The Wilmington Coup D'état of 1898

The McDonald-Howe Family Papers contains materials pertaining to the Alfred Howe family and the children of his daughter, Rebecca Howe McDonald. The documents in the collection emphasize the distribution of assets from the estate of Alfred Howe to his descendants, as well as their involvement as educators in the Black community in Wilmington. Of note in this collection is a typescript written by Nada McDonald Cotton, granddaughter of Alfred Howe, regarding the experience of her family during the 1898 coup d'état and massacre in Wilmington. Cotton was a young child during the massacre, and her family was the only Black family living in a white neighborhood.

This collection was compiled in 1973 by Michael Glancy, to complete his Multiple Abilities Project research report entitled "The Wilmington Riot of November 10, 1898." The collection includes xerographic, microform, and photocopies of newspaper and periodical articles, letters, memoranda, resolutions, and memoirs of some of the principal participants in the November 10, 1898 racially-motivated coup d'etat of Wilmington, NC.

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.

This collection contains photocopies of issues of the Wilmington Daily Record, The Evening Dispatch, and fragments of the New York Journal around the time of and covering the Wilmington coup in 1898. The Journal makes explicit reference to the "riots" in Wilmington, gives the death toll as sixteen killed, and reprints the text of the Alex Manley editorial from the Record.

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. Included in the collection are 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.

This collection contains materials created by the 1898 Foundation, Inc., formerly the 1898 Centennial Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on commemorating Wilmington’s 1898 coup d’état and massacre, as well as promoting community unity and fostering economic inclusion. Materials pertain to Foundation’s establishment, the programming and activities that reached a crescendo during the 1998 centennial, and the Foundation’s events following the centennial, which culminated in the dedication of 1898 Memorial Park in 2008. Types of materials include correspondence, financial documents, publicity materials, grant applications, photographs, minutes, reports, awards and certificates, digital files, audio and video cassette tapes, publications, and newspaper clippings. Materials date from 1898 to 2009, the bulk of materials dating from 1995 to 2009.

The materials in this collection are from Dr. McLaurin's personal files, and consist of correspondence, research notes, newspaper clippings, photographs, and tapes. The 1898 Commemoration series contains information regarding the centennial commemoration of the 1898 Massacre and Coup. Included in this series are a variety of audio/visual material, autobiography lists, budgets, correspondence, donation receipts, draft reports, essays, funding material, Ku Klux Klan material, maps of Wilmington, meeting minutes, memos, NC Humanities Council grant material, newspaper articles, notes, reports, and UNCW Symposium planning materials.

This collection consists of the accumulated working papers of professor, historian, and author Dr. Walter Conser Jr. from1970 to 2014. The collection is primarily composed 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. Included in the collection are several folders of research on the 1898 Coup.

Contains historical letters, deeds, and documents belonging to the Grainger family of Wilmington, NC, including deeds from Eagle Island and correspondence with American historian John Hope Franklin regarding the 1898 Wilmington race riot.

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.

The Special Collections vertical files are compiled by Special Collections staff on an ongoing basis and contain material such as articles, photocopied documents, maps, ephemera, etc. of various persons, places, organizations, and topical subjects related to UNCW and Southeastern North Carolina history. The vertical file on the 1898 Coup contains reproductions of original documents related to the study of the Coup as well as information on efforts to commemorate it.