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

The C.C. Fordham Family Papers contain a variety of materials relating to Fordham Drug Store at 514 South Elm Street and the Fordham family. The collection consists primarily of correspondence, financial and legal papers pertaining to downtown property bought and sold by the Fordham family, and newspaper clippings about the drug store and some family members. Also included are several photographs of the drug store and C.C. Fordham Jr. Researchers interested in Fordham Drug Store, the Fordham family, or downtown Greensboro businesses may find this collection useful.

Arrangement: This collection is organized into six series by document type and arranged within series by subject and/or document type. The series are: Correspondence, 1927-1994; Financial, 1909-1967; Legal, 1920-1967; Miscellaneous, 1957; Photographs, 1912-2008; and Printed Materials, 1897-1998.

Provenance: This collection was donated by C.C. Fordham III’s eldest daughter, Pamela Fordham Richey, on behalf of herself and her sisters, Susan Fordham Crowell and Betsy Fordham Templeton. It was received in April 2018 and assigned the accession number 2018.9.1.

Processing: This collection was organized and the finding aid was prepared by intern Meredith Groce in June 2018.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The Fordham family was involved in both civic and business ventures in Greensboro, primarily through their ownership and operation of Fordham Drug Store (1898-2002) at 514 South Elm Street. The building was constructed around 1895 in the Italianate style with a large sculpture of a mortar and pestle at the top of its façade to indicate the location of a pharmacy. The drug store was known for its ornate, Mexican marble soda counter installed in 1909; shortly after the store closed in 2002, the counter was moved to Lane Drug Store at 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.

Christopher Columbus Fordham Sr. (1869-1938) was born in Comfort, North Carolina, and joined the North Carolina Pharmaceutical Association in 1897. He opened Fordham Drug Store in Greensboro on July 21, 1898, and presided as head pharmacist until his death in 1938. He and his wife, Maggie Barnes (1871-1961) of New Bern, North Carolina, had four sons: Christopher Columbus Jr., Jefferson, Woodrow, and Ed.

Christopher Columbus Fordham Jr. (1903-1969) was born in Greensboro and graduated from Greensboro High School, where he was a notably talented football and baseball player. He went on to play football at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was on the national championship winning team of 1922. In 1927, he joined his father as a pharmacist at Fordham Drug Store, where he mixed medications and worked behind the soda counter serving drinks and ice cream. Upon his father’s death in 1938, he took over the business. He was appointed to the North Carolina Board of Health in 1939 and also served as chairman of the Guilford County Board of Health, chairman of the N.C. Veterans Commission, director of the Bank of Greensboro, president of the N.C. Pharmaceutical Association, and president of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. Along with other members of his family, he was active at West Market Street United Methodist Church. He married Frances Clendenin (1903-1988), who eventually did the bookkeeping for the drug store, and the couple had two sons: Christopher Columbus III (1926-2008) and Henry Clendenin (1929-1958). The family owned a farm on Rock Creek Dairy Road, as well as several other properties throughout Greensboro. C.C. Fordham Jr. died of a heart attack while delivering a prescription on May 2, 1969.

Jefferson Barnes Fordham (1905-1994), a younger brother of C.C. Fordham Jr., graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his law degree from Yale University in 1930. He subsequently worked in both government service and private practice in Washington, D.C., and then served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy during World War II. After the war, he went on to hold law professorships at Louisiana State University, Vanderbilt University, and Ohio State University. In 1952, he joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. As dean of the law school, he testified at Congressional hearings in which he advocated for individual rights, racial equality, and fair housing, three causes on which his law career focused in both private and public practice. In 1972, he joined the faculty of the University of Utah at Salt Lake City Law School, where he remained until his death.

Christopher Columbus Fordham III (1926-2008) was born in Greensboro to Frances Clendenin and Christopher Columbus Fordham Jr. As a teenager, he worked at Fordham Drug Store as a soda jerk. He received his Certificate of Medicine from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1949 without completing his undergraduate degree, and earned his medical degree from Harvard in 1951. After practicing medicine in Greensboro until 1958, he joined the UNC Chapel Hill medical school faculty. He left to become Dean of the Medical College of Georgia in 1969, but returned to UNC Chapel Hill as Dean of the School of Medicine from 1971 to 1979. As chancellor of the university from 1980 to 1988, he instituted programs that brought awareness to the need for public education in North Carolina. He and his wife, Barbara Byrd (1927-2018), had three daughters: Pamela, Susan, and Betsy.

Biographical Sources: The sources used to compile this biographical note include materials in the collection (especially newspaper clippings), Ancestry.com, the Guilford County Register of Deeds database, and the obituary of C.C. Fordham Sr. (Greensboro Daily News, July 4, 1938). Additional information about C.C. Fordham III was obtained from “Former Chancellor Chris Fordham ’47 Dies at 81” in the Carolina Alumni Review, “Christopher Columbus Fordham, III and Fordham Hall” in The Carolina Review: A Virtual Museum of University History, and his obituary (The Carrboro Citizen, August 21, 2008). Further details about the building at 514 South Elm Street that housed Fordham Drug Store were found through the Guilford County GIS Data Viewer and the walking tour on the Greensboro Public Library website.

SCOPE & CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of correspondence, financial and legal documents, photographs, and a variety of printed materials pertaining to the Fordham family and their impact on local, regional, and national communities through their professional and civic activities. The majority of the collection relates to Fordham Drug Store from 1920 to 1969. The materials that make up most of the collection include letters from local businesspeople, financial and legal records of property transactions, and newspaper clippings about the drug store and family members. Researchers interested in Fordham Drug Store, Greensboro businesses, or the impact of certain members of the Fordham family may find this collection useful. In addition, researchers studying the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or the University of Pennsylvania Law School may find this collection useful because it includes documents from these schools spanning multiple generations of the Fordham family.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

1. Correspondence.  10 folders (15 items).  1927-1994.

This series consists of both business and personal correspondence received by various members of the Fordham family. The first folder contains condolences sent to the family from law schools around the country upon the death of Jefferson Fordham (1:1). Also included is the manuscript of the eulogy given by Jefferson’s colleague Jim Hollbrook at his memorial service at the University of Utah College of Law.

The professional accomplishments of C.C. Fordham Jr. are highlighted in a letter from North Carolina Governor Clyde R. Hoey appointing Fordham to the State Board of Health in 1939 (1:8). Also included is a certificate announcing this appointment signed by the governor. A personal remembrance of C.C. Fordham Sr. is noted in a letter to his grandson, C.C. Fordham III, from Banks D. Kerr (1:3). Kerr attaches an excerpt of the January 1936 issue of The Carolina Journal of Pharmacy that praises Fordham Sr. for his easygoing manner and remarkable kindness towards his close friends and customers.

