LibGuides: The Wilmington Ten of 1971: Manuscript Collections

Manuscript Collections

Manuscript Collections Held at UNCW
External Primary Source Collections

MS 031 Alton A. Lennon Congressional Papers
This collection contains the papers of Congressman Alton Lennon during his tenure as U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 7th congressional district from 1957-1972. Included in the collection is correspondence, reports, and other documents related to legislation, district affairs, and politics during the time. Also included are three large scrapbooks documenting news coverage from Congressman Lennon's career and campaigns.
MS 046 Dr. Hubert A Eaton, Sr. Papers
This extensive collection includes the original materials and photocopies of the legal actions instituted by Dr. Eaton and his fellow plaintiffs to compel the integration of the fundamental institutions of New Hanover County--the public schools and the hospital--in the 1960s and 1970s. Moreover, the collection also reflects the broad spectrum of Dr. Eaton's interests and activities which included medical and public health issues, education, civil rights and athletics.
MS 108 Wilmington Movement 1971
This collection contains sixteen original articles from the Wilmington Morning Star and its joint Sunday edition with the Wilmington News, the Star-News (all now merged into the Wilmington Star-News), and two from Raleigh's The News and Observer, chronicling the events leading to and during the racial unrest centering around the integration of the local high schools in Wilmington, NC.
MS 153 B. D. Schwartz Scrapbooks
The collection consists of twenty scrapbook albums containing letters, documents, news articles, awards, photos, advertisements, and brochures spanning sixty-seven years. Schwartz held many local and state offices in North Carolina, including Wilmington City Councilman, the Mayor of Wilmington, State Representative, and State Senator. As mayor, Schwartz served during a time of civil unrest surrounding the Wilmington Ten and established a chapter of the Human Relations Commission in the city to ease tensions. In the General Assembly, Schwartz enacted several bills to prevent discrimination and help protect the environment.
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He was involved in all facets of life in New Hanover County, donating his time to numerous philanthropic, educational, and religious organizations. Schwartz served as a trustee for UNC Wilmington and created the Sylvia and B.D. Schwartz Graduate Fellowship. Schwartz Hall, a dormitory on UNCW's campus, is named in his honor.
MS 161 Dr. James J. Megivern Collection
This collection contains papers and publications of Dr. James J. Megivern, with emphasis on the religious nature of his work.
MS 167 Dr. Heyward C. Bellamy Collection
The Dr. Heyward C. Bellamy Collection contains court documents and supporting exhibit materials outlining the school integration law suit, Carolyn Eaton, et al v New Hanover County Board of Education. In addition to the original Eaton case, this collection contains documents related to the restraining order the New Hanover County School Board filed against individuals who would later be implicated in the 1971 riots as part of the Wilmington Ten. This case is titled, Carolyn Eaton, et al v New Hanover County Board of Education v Ben Chavis, et al.
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The majority of materials in the collection originated from or were sent to Attorney William Hill, who defended the New Hanover County Board of Education during the integration law suit. These documents were part of Hill's personal files and the newspapers were addressed to him as a personal subscription. The newspapers and clippings detail the Eaton trial, school integration progress, racial unrest in Wilmington during 1971, and the Wilmington Ten court case. In addition, there are materials relating to three other court case in which Hill was involved, including:

Delilah Banks v. William Register and the Bladen County Board of Social Services. Blanks accused the Board of racial descrimination in the process of voting in a new Chairman of the Board. William Hill represented the Bladen County Board of Social Services.

Harris Moore v Wilbur Lee Best and John Randy Winecoff, Wilmington Police Officers. Moore accused Best and Winecoff of using excessive force during his arrest due to racial discrimination. Hill represented the police officers during this trial.

John Rozier Bullard v Kenneth L. Smith and Dale Ward. Smith and Ward were Officers with the Columbus County Rural Police Department. Bullard sued the two men for damages after they allegedly inflicted serious injury in the process of arresting Bullard. William Hill represented the two police officers in this case.

