Benjamin Rice Lacy (1854-1929) Papers, PC.233
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Benjamin Rice Lacy (1854-1929) Papers
- Call Number
- PC.233
- Creator
- Lacy, Benjamin Rice, 1854-1929
- Date
- 1850-1930
- Extent
- 2.200 cubic feet
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], PC.233, Benjamin Rice Lacy Papers, Private Collections, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, U.S.A.
Collection Overview
Papers of Lacy, commissioner of labor and printing (1894-1900) and state treasurer (1900-1929), consisting chiefly of correspondence. Letters concerning his election campaigns (1900, 1908, 1912, 1916) solicit support from state and county political leaders and officeholders, industrialists, bankers, newspaper publishers, and unions. Throughout his tenure as treasurer there is correspondence with officeholders such as Furnifold M. Simmons, Edward W. Pou, R. A. Doughton, Josephus Daniels, Robert B. Glenn, Thomas Holt, Thomas W. Bickett, Angus W. McLean, and Cameron Morrison on national and state affairs, party politics, and jobs or other favors. Other letters relate to his activities as a Mason and Odd Fellow, Presbyterian deacon, member of the executive committee of the North Carolina Sunday School Convention, and trustee of Davidson College. Lacy's career as a locomotive engineer and railroad shop foreman prior to 1894 and his lifelong interest in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and other unions are reflected in the many letters about union matters. Some letters concern attempts to find a cure for his chronic asthma; licensing of meat-packers; and campaign of Al Smith (1928). WWI correspondence includes letters about commissions and draft exemptions, the attitude of organized labor toward the war, and the War Savings campaign. Also included is a diary (1877) recording a trip to Texas in search of employment; and diaries and personal memorandum books (1902, 1908-1929).