Other items in this series include property appraisals for tracts of land on Greene, Elm, Market, and other streets in downtown Greensboro (1:2,4,10); these appraisals do not appear to concern properties owned by the Fordham family but rather adjacent to their properties. Of interest are the deeds to similar plots belonging to the Fordham family (1:7,9) for residences and farmland.

2. Financial.  4 folders (14 items).  1909-1967.

The financial documents mainly pertain to the sale and acquisition of property. One item records that C.C. Fordham Sr. sold a portion of his farm in northeast Guilford County in 1927 to acquire commercial property on Greene Street (2:3). Other documents show that this Greene Street property continued to be appraised by his son, C.C. Fordham Jr., over the following decades (2:1). The most interesting materials in this series are the 1909 order forms for the marble counter and iceless fountain for Fordham Drug Store (2:4). The counter and fountain became well-known features of the store that were recognized in statewide publications, including the June 2016 issue of Our State magazine. This article claims that the counter was the first to serve Coca-Cola drinks in Greensboro. Researchers may find the order forms useful because they show how the counter was conceptualized. Miscellaneous items in this series that do not appear to pertain to the Fordham family include loans noted to J.B. Stroud and Boyd T. Toben (2:2).

3. Legal.  5 folders (23 items).  1920-1967.

This series is primarily comprised of deeds to land purchased on Elm and Greene streets by both C.C. Fordham Sr. and C.C. Fordham Jr. One such deed—between C.C. Fordham Sr. and J.T. Plot in 1922—includes a contract that lays out the conditions for a wall to separate the commercial properties of both men on South Elm Street (3:3). The last folder in the series contains several contracts finalizing the sale of multiple properties in downtown Greensboro to C.C. Fordham Jr. (3:5).

4. Miscellaneous.  1 folder (1 item).  1957.

This pastel portrait of C.C. Fordham Jr. was painted by artist D. Williams in 1957. Fordham is shown wearing a dark suit and tie.

5. Photographs.  1 folder (6 items).  1912-2008.

The photographs show Fordham Drug Store primarily during the time C.C. Fordham Jr. ran the business. Of particular interest is a photo of C.C. Fordham Jr. mixing what appears to be a soda behind the store’s well-known marble counter in 1969. Another photo shows C.C. Fordham Jr. at the counter in the back of the store where he mixed medicines and prescriptions. Also of note are an undated exterior of Fordham Drug Store from across South Elm Street, and a 1912 interior that shows a portion of the marble counter, the shelves and goods on the store’s walls, and three unidentified employees.

6. Printed Materials.  6 folders (38 items).  1897-1998.

The printed materials consist of certificates, school yearbooks, newspaper clippings, and published writings pertaining to the Fordham family and the many institutions with which they were affiliated. Included are C.C. Fordham Sr.’s 1897 membership certificate for the North Carolina Pharmaceutical Association and the 1953 Distinguished Service Award presented by the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce to Fordham Drug Store (6:1). The latter is signed by the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce for that year—C.C. Fordham Jr.

Materials relating to Greensboro High School include C.C. Fordham III’s 1943 high school diploma and the directory given out at his 50th high school reunion in 1993 (6:2). The 1921 Greensboro High School yearbook, titled The Reflector (6:2), represents the year that C.C. Fordham Jr. graduated; it mentions that he excelled on the football and baseball teams, and was president of the Athletic Association.

The newspaper clippings are separated into folders for Fordham Drug Store and the Fordham family. Coverage of the store includes a 1969 article entitled “Nostalgia Presides at Fordham’s” that shows how the store maintained historical elements, and contains images of objects in the store at the time. Another story published in 1995 highlights the store’s history of friendliness and excellent service over 97 years (6:3). Newspaper coverage of the Fordham family goes beyond the drug store, with clippings encompassing the appointments of family members to select positions within their respective fields, obituaries, and personal profiles. Multiple articles announce the sudden death of C.C. Fordham Jr. in May 1969. Other clippings highlight the appointments of Jefferson Fordham as dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and C.C. Fordham III as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (6:4).

Miscellaneous documents included in this series are a placard about the history of the Fordham surname and a pictorial history of the football program at the University of North Carolina, which mentions C.C. Fordham Jr.’s involvement on the team in the 1920s (6:5). Also featured in this folder is a collection of poems by Charlie Sharpe, who worked at Fordham Drug Store from 1960 to 1991 (6:5); several of the poems are reflections and memories from his time at the store. Finally, the series contains the manuscript of a letter titled “Equality in American Constitutional Perspective” written by Jefferson Fordham and featured as the headlining piece of the December 1968 edition of the Philadelphia Sunday Bulletin (6:6). This letter reveals Fordham’s thoughts on the political inequalities of the time, which he claims are contradictory to the laws laid out in the Constitution.

FOLDER LISTING

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

Mattye and William Reed were influential African American members of the Greensboro community. Mattye is best known for her contributions to NC A&T State University’s African Heritage Center and William for being Dean of the School of Agriculture at the university. This collection consists primarily of printed materials and artwork. Highlights include two screen prints by Greensboro artists Eva Hamlin Miller and Alma Adams, and a broadside and LP relating to vocalist Margaret Tynes. Also of note are three photographs of graduating classes at Immanuel Lutheran College and a program for “The Unveiling of the February One Monument” at A&T. William Reed’s career is represented through his report entitled “Reconnaissance soil survey of Liberia” and materials relating to the 1955 U.S.-Soviet Agricultural Exchange. Researchers interested in Greensboro’s African American cultural heritage, A&T faculty or the Mattye Reed African Heritage Center may find this collection useful.

Arrangement: This collection is organized into six series and arranged within series by document type and/or subject. The series are: Audiovisual, 1962-2011; Art, ca. 1950s-1990s; Correspondence, 1987-1994; Miscellaneous, ca. 1920s; Photographs, ca. 1930s-1960s; and Printed Material, 1951-2015.

Provenance: This collection was donated by Bernetiae Reed in 2017 and assigned the accession number 2017.44.1.

Processing: This collection was organized and the finding aid was prepared by intern Ava Freyaldenhoven in July 2020.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

William E. Reed (1914-2006) was born in Colombia, Louisiana, and studied agricultural science at Southern University in Baton Rouge. Mattye Marie Scott (1918-2003) was born in Plaquemine, Louisiana, and earned a nursing license from Emory University as well as a B.S. in health and physical education from the Tuskegee Institute in 1957. William earned his masters from Iowa State University in 1940 before returning to Southern University to teach. Around this time, Mattye also briefly taught at Southern University. In 1942, she became the first nurse of color with the Louisiana State Board of Health in East Baton Rouge Parish. This same year Mattye and William married, a union that would last 61 years.

