Carol Humble Family Papers

NOTE:  The numbers cited in parentheses, e.g. 1:5, refer the researcher to the Series#:Folder# in which that name/topic will be found.

INTRODUCTION

This collection consists of miscellaneous materials that belonged to Carol Parcell Humble and members of her mother’s family. Of particular note are items from the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina, Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, and J. Van Lindley Nursery Company. Also included are two books, numerous postcards and multiple pieces of sheet music.

Arrangement: This collection is organized into four series and arranged within series by document type and/or subject. The series are: Miscellaneous, ca. 1953-1960s; Music, 1905-1945; Postcards, ca. 1908-1950s; and Printed Materials, 1918-1950s.

Provenance: This collection was donated by Carol Humble in February 2009 and assigned the accession number 2009.39.1. The donor is the daughter of Margaret Ligon Parcell Vanstory and granddaughter of Allie Gray Ligon.

Processing: This collection was organized and the finding aid was prepared by volunteer Holly Barefoot in February 2021.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Allie Gray Ligon (1882-1959) was born in Clarksville, Virginia, and worked as a weaver at White Oak Mill in Greensboro for 23 years. His eldest daughter, Margaret Ligon Parcell Vanstory (1919-2005), graduated from Rankin High School and King’s Business College, and then worked as a secretary for Proximity Manufacturing Co. before marrying Clarence Parcell in 1941. Their daughter, Carol Parcell Humble, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) in 1967. Margaret’s younger sister, Mable Gray Ligon (1923-2014), graduated from Greensboro Senior High School and King’s Business College, and worked as a secretary for Cone Mills Corporation for 41 years.

Biographical Sources: The sources for this biographical note include the donor, the Guilford County Register of Deeds database, the Greensboro city directories, and Ancestry.com. Additional details were obtained from the obituaries of Allie Gray Ligon (Greensboro Record, June 10, 1959), Margaret Ligon Parcell Vanstory (News & Record, July 9, 2005), and Mabel Gray Ligon (News & Record, May 19, 2014), as well as the 1967 edition of Pine Needles, the UNCG yearbook.

SCOPE & CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of sheet music, postcards, pamphlets, and books. Of particular note is a binder debossed with “Woman’s College” and embossed with the school seal. Also of interest are napkins from Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, a pamphlet describing the layout of the hospital, and a catalogue from J. Van Lindley Nursery Company. Additional materials include a children’s book entitled, The Little Washingtons, miscellaneous pieces of sheet music and numerous postcards, some of which depict Greensboro landmarks.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

1. Miscellaneous.  2 folders (4 items).  ca. 1953-1960s.

This series contains a binder embossed with the logo of the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina. It presumably belonged to Carol Parcell Humble, who graduated from the school in 1967, four years after the name changed to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (1:1). Also included are three napkins likely from the opening of Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital in 1953 (1:2).

2. Music.  2 folders (8 items).  1905-1945.

The sheet music includes arrangements of “A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening” as sung by Frank Sinatra, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the musical Carousel, and “The Trolley Song” as arranged for Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis (2:1). The covers of several of these items contain the stamp of the Greensboro Music Co. The two oldest pieces of sheet music are both titled “Dixie’s Land” (2:1), and a music booklet is entitled, “Treasure Chest of Stephen Foster Songs” (2:2).

3.  Postcards.  5 folders (28 items).  ca. 1908-1950s.

The postcards represent a variety of locations including Danville, Virginia (3:1), Wilmington (3:5), western North Carolina (3:4), and Greensboro (3:2). Included among the Greensboro postcards are images of White Oak Mill, the State Normal College (later Woman’s College and then UNCG), Greensboro Senior High School, and Elm Street.

4.  Printed Material.  5 folders (5 items).  1918-1950s.

The highlights of this series are a pamphlet describing the newly constructed Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital (4:5) and a catalogue from J. Van Lindley Nursery Company that contains images of Greensboro residences landscaped by the nursery (4:3). The publication Cotton: From Raw Material to Finished Product, from the Cotton Textile Institute, may have belonged to Allie Gray Ligon (1944; 4:2), and a teletype pad from Cone Mills Corporation likely came from one of his daughter Mabel. Also included in this series is an illustrated children’s book entitled, The Little Washingtons, which features children re-enacting events in the life of George Washington (1918; 4:4).

FOLDER LISTING