Abstract: Church records, including minutes, financial records, bulletins, photographs, and other materials relating to the University Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Collection Highlights: Volume 1 (1854-1889) of the University Baptist Church Meeting Minutes contain several mentions of enslaved and free African Americans. Pages 14 – 17 of the volume list the names of the male and female African American members of the church. There are several mentions of “colored conferences” or religious services specifically for enslaved African Americans. Page 38 contains reference to a baptism for African Americans; page 120 (25 Oct 1862) also records a baptism for enslaved members, including their names.

Particularly significant is an entry made in the Annual Report of 1865, after the end of the Civil War (on page 154). In September, the report notes, the African American members of the church were “allowed” to leave to create their own church. Initially called the Colored Baptist Church, it is now called the First Baptist Church of Chapel Hill.

Abstract: Confederate soldier, of Demopolis, Ala. Chiefly family correspondence, 1850s to 1890s, with some writings and Ulmer, Johnston, and DuBrutz family records. The collection includes letters from Ulmer to his family while he was at school in Green Spring, Ala., and at Oglethorpe College, Talmage, Ga., 1859-1861, and while he was serving with Co. A., 3rd Alabama Cavalry Regiment, C.S.A., in Tennessee, 1861-1865; and postwar letters exchanged between Ulmer, then in Marengo County, Ala., and his mother, Abigail (Cromwell) Ulmer, who was living in Choctaw County, Ala. Also included are manuscript writings by Ulmer about his Civil War experiences, especially at the Battle of Shiloh, and historical sketches by and about South Carolina members of the family dating back to the Revolution.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Abstract: William Bradley Umstead of Durham, N.C., served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina, 1932-1938; as a United States senator, 1946-1948; and as governor of North Carolina, 1952-1954. Correspondence, congressional files, campaign material, and other papers of William Bradley Umstead; papers of his wife, Merle Davis Umstead, originally of Rutherford County, N.C.; and records of Merle Davis Umstead’s family’s stores in Rutherford County. Political material chiefly concerns Umstead’s years in the United States Senate, the period between his service in the Senate and his election as governor, and his 1952 gubernatorial campaign.The addition of February 2002 contains diaries, personal correspondence, financial records, military papers, and other items, most of which relate to Umstead’s military service during World War I.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Collection Highlights: Subseries 2.1.1 (Legislative Files, 1947-1949) contains records related to William Umstead’s opinions on issues such as civil rights.

There is also an audio disk (Audiodisc D-4529/4) of Umstead discussing Civil Rights on 7 May 1948 (33 1/3 rpm).

Abstract: Letters and other papers collected by William E. Uzzell of Atlanta, Ga. Included are the following: five letters, 1857, from David Bisset, Weldon, N.C., and Anderson, S.C., about railroad construction; Chatham County, N.C., legal documents, 1787-1822; letters from [I?] J. Howe, a Confederate soldier from South Carolina, and others about conditions at Camp Guerrin, S.C., and other Confederate and Union camps; letters from prisoners at Point Lookout, Md.; family and financial letters and other items, 1854-1880, of Daniel W. Jordan, a South Carolina planter; letters, 1840-1845, concerning tobacco processing in Lynchburg, Va.; letters, 1872-1901, to J. M. Sykes of Oxford, N.C., about Republican Party activities and other matters; and a diary kept by William Uzzell during the University of North Carolina’s “Transcontinental Student Tour” of 1930.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Collection Highlights: Included in Folders 7-8 (Miscellaneous Letters) is a letter from 22 April 1840 by George Tuthill of Pennsylvania to William Stone of Massachusetts, expressing concern that the election of Benjamin Harrison may jeopardize the abolitionist movement. There is also a letter (14 April 1855) from Samuel Roston in Independence, Missouri, commenting on a pro-slavery election victory in the Kansas Territory.

Repository: Southern Folklife Collection

Collection Highlights: The collection contains many recordings related to African American music and musicians, including:

 Bull City Blues workshop recorded at the North Carolina Folk Festival held at Eno River State Park, Durham, North Carolina, in July 1976. African-American blues and gospel artists include: Arthur Lyons, John Dee Holeman, Odell Thompson, Jim Page, Elizabeth Cotten, and the Golden Echoes. [6 reels, FT1184- FT1189]
Dub of National Public Radio program “Folk Festival U.S.A.” broadcast in February 1980. Program deals with relationship between Cajun and African-American Creole music traditions in Louisiana. Hosted by Noah Adams with Nicholas Spitzer, commentator. [2 reels, FT1201-FT1202]
Recordings of Richard “Big Boy” Henry performing blues with guitar accompaniment, in Studio D of WUNC Radio (1982). [5 reels, FT1389-FT1393]

Recordings of a concert held at the UNC Student Union in 1985. Concert was entitled Black Traditions in Music, Dance, and Verse. Performers include Fris Holloway, Spoons Williams, John Dee Holeman, Groove Phi Groove, MC Power Lords (rapping and mixing), and Street Justice. [5 reels, FT1655-FT1659]
Recordings of a forum on “Black American Folklife” held at the UNC Student Union in March 1985. Featured panelists include Charles Joyner, Holly Mathews, Daryl Dance, and Glenn Hinson. [5 reels, FT1660-FT1664]