In 1946, William had completed his PhD in soil chemistry from Cornell and was working at Southern University when the State Department asked him to join a mission to survey the economic prospects of Liberia. This mission stemmed from a $20 million loan given to Liberia by the United States under President Roosevelt to build a port. After it ended in 1949, the Reeds relocated to Greensboro, where William became the Dean of the School of Agriculture at A&T University while Mattye was employed as a nurse. Mattye worked at the Greensboro polio hospital and taught at Dudley High School, implementing a two year vocational nursing program. In 1955, William was part of the U.S.-Soviet Agricultural Exchange, a 12-man delegation sent to Russia for five weeks.

William spent 1957-59 with the International Development Service in Ghana, where his work in soil conservation helped build dams and improve grazing and crop production. Another program in which he was involved vaccinated livestock to deter the spread of diseases. In 1959, Mattye became one of the first nurses of color at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro. Two years later, the couple moved to Nigeria, where William worked as the assistant Agency for International Development (AID) mission director until 1968. During this time, Mattye worked as a part-time embassy nurse and a volunteer in public health. After this mission, William worked as the Deputy AID Director in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, until 1972. The next year, the Reeds returned to Greensboro and William became the AID Officer in Residence at A&T for the U.S. Agency for International Development. From 1978 until his retirement in 1986, William worked as A&T’s Director of International Programs and Associate Dean for Research.

After a 30 year nursing career, Mattye became involved in A&T’s African Heritage Center when it opened in 1968. She donated many African and Caribbean artifacts from her travels and was passionate in encouraging others to donate their African art to the university. She became the center’s director in 1973 and retired in 1988. Her legacy is a museum that is named in her honor and holds over 6,000 artifacts from around 35 countries. In 1997, William was inducted into the A&T School of Agriculture Hall of Fame. Mattye and William Reed were active members at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Greensboro and are survived by their three daughters Edwarda, Carol, and Bernetiae. Bernetiae Reed created the Sylvester Brown family newsletters, DVDs and books on Thomas Jefferson’s slaves found in this collection.

Biographical Sources: The sources for this biographical note include Mattye and William’s obituaries (News & Record, December 14, 2003 and April 15, 2006), a 1992 oral history interview with William Reed by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project (Reed, William E.toc.pdf), an article published after Mattye’s death summarizing her contributions to the African Heritage Center (News & Record, December 13, 2003); and an announcement from the School of Agriculture at A&T about William’s induction into the Hall of Fame. Other information comes from metadata in images loaned for scanning by Bernetiae Reed.

SCOPE & CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of items that shed light on the Reed family’s contributions to Greensboro and their time in African countries. The types of materials include audiovisual, artwork, correspondence, photographs and printed material. A VHS tape of Mattye and William’s 50th wedding anniversary can be found in the audiovisual series, while an invitation and cocktail napkin from the event are in the correspondence series. Art pieces of note include portraits of both William and Mattye, the first a drawing from Ethiopia and the second a pastel profile. Mattye Reed’s ties to Greensboro’s African American art community are represented through screen prints by artists Alma Adams and Eva Hamlin Miller, as well as a broadside and LP relating to vocalist Margaret Tynes. Also of note are three photographs of the Mattye and William Reed posing in traditional Nigerian dress with acquaintances in Nigeria. These images showcase their time abroad, while William’s work in Africa is represented by his “Reconnaissance soil survey of Liberia.”

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

1. Audiovisual.  5 folders (5 items).  1962-2011.

The audiovisual materials include two historical documentaries produced by Bernetiae Reed, and a VHS recording of Mattye and William’s 50th wedding anniversary celebration in 1992. Two LPs feature the A&T Fellowship Gospel Choir and an operatic recital by Margaret Tynes, an internationally successful singer, A&T graduate and friend of the Reed family.

2. Art.  7 folders (7 items).  ca. 1950s-1990s.

This series includes a 1972 portrait of William Reed produced in Ethiopia and a pastel portrait of Mattye Reed in profile. Influential local artists Eva Hamlin Miller and Alma Adams are represented with a 1960 screen print and a 1990s screen print illustrating a Senegalese marketplace, respectively. Miller studied art in New York, Italy and Nigeria before coming to North Carolina to teach art at Bennett College and A&T. Adams was one of Miller’s students at A&T. Together, they founded the African American Atelier in downtown Greensboro. Miller served as curator of the Atelier until her death in 1991, and Adams later became a U.S. Representative. Also included in this series is a print of Russian bears from a Shishkin painting titled “Morning in a Pine Forest”; it was given to William Reed while on the 1955 U.S.-Soviet Agricultural Exchange.

3. Correspondence.  3 folders (4 items).  1987-1994.

This correspondence consists of three invitations. One addressed to Mattye Reed from the Greater Greensboro Republican Women’s Club describes a luncheon at Starmount Country Club, while another that is not addressed invites recipients to a special showing of the A&T “Black Heritage Expo” and a reception. A copy of Mattye and William’s 50th wedding anniversary invitation is accompanied by a cocktail napkin from the event.

4. Miscellaneous.  2 folders (3 items).  ca. 1920s.

This series contains a handwritten recipe for making syrup and handwritten instructions for bottling Ly-nola with a Ly-nola envelope. The Ly-nola instructions are written on Hotel Guilford letterhead, connecting this item to Greensboro.

5. Photographs.  2 folders (6 items).  ca. 1930s-1960s.

Three oversized photographs show the Reeds dressed in traditional Nigerian clothing and posing with acquaintances in Nigeria in the 1960s. Another three oversized photographs show graduating classes from Immanuel Lutheran College in Greensboro around the 1930s-1940s.

6. Printed Material.  13 folders (21 items).  1951-2015.

As the largest series, the printed materials include books, periodicals, pamphlets and programs. A pamphlet highlights a 1969 Berhane Mehary exhibit in Ethiopia. The programs for events at A&T consist of “The Heritage of African Dress” and “The Unveiling of the February One Monument,” the latter accompanied by a postcard showing images from “The Making of the February One Monument.” William Reed’s “Reconnaissance soil survey of Liberia” provides a firsthand look at the work he did for the State Department, while an issue of The Annals of Iowa includes a chapter entitled “Diplomatic Farmers: Iowans and the 1955 Agricultural Delegation to the Soviet Union,” of which William was a part. Bernetiae Reed published two volumes of The Slave Families of Thomas Jefferson, which contain the history of Monticello, pictures, and family trees. She also produced seven newsletters relating to former slave Sylvester Brown and his descendants. The newsletters provide updates within the extended family as well as historical information, and a program details a family reunion in 1998.

FOLDER LISTING

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 photographs and printed materials pertaining to Vick Chemical Co. and its successors. Best known for the cold salve called Vicks VapoRub, the company was founded by Lunsford Richardson and retained family ownership until it was acquired by Proctor & Gamble in 1985. Company newsletters comprise the bulk of this collection, providing insight into the company’s culture and work environment during the 20th century. Researchers interested in business history, Vick Chemical Co. history and operations, and the pharmaceutical industry may find this collection useful.

