BRIEF INVENTORY
Title: E.B. Adamson Papers
Dates: 1930 – 1981
Quantity: 1 box (ca. 500 items)
Types of Material: correspondence, legal documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, printed material
Accession Number: 1991.23.1
Brief Description: E.B. Adamson owned and managed a Cadillac-Oldsmobile dealership in Greensboro for over three decades. He sold the franchise to William H. Black II in 1955 and leased the associated properties to Black until 1966, when Black built his dealership. Adamson and his wife continued to be active in the renamed Adamson Company until its dissolution in 1980. This collection contains both personal papers and items relating to Adamson’s business interests.
Materials involving to the Cadillac-Oldsmobile dealership include: inventories, blueprints and maps of Adamson Cadillac-Olds Company, newspaper clippings about Black taking over the dealership, ledger and sales agreement to sell inventory and parts to Black upon lease, and minutes of the Adamson Corporation (1930-1980). Related legal materials include: correspondence, signed lease contracts, deeds of sale for the land off of Market Street and sale of the company, and other legal documents related to the Adamson Cadillac Company (certificate of incorporation, charter, etc.).
Items in Adamson’s personal papers include: correspondence regarding legislative issues with U.S. Congressional and NC Assembly representatives, wills and related correspondence, passports, newspaper clippings, and other printed materials such as travel brochures and membership club cards. Photographs include childhood pictures, portraits of E.B. Adamson and his wife, images of the couple with friends and family, a girls’ class photograph (unidentified, possibly early 20th century, maybe Mrs. Adamson), a portrait of a naval officer (unidentified), and a photo of a billboard for Black Cadillac-Olds.
Major Names/Subjects: Adamson, Eugene Boyd (d. 1980)
Adamson, Inez Billings (d. 1987)
Adamson Cadillac Company
Automobiles—1930-1980
Automobile dealers—North Carolina—Greensboro
Black II, William Harman (d. 2003)
Black Cadillac-Olds Company
Date Surveyed: 2/15/2012