An addition was later added to the collection, which includes newspaper articles and correspondence about George Wallace Cameron, Bellamy's grandfather-in-law. Cameron was known as a "Red Shirt" during the 1898 Massacre and Polling Place Riots in Wilmington. He was a prominent printer and publisher in Wilmington and was a leader of union activity for many years.
MS 271 Dr. William H. Wagoner Collection
Dr. William H. Wagoner served as the Superintendent of the New Hanover county school system from 1961-1968, as the fourth President of Wilmington College from 1968-1969 and as the first Chancellor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington from 1969-1990. This collection contains correspondence, publications, newspaper clippings, agendas, photographs, maps and ephemera related to the careers of Dr. Wagoner in Wilmington as well as his personal life.
MS 332 Dr. Walter H. Conser Jr. Papers
This collection consists of the accumulated working papers of professor, historian, and author Dr. Walter Conser Jr. between 1970 and 2014. The collection is comprised primarily of research materials, in English and German, including articles, magazines, newspapers, books in whole or part, and associated notes; also included are publishing documents, personal and professional corresondence, newsletters, serials, memorablia, personal papers, and materials documenting Dr. Walter Conser Jr.'s participation in professional and academic panels, conferences, and events. The collection also contains various correspondence, academic and professional papers of scholars Sumner B. Twiss, William G. McLoughlin, and Gene Sharp. Additionally donated were over 100 books, primarily regarding nonviolence, and 13 phonograph records from the 1960s and 70s.
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These materials are especially useful to persons studying issues relating to Native Americans, nonviolent action, civilian-based defense, Western religious history and specifically religious history of the American Southeast.
MS 390 Bertha Boykin Todd Papers
This collection contains the papers of Bertha Boykin Todd, a long-time New Hanover County educator and community leader. Content focuses on her work with the 1898 Centennial Foundation, biographical information and research for her memoir, "My Restless Journey," speeches and notes for events at which she spoke, recordings of her media appearances, and articles and correspondence related to her community engagement and work with the New Hanover County School system, highlighting her time as the librarian at Williston High School and as an administrator at Hoggard High School. Additional material speaks specifically to local school desegregation, the succeeding school riots, the Wilmington 10 incident, and Bertha's involvement in dampening racial tensions at the time. Also of note are items related to her many awards and accolades at the local and state level, as well as broad newspaper coverage of her work in the community and schools.
Special Collections Vertical Files
The Special Collections vertical files are compiled by Special Collections staff on an ongoing basis and contain material such as articles, photocopied documents, maps, emphemera, etc. of various persons, places, organizations, and topical subjects related to UNCW and Southeastern North Carolina history.

Wilmington 10 Collection - Digital (Elon)
Wilmington Ten materials from the office of Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ in Burlington, North Carolina. The Wilmington Ten were nine young men and a woman, who were wrongfully convicted in 1971 in Wilmington, North Carolina of arson and conspiracy. Most were sentenced to 29 years in prison, and all ten served nearly a decade in jail before an appeal won their release.
North Carolina State Archives - Discover Online Catalog (DOC)
Welcome to the Discover Online Catalog (DOC). This website allows researchers to search the public holdings of the State Archives of North Carolina, Outer Banks History Center, and Western Regional Archives in order to identify materials for research and to request copies. For Wilmington Ten material, search for "Justice/Attorney General Record Group," which is Record ID 23, then for child records '23.16 Education and Corrections Section: Wilmington Ten Correspondence and Miscellaneous Records File,' and '23.34 Education and Corrections Section: Wilmington Ten Case File.'
Judge George M. Fountain's Wilmington Ten Case File, 1971-1978 (NC State Archives)
The collection includes materials related to the case of State of North Carolina vs. Benjamin F. Chavis et al, dating 1971-1978, such as briefs, transcripts, petitions, judgments, notes and related legal materials created or received by Judge Fountain in discharging his duty to hear the defendants' request for a retrial of the Wilmington Ten case. Additionally, the collection includes a small quantity of materials, chiefly photocopies, related to the case.
Office of General Counsel, Legal Counsel: Files of Jack Cozort, 1977-1984 (NC State Archives)
Correspondence, reports, memos, studies, and legal briefs relating to a wide array of topics, as handled by the Office of the Legal Counsel. Highlighted topics include the Wilmington Ten, Velma Barfield, UNC vs. HEW, Dixon vs. Heckler, and U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Administration, and a state lawsuit against a re-insurance facility.
Transcripts in the Case State of North Carolina v. Benjamin Franklin Chavis, Marvin Patrick, Connie Tyndall, et. al (also known as the "The Wilmington Ten Case")
These records consist of complete copies of the transcript of Probable Cause Hearing and Jury Selection; and State Trial Transcript of Testimony in The Wilmington Ten Case.
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)
The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) offers a single point of access to millions of items—photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more—from libraries, archives, and museums around the United States. Search for the "Wilmington Ten" to find relevant sources related to this subject.
Southern Oral History Program
This collection, housed in the Southern Historical Collection of the UNC Center for the Study of the American South, contains more than 5,000 oral histories. The Southern Oral History Program Interview Database provides detailed descriptions of the interviews in the Southern Oral History Program Collection. Digital transcripts and audio for many interviews are available through this database created and maintained by the University Library at UNC Chapel Hill. An interview with Benjamin Chavis, one of the Wilmington Ten, can be found in the "U.1. Long Civil Rights Movement: Individual Biographies" series. Four additional interviews of those with contemporary experiences around the event can be found in the "B.2.2. Individual Biographies: Special Focus: Racial Violence in Wilmington, N.C." series.