Arrangement: This collection is organized into two series and arranged within series by document type and/or subject. The series are: Photographs, ca. 1940s-1980; and Printed Materials, 1933-1993.

Provenance: The bulk of this collection was donated by Ed Morrah in February 2017 and assigned the accession number 2017.8.1. Ed Morrah began working for Vick Chemical Co. in 1961 as a Planning Engineer, eventually became Director of Engineering for the Healthcare Division, and retired from Proctor & Gamble in 1994. He obtained these materials from several colleagues at the company, including Eddie Leonard. Ben Fort gave him most of the items dating before 1960, as well as the photograph taken at the Pennsylvania plant in 1980. The collection also includes eight newsletters dating from 1960-1963 that were transferred from the Outer Banks History Center in 2003 and assigned the accession number 2003.33.1.

Processing: This collection was organized and the finding aid was prepared by volunteer Elizabeth Moore in May 2017. Additional newsletters were incorporated and the finding aid was updated by Archivist Elise Allison in November 2020.

HISTORICAL NOTE

Lunsford Richardson and John Fariss bought the W.C. Porter drug store in Greensboro in 1890 and renamed it Richardson & Fariss. While working as a pharmacist, Richardson developed a variety of home remedies, including a vaporizing salve for colds that he called Vicks Magic Salve; it later became known as Vicks VapoRub. In 1898, Richardson sold his share in the drugstore to form the Lunsford Richardson Wholesale Drug Company, which sold remedies to merchants in the counties surrounding Greensboro. He sold this business in 1905 to found Vick’s Family Remedies; when that company began to lose profit, his son, Smith Richardson, suggested that it scale back its product line to focus on its unique product, Vicks VapoRub.

The company opened its plant on Milton Street in Greensboro in 1910 and changed its name to Vick Chemical Co. a year later. During the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, the Milton St. plant operated continuously and VapoRub sales increased from $900,000 to $2.9 million in 1919. By incorporating innovative advertising techniques, such as billboards and streetcar advertising, and offering free samples, sales continued to grow. The company established a second plant in Greensboro on Wendover Avenue near Latham Park in 1936; this location produced cough syrups and cough drops.

In 1938, Vick Chemical Co. acquired the William S. Merrell Company, at the time the largest pharmaceutical company in the country. It purchased two more companies in the 1940s, and changed its name to Richardson-Merrell Inc. in 1960 as a nod to its founders. As it continued to grow, Richardson-Merrell moved out of the Milton St. and Wendover Ave. plants into a larger plant on Swing Road in 1966. In 1980, the Merrell division was sold to Dow Chemical Company, and the remaining division became Richardson-Vicks, Inc. This company was bought by Procter & Gamble in 1985.

Historical Sources: The historical information was obtained from The Early History and Management Philosophy of Richardson-Merrell, by Smith Richardson (Richardson-Merrill, Inc., 1975), as well as the finding aid for the Richardson-Vicks, Inc., Records in the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Information on the Greensboro plants was found in Jim Schlosser’s The Beat Goes On (Greensboro Bicentennial Commission, 2008) and Remembering Greensboro (Charleston, SC: History Press, 2009), as well as in newsletters in the collection.

SCOPE & CONTENT NOTE

The types of materials found in this collection are photographs and printed materials. The bulk of the collection consists of newsletters that document company culture in Greensboro, as well as at the plant in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. While the newsletters provide some information on the company, they focus largely on the personal interests and professional accomplishments of employees by featuring employees of the month, highlighting worker hobbies and vacations, and announcing advancements within the company.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

1. Photographs.  4 folders (15 items).  ca. 1940s-1980.

The photographs depict professional and social scenes relating to Vick Chemical Co. Ten images show employees posing for group portraits, some with company buildings in the background (1:1). One photograph features employees filling out a company-wide survey (1:2). Two photos show company social events, including a dinner and a Christmas party (1:4). A photo of employees at the Hatboro, Pennsylvania plant in 1980 includes Ben Fort and Lunsford “Lump” Richardson, grandson of the VapoRub inventor (1:3).

2. Printed Materials.  47 folders (ca. 335 items).  1933-1993.

The printed material includes a banquet program and menu from January 1942 (2:1) and a health insurance plan from 1951 detailing benefits (2:3). Annual reports from 1945-1946 contain information on the company’s sales and earnings, mission and goals, production, and new products (2:2). Employee surveys provide a glimpse of satisfaction and morale (2:4). While the newsletters contain some information on company policy and production, they are mostly employee-centered, highlighting family news, hobbies, community service and promotions of individual employees. Also included is an “employee of the month” column. Earlier newsletters feature columns specifically for female employees with recipes and tips for homemaking; later issues encourage employees to vote (2:30) and feature articles on the benefits of exercising (2:43) and stress management (2:44).

FOLDER LISTING

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

The Oka T. Hester Jr. Family Papers consist primarily of correspondence, printed material and photographs pertaining to the professional and private life of Oka T. Hester Jr. As director of Greensboro’s Parks and Recreation Department from 1947 to 1977, Hester was known for his leadership in the recreation field, as well as his community service. Researchers interested in the city’s Parks and Recreation Department will find letters, newspaper clippings, photographs and reports from his tenure. The collection also includes materials documenting his daughter Julia “Judy” Hester’s life in Greensboro and time studying at Duke University.

Arrangement: This collection is organized into eight series by document type and/or subject. The series are: Awards/Certificates, 1944-1978; Correspondence, 1939-1994; Financial/Legal, 1947-1953, n.d.; Hester, Julia, ca. 1943-2006; Maps, 1975-1976, n.d.; Miscellaneous, ca. 1943-ca. 1966; Photographs, ca. 1950-ca. 1975; and Printed Material, ca. 1930-1977.

Provenance: This collection was donated by Graham Fripp in April 2017 and assigned accession number 2017.18.1. The donor purchased Julia Hester’s house and its contents after her death in 2016.

Processing: This collection was organized by volunteer Elizabeth Moore, and the finding aid was completed in February 2018.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Born in Raleigh, Oka T. Hester Jr. (1912-1978) attended Greensboro High School and played football as a freshman at Elon College. He joined Greensboro’s Parks and Recreation Department in 1934 as an athletic director, and between 1942 and 1947 directed departments in Raleigh and Augusta, Georgia. In 1947, he returned to Greensboro to become the city’s first Director of Parks and Recreation. During his tenure, he oversaw the development of fourteen neighborhood centers and forty playgrounds. He organized a comprehensive athletic program that included boxing, baseball and basketball, and served as a mentor to local marbles teams. He also worked with the Greater Greensboro Open golf tournament from 1938 until his retirement.

