North Carolina School Wartime Materials, WWI 5
Abstract
The North Carolina School Wartime Materials collection is composed of items collected by the North Carolina Historical Commission, and two of its primary war materials collectors, Fred A. Olds, and Robert B. House, highlighting life during World War I at colleges, universities, and other academic institutions throughout North Carolina. The collection holds various newspaper articles, letters, lists, photographs, booklets, and published materials documenting the different ways in which North Carolina's state educational facilities, private educational institutions, and the education profession adapted to the rapid demands of the war effort. The collection documents Students' Army Training Corps and Reserve Officers' Training Corps on several college and university campuses, as well as showing groups of North Carolina college students training for military service at sites outside of North Carolina. The collection also documents the role of women in educational institutions during the war.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- North Carolina School Wartime Materials
- Call Number
- WWI 5
- Creator
- North Carolina Historical Commission
- Date
- 1915-1921
- Extent
- 1.920 cubic feet, 0.570 gigabytes
- Language
- English
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions on accessing this collection.
Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions on use of this collection.
Preferred Citation
[Item name or title], [Box Numbers], [Folder Numbers], North Carolina School Wartime
Materials, WWI 5, WWI Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina,
Raleigh, N.C.
Collection Overview
The North Carolina School Wartime Materials collection is composed of correspondence, newspaper clippings and articles, pamphlets, photographs, alumni publications, university publications, and published booklets from academic institutions and associations in North Carolina as they relate to World War I. There are also publications from other state's educational institutions, national educational associations, and the federal government. The materials in this collection document the effects of the war on academic institutions in North Carolina, and also the war work that took place on campuses-specifically female students. The collection is subdivided into three series: Series I: State Supported Schools; Series II: Private Schools; and Series III: General Education Materials.
Arrangement Note
The collection is grouped into four series and two subseries: Series I: State-Supported Schools; Series II: Private Schools; Series III: General Education Materials; Subseries III A: North Carolina; Subseries III B: National and States; and Series IV: Oversized Materials.
Historical Note
The North Carolina Historical Commission (the precursor of the State Archives of North
Carolina) recognized at the beginning of the United States' involvement in World War
I the importance for North Caroling to begin an effort of collecting materials which
documented the role taken by North Carolina soldiers and civilians in the war. In
cooperation with the North Carolina Council of Defense, a special history committee,
called the "Historical Preservation" committee, was appointed by the Council of Defense.
The Historical Preservation committee consisted of the North Carolina Historical Commission
Secretary Robert Digges Wimberly (or R. D. W.) Connor, as chairman; Haywood Parker
of Asheville, North Carolina; Ms. Adelaide Fries of Winston-Salem, North Carolina;
Paul W. Schenck of Greensboro, North Carolina; Edgecombe County-native George Gordon
Battle, who was one of the leading lawyers in New York City at the outbreak of WWI;
Ms. Lida T. Rodman; and J. G. deR. Hamilton of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The Council of Defense Historical Preservation committee's mission was to collect
for permanent preservation the war records of the state of North Carolina. The term
"war records" was given the widest possible interpretation, so as to include all materials
that illustrate the state of mind of the citizens of North Carolina toward World War
I; the effect of the war on social, educational, economic, agricultural, political
and religious conditions; and the personal achievements, sacrifices, and services
of North Carolina individuals in the war. Efforts were made by the North Carolina
Historical Commission to secure the cooperation of such organizations as the State
and County Councils of Defense; the State and County Fuel Administrations; the State
and County Food Administrations; the American Red Cross; and other organizations engaged
in work connected with the World War I preparedness and support efforts of the United
States.
The Historical Preservation committee and the North Carolina Historical Commission
urged these institutions, organizations, and members of the public to preserve carefully
their records, and ultimately deposit them with the North Carolina Historical Commission.
