North Carolina Hall of History Materials, WWI 7

[Item name or title], [Box and Folder Numbers], North Carolina Hall of History Materials, WWI 7, WWI Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.

The North Carolina Hall of History Materials collection is composed of awards, correspondence, newspaper clippings and articles, pamphlets, propaganda materials, telegrams, handouts, and published items, which were formerly placed on display in the North Carolina Historical Commission's Hall of History World War I exhibits. The collection is arranged in three unnumbered groups based on the geographic origin of the documents: North Carolina; United States; and International.

The North Carolina Hall of History Materials is not arranged in particular series or subseries. It is arranged in three unnumbered groups based on the geographic origin of the documents: North Carolina; United States; and International. Within these groups, the collection is arranged by date.

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.

Fred A. Olds, the father of the North Carolina Museum of History, began collecting objects from North Carolina's past prior to 1900. He traveled all across North Carolina, picking up pieces of the state's history, and listening to the stories associated with each item told by local citizens. In 1898, a gallery of history was set up in the State Museum (now called the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences) in the old Agriculture Building in Raleigh, North Carolina. Olds soon developed a large private collection, and suggested that his collection and the historical material in the State Museum be combined to establish a state historical museum. On December 5, 1902, Olds' private collection and the State Museum's collection were merged and opened to the public as the Hall of History.

At the start of World War I in 1914, the North Carolina Historical Commission took over the operation of the North Carolina Hall of History, and assigned to the Hall two main purposes for its continued operation: 1) to teach the history of North Carolina to the public, and 2) to preserve historical material for and of the state. Items in the Hall were put on display in crowded glass display cases, often organized according to historical theme.

During World War I, Fred A. Olds was tasked with locating and gathering textual and artifacts regarding the Great War for exhibition by the state of North Carolina, with the goal of such exhibition being to educate the public and school children on the developing aspects of the war. Prior to the United States' entrance into the war, Olds focused his collection scope on gathering materials related to the involvement of European nations in the war. When the United States joined the war, Olds embarked on gathering war-related items connected with North Carolina's contributions to the war effort. He collected pamphlets, posters, soldiers' letters, military awards and certificates, photographs of combat scenes and home front activities, and other such items for inclusion in the Hall of History's war exhibits.

Within the World War I Papers in the Military Collection of the State Archives of North Carolina, there are other items which Olds collected and exhibited in the Hall of History WWI exhibits, but which are not included within this particular collection. Those items were divided up into different subject groupings following the war, and organized as part of the larger World War I records collection project by the North Carolina Historical Commission.

1. North Carolina Hall of History Materials

2. United States Hall of History Materials

3. International Hall of History Materials

4. Box 1

Gift, The North Carolina Hall of History Materials collection was acquired in multiple parts by Fred A. Olds from approximately 1914 to 1923, with additional items added by the North Carolina Historical Commission until 1941. As Collector for the North Carolina Historical Commission's Hall of History, Olds was charged with obtaining all manner of artifacts, documents, records, and visual materials to put on display in the Hall regarding the World War I period in history. Olds selected items which demonstrated the wartime experiences and military history of Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain, and the United States.In the 1916-1918 North Carolina Historical Commission Biennial Report (published in 1918), the Historical Commission noted in the report that "The Collector for the Hall of History was instructed to devote special attention to the collection of all sorts of material bearing upon the war . . . ." Materials in this collection are also referenced in the 1918-1920 Biennial Report, specifically as it relates to the documents pertaining to Robert L. Blackwell. Not all of the materials in this collection are recorded by Olds as to their origin prior to their arrival in the World War I war records collection. Fred A. Olds, as Hall of History Collector, continued to gather materials related to World War I for exhibition purposes in the Hall, later giving the documents and photographs put on exhibit to the North Carolina Historical Commission's World War I war records collection.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.