Women in Southeast North Carolina

Mary Barnett Gilson was an American Economist. The first three letters in this collection were written by Ronald C. Davidson, a British economist. Both Gilson and Davidson wrote books and articles for technical publications about unemployment relief. These letters reveal the economic theories under consideration at the time of severe unemployment problems in both countries. There is also an envelope with a threppance ha'pney [three and a half pennies] stamp which was hand-stamped in Suffolk, England. Davidson’s letters were sent from England, one in 1929 and two in 1933.

This collection contains photocopies of letters and notes from Joseph Jonathan Davis to his wife Katherine Elizabeth Shaw. Many of the letters in this collection are referenced in T.H. Pearce’s, They Fought: The Story of Franklin County Men in the Years 1861-1865. Davis’s letters to his wife discuss his experience during the Civil War regarding soldiers, living conditions, weather, etc. Many of his letters include requests to his wife for supplies and also provide instructions for her regarding the management of their home.

This collection consists entirely of photocopies of pages from a journal or school exercise book kept by Miss Ellen Douglas Bellamy during the Civil War. Some time later, probably in the 1870s, the journal was used as a scrapbook and printed clippings were pasted over the handwritten text. The collection includes copies of pages both before and after clippings were stripped away.

This collection contains an award certificate presented to Florence Hill Kidder (Mrs. George W. Kidder) of Wilmington, NC for a colonial exhibit during the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 in Chicago, Illinois.

A letter dated October 26, 1910, from Agnes MacRae Parsley to her daughter, Anna Parsley Love, notes the preparations made for moving into town from Masonboro Sound, a summer residence. It illustrates the housekeeping preparation for such a move for a family of comfortable means, and social interaction in an informal manner.

In her four page letter, which appeared to be directed to the local newspaper, the Wilmington Messenger, Mrs. Susan Moore, wife of Roger, took issue with an earlier story in the Elm City Mirror which had claimed that the leader of the "revolution of 1898 in Wilmington" was Colonel Alfred M. Waddell (1834-1912). According to Moore, the leaders were in fact her husband, Colonel Roger Moore and Doctor J. E. Matthews, and that Waddell was not informed of the movement's plans until after his election as Mayor. She credited Colonel Moore with preventing greater violence toward the African American community by refusing to give the order to shoot at a crowd of people and by preventing lynchings at the jail.

In September 1976, Sondra Claudine Langtry had the opportunity to travel for a month in the former Soviet Union, visiting with her father's Russian relatives. This collection contains postcards, travel observations, and personal ephemera from her visit there, as well as to other international destinations, such as Egypt and Finland. Also included is Langtry's thesis on Soviet views of the Middle East.

This collection contains materials pertaining to the life and career of Eloise Bethell, an artist who resided for many years in Wilmington, North Carolina. Included are correspondence, newspaper clippings, programs, publications, and original artwork that document Bethell's involvement in theater and modeling as a young woman, and the development of her career as an artist. Dates primarily span from the 1950s to the 1980s.

This collection consists of letters, cards, invitations, programs, news clippings and full length newspapers, magazines, postcards, notes, and a manuscript. Three albums of photos, political and pageant buttons, letters, and awards are included in these albums. Also included are WWII-era items such as Civil Defense ID cards, Red Cross membership materials, ration books for food and gasoline, V-mail, and information on USO dances.

This collection consists of letters, pictures, articles, and other memorabilia belonging to Dame Catherine C. Carpenter.

This collection contains the personal papers of Wilbur D. Jones, Sr., (1892-1967), a Wilmington banker and World War I veteran, and his wife, Viola Murrell Jones (1903-1973). Materials include newspapers, biographical materials, World War I-era correspondence and memorabilia, reports cards, photographs, scrapbooks, programs, newspaper clippings, printed webpages, and realia, including two purses that belonged to Viola M. Jones. Major subjects include World War I and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, including the female branch of the organization known as the Daughters of Rebekah.

This collection contains the family papers of Willis Wilson (1807-1860) and Amanda Pollock Wilson (1813-1888), white landowners, farmers, and enslavers in Duplin County, North Carolina.

Contains bound volumes of the publication Thalian Hall, an unbound master copy of the publication with images, correspondence, copies of newspaper articles, notes, and a Star-News supplement from 1976; program from the re-opening of Thalian Hall; materials gathered from Isabel William’s travels around the world, including notebooks with typed observations of her experience and original watercolor map illustrations. Includes one publication written by Williams on the bicentennial of the American Revolution and events in Wilmington.

This collection consists of correspondence between Anchram Harris Evans, a Confederate soldier during the Civil War from Brunswick County, NC, and his wife Elizabeth Kelly Evans (she is referred to as either "Bettie" or "Lizzie" in the letters). There are a handful of letters to or from other family members, as well as typed transcripts of the letters by their grandson, Troy Henry, from 1956. The bulk of the correspondence occured in 1864, but letters span the duration of the war from 1861 to 1865.

This collection contains the personal memorabilia of Jean C. and Morris F. Powell, including pharmaceutical advertisements, photographs and a diploma from James Walker Memorial Hospital Nursing School.

This collection contains papers relating to the history of the Rehder family in Wilmington, North Carolina. The collection includes original documents, photocopies of original documents, correspondence, and photographs that detail the lives and lineage of Johann and Johanna Rehder beginning in 1844. Rehder family history is represented through both oral history and visual materials including typescripts, genealogical documents, photographs and scrapbooks.

This collection contains the biographical documents, familiy histories, diaries, works of poetry, genealogical lists, and photographs of the Ashe family of North Carolina. Most of the materials in this collection consist of photocopies or typed transcripts, but it does contain original diaries, letters, and photographs.

This collection features the photography of Patricia O'Meara Robbins and the family research her daughter, Carroll Robbins Jones, compiled with her husband, Wilbur D. Jones, Jr., to write their book about Patricia's life and career--"She 'Shot' Her Way to Success: How China's Empress Dowager Ci Xi Launched a Photographer's Trailblazing Career," published in 2016.

This collection contains the personal files of Zita Reitblatt including postcards, newspaper clippings, handwritten notes, printed articles, along with Rosenwald schools research files. The dates of the papers range from 1964 to 2017. The postcards in the collection document the locations of local places and other countries. The research conducted on the Rosenwald schools highlight the lasting impact of the Rosenwald School Fund in North Carolina. The photographs in the collection are of the Rosenwald Scotts' Hill Browntown School.

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.