Oka Hester was active in multiple national and state organizations, including the American Recreation Society and the North Carolina Recreation Society, and he wrote articles for several national publications. In 1952, the State Department sent him to West Germany for five months to set up recreation programs in various cities. At the time of his retirement in 1977, his department was recognized as one of four premier parks and recreation departments in the country. He and his wife, Fay Holder (1917-2007), were members of First Baptist Church and lived at 1704 Liberty Dr. in Kirkwood.

The only child of Fay and Oka Hester, Julia “Judy” Glenn Hester (1936-2016) was born in Greensboro and graduated from Greensboro Senior High School (later Grimsley High School) in 1955. She earned a BS and PhD in nursing from Duke University, as well as a MS from UNC Chapel Hill, and she worked as a school psychologist in the Winston Salem-Forsyth County Schools. Like her parents, she was a member of First Baptist Church and active with youth programs, and she also volunteered at Irving Park School. She lived at 1704 Liberty Dr. in Kirkwood until her death.

Biographical Sources: The biographical information was gathered from materials in the collection, Ancestry.com, Oka Hester’s obituary (Greensboro Daily News, November 14, 1978), Fay Holder Hester’s obituary (News & Record, December 17, 2007), and Julia Hester’s obituary (News & Record, September 27, 2016).

SCOPE & CONTENT NOTE

The types of materials in this collection include correspondence, photographs, printed material such as newspaper clippings and reports, and maps of parks and recreation facilities. Most items pertain to Oka T. Hester and Greensboro’s Parks and Recreation Department. Also included are correspondence and printed material relating to his daughter Julia’s education in Greensboro and at Duke University. Researchers interested in the history of Greensboro’s Parks and Recreation Department and its facilities, as well as local schools, will find materials of interest.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

1. Awards/Certificates.  5 folders (6 items).  1944-1978.

Among the items in this series is the Order of the Long Leaf Pine (1:3), the highest honor bestowed by North Carolina governors upon citizens who exemplify service to their communities. Also included is an award from the North Carolina Recreation and Park Society recognizing Hester’s leadership (1:2), and a certificate from the University of Alabama for attending the Southeastern Recreation Executives School in 1944 (1:5).

2. Correspondence.  10 folders (ca. 115 items).  1939-1994.

The majority of the correspondence centers on Oka Hester’s work within Greensboro’s Parks and Recreation Department. Some letters plan meetings with other directors, relay information between department employees, and share ideas with other recreation departments. Several thank Hester for his service to cities, organizations and causes, while others highlight his department’s accomplishments. This series also includes correspondence pertaining to marbles tournaments (2:11), an invitation to visit the Hester family in Raleigh (2:9), and the announcement of Hester’s appointment to the N.C. Zoological Authority (2:7). While most of the letters pertain to Greensboro, the series also contains a few that give insight into Hester’s work in other cities, especially Raleigh and Augusta, Georgia.

3. Financial/Legal.  3 folders (3 items).  1947-1953, n.d.

This series contains two receipts, one from the Hotel Bristol in Vienna, Austria (3:3) and the other from Wesley Long Hospital (3:1). Also included is an assignment to Oka T. Hester of an undivided one-twentieth interest in a patent for a “new type of Venetian blinds” designed by William E. Carter Jr. (3:2).

4. Hester, Julia.  21 folders (ca. 100 items).  ca. 1943-2006.

Oka T. Hester’s daughter Julia “Judy” Hester grew up and worked in Greensboro. She attended Greensboro Senior High School, and then UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University. The bulk of this series consists of photographs and personal correspondence sent from Private Thomas E. Cherry to Julia while at Duke. Other items include a 1952 Central Jr. High School yearbook (4:15), programs from school events (4:14-15, 4:18, 4:20), 3D glasses (4:6), a Greensboro library card (4:7), and Julia’s 1979 doctoral dissertation (4:16).

5. Maps.  1 folder (2 items).  1975-1976, n.d.

Included in this series are a map of Greensboro Parks and Recreation facilities in 1975-1976 and an undated design study for Oka T. Hester Park.

6. Miscellaneous.  5 folders (ca. 25 items).  ca. 1943-ca. 1966.

This series consists primarily of Oka Hester’s resume (6:4) and job applications for various recreation positions (6:3) that provide insight into his employment history and his colleagues’ perceptions of him. Also included is his FBI fingerprint card (6:1).

7. Photographs.  31 folders (ca. 330 items).  ca. 1950-ca. 1975.

A large portion of this collection consists of photographs, roughly half of which relate to Greensboro (7:3-20). Researchers interested in the city will find photographs of parks, recreation facilities and community centers, as well as group portraits primarily from social events and meetings throughout Greensboro. The series also includes portraits of Hester and his family (7:26-27), with most portraits of Hester appearing to have been taken in his office at the Parks and Recreation Department (7:27). Researchers interested in Hester’s work with Greensboro’s marbles teams will find the photos of the marbles tournaments particularly interesting (7:28-29). Also worth mentioning are the athletic portraits taken by North Carolina photographer Hugh Morton (7:30), as well as two photos of Hester with LeRoy T. Walker (7:21), the first African American president of the U.S. Olympic Committee and chancellor of North Carolina Central University.

8. Printed Material.  42 folders (ca. 55 items).  ca. 1930-1977.

The printed material includes newspaper clippings, reports, a magazine, bulletins and articles. Researchers focusing on the city’s parks and recreation facilities will find the annual reports useful (8:14-16, 8:35). Also included are an article written by Hester on the Glenwood Community Center (8:9) and an article about the Warnersville Community Center, one of Greensboro’s segregated recreation centers for African American residents (8:42). Numerous newspaper clippings pertain to Hester (8:21-25) and, along with press releases, the marbles teams that he oversaw (8:27, 8:37).

FOLDER LISTING

INTRODUCTION

This collection consists of scrapbooks relating to Tom Martin’s service as the general chairman of the 1981 Greater Greensboro Open (GGO) golf tournament. He worked for the Greensboro Planning Department and was very involved in his local community, especially with the Greensboro Jaycees, which organized the GGO. Some of the more interesting items in the scrapbooks include correspondence from golfers inquiring about playing in the tournament, name badges and commemorative pins from the GGO and other tournaments, and photographs of Martin and others at the tournaments and related events. Researchers interested in local sporting events and their impact on the community may find this collection useful.

Arrangement: This collection is organized in one series in original order. The series is: Scrapbooks, 1979-1981.

Provenance: This collection was donated by Tom Martin in December 2016 and assigned the accession number 2016.67.1.