Efforts were also made to secure assistance in this work through the appointment in
each county of a county historian for war purposes. However, these efforts were not
particularly successful, as resources and people were stressed throughout the war
at the local level in North Carolina. Individuals willing to work as volunteer war
record collectors were secured in sixty counties. These individuals promised to aid
in the historical preservation work of the committee, but only a few of them had been
active throughout World War I.
Not much could be accomplished in terms of collecting war materials, however, due
to a lack of funding and the lack of a law by the North Carolina State Legislature
indicating a state-backed collection program. From 1917 to 1919, the State Legislature
was not in session, and this scenario could not be remedied. However, in 1919 the
State Legislature formally approved the North Carolina Historical Commission's war
records collection efforts with the passage of Chapter 144 of the North Carolina Public
Laws and Resolutions (specifically Sections 3 and 4) in 1919. The new law empowered
the Historical Commission to appoint a collector of World War records, and provided
money for the project's support.
Acting under authority of this law, the Historical Commission chose Mr. Robert B.
House Collector of World War Records, and House entered upon his work June 19, 1919.
On taking up his duties, House found that the Historical Preservation committee of
the State Council of Defense (through a system of volunteer collecting in various
counties of the state), and Col. Fred A. Olds (North Carolina Historical Commission
Hall of History Collector) had already collected a large amount of war materials.
House tried to systemize the collection process and network of volunteer collectors
around North Carolina. House and a part-time stenographer worked to copy information
from original materials; label, classify, and identify original materials; and operate
a continuous correspondence network with individuals throughout the state and with
federal war-time government offices.
In order to collect the materials regarding academic institutions during the war,
Fred A. Olds signed up for the mailing lists of various universities throughout the
state, and retained material that directly corresponded to the war. After the war,
he worked with Robert B. House to contact both the institutions and individuals working
for the institutions, seeking original records from each institution that documented
the effects of the war on the school and how schools dealt with limited student bodies
due to military service.
A number of the educational institutions represented in this collection changed names
over the years. The Negro Agricultural and Technological College is now the North
Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. The North Carolina
College for Women was the predecessor of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
The North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering became North Carolina
State University in Raleigh. Trinity College, once its own institution and later the
undergraduate college for men at Duke, became part of modern-day Duke University.
Wake Forest College was originally located in the town of Wake Forest, North Carolina,
during World War I; however, it moved to Winston-Salem and became present-day Wake
Forest University.
Contents of the Collection
1. Box 1
State-Supported Schools
Scope and Content:
Series I is the largest series in the collection. It is composed of materials from
state-supported academic institutions in North Carolina related to World War I. Many
of these items are stamped as having been sent to Fred A. Olds and Robert B. House,
war materials collectors for the North Carolina Historical Commission. The materials
were collected by these two men during the war by signing up for university mailing
lists. Materials they deemed important were retained following the war to create this
collection.
Although materials from the University of North Carolina comprise the majority of
this series, materials from numerous other colleges and universities exist within
this collection. Some schools have been renamed in recent years, such as the Negro
Agricultural and Technological College (see Box 1, Folder 3), which is now called
the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
Interesting items in this series include photographs of women at academic institutions,
who volunteered to support various war efforts and programs, performing agricultural
work and processing food for the war effort (see Box 1, Folder 5). One such female
student group, the "Farmerettes," worked on campus at the North Carolina College for
Women (present-day University of North Carolina-Greensboro). Also of interest is a
photograph of University of North Carolina men training at a Reserve Officers' Training
Corps (ROTC) Camp in 1917 (see Box 1, Folder 12).
2. Box 2
Private Schools
Scope and Content:
Series II contains newspaper clippings, correspondence, alumni publications, booklets
and photographs related to private schools, colleges, and universities in North Carolina
during World War I. The materials in this series range from 1915-1921. Some of these
items are stamped as having been sent to Fred A. Olds and Robert B. House, war materials
collectors for the North Carolina Historical Commission. The materials were collected
by these two men during the war by signing up for university mailing lists. Materials
they deemed important were retained following the war to create this collection.
As with Series I, some institutions changed their names since this material was collected.
