. Pope of Raleigh; and their daughters, Evelyn Bennett Pope and Ruth Permelia Pope.M.T. Pope graduated in the first class of the Leonard Medical School of Shaw University; served in the Third Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers in the Spanish-American War; and practiced medicine and owned businesses and real estate in Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C. In the early 1900s, he was one of seven men of color registered to vote in Raleigh; in 1919, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor.Delia H. Pope taught school and was trained in the Madame C.J. Walker method of scientific hairdressing; Evelyn Bennett Pope was a professor of library science at North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University); and Ruth Permelia Pope was a teacher of home economics in Chapel Hill, N.C. Correspondence, financial and legal papers, educational records, and other papers of the Pope family. Included are letters written during M.T. Pope’s Spanish-American War service; letters of recommendation, 1892-1899, 1910, and 1914, for M.T. Pope from lawyers, bankers, and college administrators; letters in the 1920s, mostly relating to land in Northampton County; and letters about insurance, real estate, and other financial matters.Financial and legal papers relate to Jonas Elias Pope’s land and taxes in Northampton County, N.C. Also included are his certificate of freedom, 1851, and a copy of his will. A few items relate to businesses M.T. Pope helped start or partially owned. Many papers relate to Raleigh property and real estate; income taxes; insurance; stock; bank accounts; utility payments; and hospital bills.Other papers include educational records, biographical information, diplomas and certificates, clippings, notebooks, autograph books, and other materials. There are also scattered publications of First Baptist Church in Raleigh, the National Medical Association, and the People’s Benevolent and Relief Association.
Repository: Southern Historical Collection
Collection Highlights: The collection includes correspondence, financial and legal papers, educational records, and other papers of the Pope family, an African American family of North Carolina.
Included are letters written during Pope’s service in the Third Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers during the Spanish-American War (Folders 1 and 2).
The collection includes Jonas Elias Pope’s certificate of freedom from 1851. Also included is a copy of Jonas Elias Pope’s will (Folder 16).
Other papers include educational records, biographical information, diplomas and certificates, clippings, notebooks, autograph books, and other materials of Pope family members. There is a business card for Delia Pope scientific hairdresser trained in the Madame C. J. Walker method, as well as other materials relating to her life (Folders 48-50).