Processing: The materials in these scrapbooks were removed from the original magnetic pages and rehoused with archival quality materials by various volunteers prior to 2021. The finding aid was prepared by intern Amanda McBryde in February 2023.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Originally from Burlington, North Carolina, C. Thomas “Tom” Martin moved to Greensboro at the age of 8. He attended Curry School for grades 4-12 before moving on to Gardner-Webb junior college and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), where he was one of the first male students and a member of the newly formed men’s basketball team. In 2015, he still held the record for rebounds in a single game, and he was inducted into the UNCG Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022. During his time at the school, he met Mary Hoyng, whom he later married.

After graduating with a degree in political science in 1970, Tom Martin began a 33 year career in the City of Greensboro’s Planning Department, for which he served as director from 1998 until his retirement in 2003. He also joined the Greensboro Jaycees in 1970, serving on the board of directors for several years and chairing numerous projects before being selected as the general chairman of the 1981 Greater Greensboro Open golf tournament. In 1980, the Jaycees made Martin a lifetime member for his contributions to the community. Other positions he has held in his commitment to community service include Tournament Director of the 1997 and 1998 NCAA’s Women’s Soccer Championships, president of the UNCG Alumni Association in 2002, chairman of the Carolina Theatre Commission, and member of the Greensboro Sports Council Executive Committee.

Biographical Sources: The biographical information was acquired from materials in the collection, a blog post titled “An Original Spartan – Tom Martin (Class of 1970)” (Spartan Stories: Tales from the UNCG University Archives, December 7, 2015), an article titled “Chief Planner Martin Retires: Tom Martin Has Served in Greensboro’s Planning Department for the Past 33 Years” (News & Record, November 28, 2003), and his page on the UNCG Athletics Hall of Fame website.

SCOPE & CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of four scrapbooks chronicling Tom Martin’s time as the 1980 assistant chairman and 1981 general chairman of the Greater Greensboro Open golf tournament. Of particular interest are programs from the 1980 and 1981 GGO kickoff banquets, name badges and commemorative pins from the GGO and other tournaments, autographs from golfers who played in the 1981 GGO, and many photographs of Martin at the GGO in his green jacket and at other events during the documented two years. The scrapbooks also include newspaper clippings, correspondence, and other tournament-related items, such as programs and tickets. These materials are primarily in chronological order, with some items slightly out of place. Researchers interested in the Greater Greensboro Open golf tournament, the Greensboro Jaycees, or local sporting events and their impact on the community may find this collection useful.

SERIES DESCRIPTION

1. Scrapbooks.  4 album boxes (4 items).  1979-1981.

This series contains four scrapbooks that document Tom Martin’s time as the 1980 assistant chairman and 1981 general chairman of the Greater Greensboro Open golf tournament. The first scrapbook begins with a Greensboro Daily News article announcing that the Jaycees had chosen him as the next GGO chairman followed by letters of congratulations. Also of interest are articles about and items relating to the 1980 GGO and other tournaments. Articles from The Carolinas Golf Reporter, the Greensboro Daily News/Record, The Greensboro Record, and the Projector (the Greensboro Jaycees newsletter) discuss the lead-up to the tournament, celebrity appearances, and profits made by the event. Other items include the program from the GGO kickoff banquet, invitations to events relating to the tournament such as a coffee honoring players’ wives and a cocktail party for sponsors, an invitation to the Tournament Players Championship, a program for the 1980 Masters Tournament, name badges and pins from various tournaments, and photographs from all of the above.

The second scrapbook focuses on the aftermath of the 1980 GGO and the lead up to the 1981 tournament. Notable here are articles from The Carolinas Golf Reporter regarding the 1980 Cardinal Amateur and World Golf Hall of Fame tournaments, as well as items from the Roy Clark Celebrity Golf Tournament, the opening of the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass, and the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, all of which provide context for the greater world of golf at the time. The scrapbook begins with articles from the Greensboro Daily News and The Greensboro Record discussing the costs of and profits from the 1980 tournament and the prize money for the 1981 tournament. Next are an invitation to Perry Como’s private cast party following his performance at a benefit show and tickets to that show. The end of this scrapbook chronicles the beginning of the 1981 GGO tournament season with the invitation to and program from the 1981 GGO kickoff banquet, as well as newspaper articles discussing the players and celebrity attendees at the tournament.

Of particular note in the third scrapbook are many local newspaper articles discussing results from each round of the tournament and autographs from players on scraps of paper. It also contains an invitation to the Tournament Players Championship Pro-Am dinner and other items relating to Martin’s participation in that tournament. Correspondence from potential players regarding invitations to participate in the GGO can also be found. As newspapers geared up for the tournament, they published articles about the 1981 souvenir bottle of bourbon produced for the tournament and about various players slated to participate. A Greensboro Daily News article about Martin taking six weeks off from the Planning Department to prepare for the tournament elicited a response letter to the editor from Dr. Ken Eiler, the 1980 chairman, defending Martin’s work as both a member of the Planning Department and as chairman.

The fourth scrapbook contains several newspaper articles about profits from the 1981 GGO, as well as an interview with Martin looking back on his time as chairman. It opens with a short biography of him from the Projector, then picks up where the previous book left off with newspaper coverage of the tournament results. Two further responses address the article about Martin receiving six weeks off from work to prepare for the tournament, one disparaging the city for using taxpayer money to pay for his work for the GGO, a private event, and the other supporting the decision because of the local significance of the tournament. After the tournament ended, Martin received many letters congratulating him on its success and thanking him for his work. The scrapbook closes with photographs of him taken during the tournament.

FOLDER LISTING

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 employee newsletters published and distributed by J.P. Stevens & Co., one of the largest firms in the American textile industry, as well as one of the oldest diversified textile companies. The monthly News Weaver served as a resource for connecting departments and sharing local and national company news while emphasizing the interests and activities of the company’s Greensboro employees. It is filled with information about local functions and company activities in Greensboro, as well the significant advancements J.P. Stevens made within the textile industry between the 1960s and 1980s. Researchers interested in local businesses, the textile industry, or J.P. Stevens & Co. may find this collection useful.

Arrangement: This collection is organized in one series and arranged within the series by date. The series is Printed Materials, 1962-1981.

Provenance: This collection was donated by Charlotte M. Layton in December 2016 and assigned the accession number 2016.57.1. The newsletters belonged to her husband’s uncle, Robert “Bob” McKendry Layton, who worked for J.P. Stevens & Co. for 37 years, retiring as a supervisor in the accounting department.

Processing: This collection was organized by Archivist Elise Allison, and the finding aid was completed by LIS Capstone Intern Mary Puppo in February 2025.

HISTORICAL NOTE

J.P. Stevens & Co. was founded in 1813 by Captain Nathaniel Stevens of North Andover, Massachusetts, when he purchased a gristmill and converted it to produce woolen broadcloth, commonly used in the production of garments. Peak production occurred during the 1960s with 82 textile plants producing cotton, wool, synthetic yarns, fabric, and ready to buy products such as towels, carpets, hosiery, and sheets. At the company’s height, factories could be found in Alabama, Connecticut, California, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, along with administrative offices in New York City, Greensboro, and Greenville, South Carolina.