For example, Trinity College (see Box 2, Folders 13-16 and Box 3, Folders 1-5) is
now a part of Duke University in Durham.
Interesting items in this series include a photograph of Trinity College students
training at Camp Chickamauga Park of Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and the photograph's
accompanying letter addressed to Fred A. Olds (see Box 2, Folder 13). The letter shows
how some materials were collected for the Historical Commission, and also provides
some background information about the photograph.
3. Box 3
General Education Materials
Scope and Content:
Series III contains booklets, correspondence, publications, and newspaper clippings
taken from various state and from national education sources, as well as material
from institutions outside of North Carolina. These materials served various purposes.
State educational materials included teachers' materials and state educational standards
for use during WWI. Government publications were intended to help set and standardize
educational curriculums, as with those included here from the U.S. Bureau of Education
(part of the U.S. Department of the Interior during WWI). Institutions outside of
North Carolina published materials for a wide variety of purposes, including alumni
publications and endowment fundraising, such as from the University of California.
The materials were collected by Fred A. Olds and Robert B. House, war materials collectors
for the North Carolina Historical Commission, during the war by signing up for university
mailing lists. Materials they deemed important were retained following the war to
create this collection. The series is divided into two subseries: Subseries IIIA:
North Carolina, and Subseries IIIB: National and State.
North Carolina
4. Box 4
5. Oversized Materials
Scope and Content:
Series IV contains oversized materials originally folded and stored in regular file
folders within the collection. Box 5 [Oversized Materials], Folder 1, contains a partial
panoramic photograph, depicting Davidson College students at the ROTC camp in Chickamauga
Park, Georgia, in 1917.
Oversized Folders 1 and 2 contain single-sided proof sheets of the University of North
Carolina-Chapel Hill Newsletter from July 30, 1919, to December 8, 1920. The newsletter
proof sheets in this collection are incomplete-there is not a complete issue run for
the newsletter. The newsletter contains information on students returning to the University
of North Carolina following military service, and what life on the campus was like
after the war.
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
Gift, The North Carolina School Wartime Materials collection was acquired in multiple parts by Fred A. Olds and Robert B. House from 1917 to 1921. As war records collectors for the North Carolina Historical Commission, Olds and House were charged with obtaining documents, records, and visual materials related to North Carolina's wartime efforts. Due to difficulties collecting wartime records from organizations and institutions, Olds and House signed up for various North Carolina educational institutions' mailing lists, for such publications as school newsletters; and coordinated with various school officials to collect the remaining records in this collection. In their collection efforts, they received from certain North Carolina schools and educational associations' publications, correspondence, and photographs related to campus and students involved in the war effort.In the 1918-1920 North Carolina Historical Commission Biennial Report published in 1920, the Historical Commission noted that, "About 3,000 pieces, [of material from educational institutions] 1917-1920, miscellaneous data, collected by the Collector of War Records [Fred A. Olds]." The report also notes the acquisition of a photograph titled "Wake Forest students at Plattsburg in 1918" (see Box 3, Folder 7). All of the materials in this collection were acquired or collected as part of the North Carolina Historical Commission's on-going World War historic materials collection project, which was authorized by Sections 3 and 4 of Chapter 144 of the North Carolina Public Laws and Resolutions in 1919.
Processing Information
The names of the educational institutions as written on the original folders have been largely retained. However, in some cases, institutions' names were changed on folder titles to reflect the names of the institutions by the end of the war, as documented by the last documents containing those names within this collection. Although many of these institutions have since changed their names, the new names of schools are noted in the Historical Note of this finding aid.
Pieces of paper attached to photographs, which contained information about the photographs' subject matter and dates, were removed and photocopied on acid-free bond paper. This bond paper was placed in the back of the acid-free archival sleeve with the photographs.
The single oversized photograph-originally stored in a regular legal-size folder in the collection-has been relocated to Box 5 [Oversized Materials], and Oversized Folders 1-2 (stored in the Military Collection Oversized Map Case).