The Greensboro J.P. Stevens plant originated from a 1946 merger with Carter Fabrics Corporation, which was founded in Greensboro in 1937 by Wilbert J. “Nick” and Harry C. Carter. Nick Carter built the factory with the most efficient processing of rayon and acetate fibers in mind. As a result, it was the first fully air-conditioned plant, ideal for manufacturing fabrics from synthetic fibers. As part of J.P. Stevens, the factory and laboratory specialized in the research, development, and manufacture of synthetic materials, fabrics, and yarns such as rayon, nylon, fiberglass, acrylic, Orlon, Antron II, Dacron, and synthetic/wool blends, along with many other experimental synthetic and industrial fabrics. Under J.P. Stevens, the Greensboro plant, also known as the Carter plant, was among the leading producers of double-knit fabrics. Greensboro also became a major transport depot for the trucking and procurement departments. The administrative offices in Greensboro, located in the Starmount area off West Market Street, managed the accounting, engineering, data processing, industrial relations, and technical services work for various departments. The Trucking Department was formed with a single vehicle in September 1947, and its headquarters was eventually established off Highway 29 in Guilford County. The Computer Business Forms Department was located south of Greensboro, just off I-85, and was responsible for producing and printing documents, including the News Weaver.

The national management of J.P. Stevens & Co. came under scrutiny in 1976 with a national boycott organized by the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA). The slogan of the boycott, “Don’t sleep with J.P. Stevens,” was effective in drawing national attention to the TWUA’s goals of improving working conditions and wages, ending racial discrimination, and organizing labor unions in Southern states. By 1988, the company was struggling under the weight of debts and the popularization of outsourcing textile work to cut labor costs. As a result, it was bought and split into three parts by West Point-Pepperell Inc. and Odyssey Partners. The 200,768 square-foot Greensboro factory on South Elm-Eugene Street was demolished in 2002, and the land now houses Greensboro Fire Station 11, the Police District 2 headquarters, and the city’s Water Resources Department.

Historical Sources: The historical information about J.P. Stevens & Co. was obtained from the finding aid for the J.P. Stevens and Company, Incorporated (1813-1989) Records, Mss. #135, at Clemson University, while details about the boycott were found in “U.S. textile workers win campaign in South (J.P. Stevens boycott),” by Anthony Phalen (Global Nonviolent Action Database, November 25, 2009). Information about the Greensboro plant was obtained from “A Brief Survey of Textile Mills in Greensboro,” by Meghan Coker (UNCG, 2014) and “Knocking down history: Carter plant, once a giant in textiles, sees its last days,” by Jim Schlosser (News & Record, April 9, 2002), as well as from the newsletters in the collection.

SCOPE & CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists exclusively of printed materials in the form of 20 years of newsletters arranged chronologically. The newsletters contain valuable information and context about the textile industry in Greensboro and at other J.P. Stevens facilities around the country. They also provide insights into the charitable work and activities of local employees. It is notable, but not surprising, that they omit any mention of the strikes and protests at J.P. Stevens factories or the national boycott of the company in 1976.

SERIES DESCRIPTION

1. Printed Materials.  10 folders (20 items).  1962-1981.

The printed materials consist of local employee newsletters titled News Weaver. Published and distributed monthly by J.P. Stevens & Co., the newsletter served the Greensboro based administrative office, Computer Business Forms, Forms Control, and local Trucking departments. It was printed in house by the Computer Business Forms Department and edited by Margaret Foust, a member of the South Atlantic Council of Industrial Editors. The newsletters focus on significant national and local occurrences, as well as changes and successes within the company, and they served to build a stronger sense of community among Greensboro employees in departments at disparate locations across the city.

Recurring themes include national promotions, significant national sales, and research breakthroughs. Local topics range from promotions, retirements, and marriages to prayers, recipes, participation in community blood drives, and reminders to get the flu shot. Charitable one-time campaigns, such as sending bivy bags to soldiers in Vietnam, are also detailed. Several issues highlight significant achievements on both the national and local levels, such as the successful deployment and landing of Project Gemini parachutes made from J.P. Stevens nylon in 1966 (1:3). Entry into the pulp and paper chemical business in 1973 provided the company with a new avenue for innovation (1:6). Local safety milestones for the Greensboro plant were documented in 1965, totaling 4,132,870-man hours worked accident free, a record for J.P. Stevens facilities known for being unsafe on the factory floor. The Greensboro location was declared the safest and an innovative model for textile factories (1:2). In 1967, the company sponsored the “Textiles in the Space Age” lecture about the use of science and technology to spur innovation in the textile industry (1:3), and an award was presented to the Greensboro administrative office for electrical energy reductions of 30% in 1977 (1:8). The newsletters also cover the company’s participation in the International Hosiery Exposition in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1980 (1:10).

FOLDER LISTING

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

The Mildred S. Davis Papers consist of materials relating to the Extension Homemakers Association and the Mount Tabor community. The collection covers the local, county, state, and national levels of the organization, with the bulk of items relating to the North Carolina Extension Homemakers Association. Materials include meeting agendas, correspondence between agents, photographs of club activities, and event programs. Researchers interested in the activities and goals of the Extension Homemakers, particularly at the state level, will find this collection useful. Also of note in the collection are documents about the 100th anniversary of Mount Tabor United Methodist Church and newspaper clippings about local African American figures.

Arrangement: This collection is organized into five series by subject and arranged within those series by document type or subject. The series are: Guilford County Extension Homemakers Council, 1970-1983; Miscellaneous, 1955-2013; Mount Tabor Homemakers Club, 1954-1970; National Extension Homemakers, ca. 1974-1985; and North Carolina Extension Homemakers Association, 1969-1984.

Provenance: This collection was donated by Richard and Margarette Davis in May 2016 and assigned accession number 2016.31.1.

Processing: This collection was organized and the finding aid was prepared by volunteer Kimberly Oliver in July 2016.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL NOTE

Mildred Strickland Turner Davis (1921-2013) was born to Eva and Causey Strickland in Guilford County. After her father died, her mother married Lawrence Turner and the family took his surname. Mildred grew up in Durham, where she graduated from Hillside High School. She attended Immanuel Lutheran College in Greensboro, and married John Henry Davis (1915-2009) in 1937. The couple had three children: Johnnie, Richard, and Linda. Davis and her family returned to Guilford County where they lived in Mount Tabor, an African American community southwest of Greensboro city limits at the time. They attended Mount Tabor United Methodist Church before later joining Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greensboro. Davis was a member of the North Carolina Extension Homemakers Association for many years, during which she served as President of the Mount Tabor Home Demonstration Club, Vice President of the Guilford County Council, and chairman of various committees within those organizations. In addition, Davis was employed by Community Funeral Service and was very active within community and church organizations, serving as chairman of the Mount Tabor UMC 100th Anniversary Task Force.

The Extension Homemakers Association began as a series of “tomato clubs,” local groups that taught advanced agricultural skills and canning to women as a way to supplement farm incomes. In 1911, the General Education Board appointed home demonstration agents in each southern state. Jane McKimmon, the North Carolina agent, also hired an extension agent for each county. 4-H clubs were established in 1916 to focus on instruction for girls, while home demonstration clubs were redirected to serve women. In Guilford County, tomato clubs in various towns were organized into a county affiliation under the leadership of Lucille Kennett, who hired the first home agent in 1915. The North Carolina Federation of Home Demonstration Clubs was founded at State College (later North Carolina State University) in 1920, and evolved into the North Carolina Extension Homemakers Association by 1966. Over time, Homemakers clubs broadened their range of teachings to educate women on a variety of home economics subjects, including nutrition and sewing, all taught with the goal of sharing the most recent research. By the 1950s, home demonstration clubs began to teach family relations and financial management, and started programs to improve community welfare and safety. In 1999, the North Carolina Extension Homemakers Council disaffiliated with the national association and changed its name to the North Carolina Extension and Community Association, Inc., continuing the work of the Extension Homemakers with a special focus on serving low-income families.

Biographical/Historical Sources: The biographical information was gathered from materials in the collection. The historical information about the Extension Homemakers Association was obtained from various online sources: “The History of Tomato Clubs,” by Josh Shaffer (Our State, July 9, 2014); “History of Home Demonstration in North Carolina” (Green ‘N’ Growing, NC State University Libraries); and General Information (North Carolina Extension & Community Association, NC State University).

SCOPE & CONTENT NOTE

The materials in this collection include correspondence (1:2), photographs (3:2, 5:6) and printed materials, such as agendas (1:1), programs (1:3), newspaper clippings (5:4) and newsletters (5:4). Each item provides information about one level of the Extension Homemakers organization, whether local (3:1-2), county (1:1-3), state (5:1-6), or national (4:1). Information about each level covers the period in which Mildred Davis participated in it, and includes program goals, photographs of activities, and meeting agendas or programs. The bulk of the collection is related to the state Extension Homemakers Association from 1969 to 1984. A weakness is the lack of context for many materials, as well their limitation to the years Davis participated. In addition, few materials involve the Mount Tabor Homemakers Club, meaning that the collection will be most useful to researchers interested in the wider state organization rather than the local club. Miscellaneous materials also found in the collection relate either to Davis or the Mount Tabor community, and include information about the 100th anniversary of Mount Tabor United Methodist Church (2:3), local African American figures (2:4), and the Guilford County Parent and Teachers Association (2:2).

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

1. Guilford County Extension Homemakers Council.  3 folders (9 items).  1970-1983.

Materials in this series include agendas for three county council meetings (1:1), miscellaneous correspondence from Agricultural Extension agents regarding various committee meetings and goals (1:2), and programs from meetings of the Guilford County Extension Homemakers Clubs (1:3).

2. Miscellaneous.  4 folders (18 items).  1955-2013.

This series contains materials not directly related to the Extension Homemakers Association. Included is information specific to Davis, such as her obituary, an undated photo from late in her life, and an issue of the Graphic Report with an article about a typing class she attended. Also included are a partial resume and a 1976 volunteer leader’s achievement report containing Davis’s application for a leadership award and detailing offices she held, information about her family, and all of her volunteer activities within the Homemakers Association and in other organizations (2:1). The series also contains materials related to the Mount Tabor United Methodist Church, including programs from the 1966 and 1971 Woman’s Days, a 1996 speech, and an undated letter to the Bishop of the Western North Carolina United Methodist Church. Of note are documents relating to the 100th anniversary of Mount Tabor United Methodist Church, including a report from the Anniversary Task Force (of which Davis was chairman), letters of invitation to the celebration, and an announcement that includes a brief history of the church (2:3). Additional materials include a 1955 program from the Commemorating Founder’s Day of the Guilford County Parent and Teachers Association (2:2), as well as a newspaper article about road changes affecting the Mount Tabor community (2:4). Other newspaper clippings focus on local African American figures, covering the deaths of oldest Boy Scout B.S. Austin, educator Charlotte Hawkins Brown, and racial justice activist Ervin Brisbon (2:4).

3. Mount Tabor Homemakers Club.  2 folders (10 items).  1954-1970.

This series contains various materials relating to the Mount Tabor Homemakers Club, including its revised bylaws, a 1959 community development progress report, and the agenda of a “What Every Family Should Know” workshop given by the club. Also included are an announcement and souvenir program from the club’s 23rd anniversary celebration (3:1). Photographs in this series show the club in 1954, a 1958 tour through a meat packing company, Davis and Ava Shoffner at a 1960 Extension Tea, and Davis showing off a refinished mirror frame (3:2).

4. National Extension Homemakers.  1 folder (8 items).  ca. 1974-1985.

This series consists of materials relating to the National Extension Homemakers, including a program for the 1974 annual meeting (in which are written names and addresses of various members), suggested questions for the organization’s oral history project, and lyrics to homemakers’ songs. Samples of information distributed by the national organization include a diagram of home management, guide to vital documents, and information about mushrooms from the Mushroom Processors Association. Also found within this series are a letter to Davis from Congressman Howard Coble regarding her interest in funding for the Agricultural Extension Program, and a NEH guide to writing letters to congressmen (4:1).

5. North Carolina Extension Homemakers Association.  6 folders (56 items).  1969-1984.

The materials in this series relate to the state level of the Extension Homemakers Association, and include the association’s constitution and bylaws as revised in 1979 (5:1) and two editions of the newsletter Tarheel Homemakers (5:5). Also included is correspondence between Davis and state agents regarding state and district meetings, Davis’s achievements and her appointment as State Vice Chairman of the Home Economics Committee, and program goals for that committee (5:2). Newspaper clippings include an announcement of Davis’s representation of the state at the National Extension Homemakers meeting in 1974, and several articles detailing the history and programs of the North Carolina Extension Homemakers (5:4). The series contains many items from the 1974 “University Days on Wheels” tour through the mid-Atlantic to New York City, including an agenda, a brochure from Winterthur Museum, Davis’s report notes, and photographs of locations visited on the tour (5:6). Additional materials include a list of addresses of 1973 Home Economics Committee members, a 1975 committee report, a program from the 1979 meeting, the club’s Collect and Creed, and forms for officer applications and program reports (5:3).

FOLDER LISTING