Manuscript and Archival Collections

The collection comprises the records of AAA Carolinas, from its inception as the Carolina Motor Club in 1922 through 2009. The files contain correspondence, annual reports, consumer publications and promotional materials, internal publications for AAA franchises, media clippings, historical photographs, and back issues of the Club's magazine from 1923-1929 and 1936-2007.

This collection contains materials from the Alexander Family and the Alexander Funeral Home. Alexander Family Material contains documents generated by the patriarch of the family, Zechariah Alexander, primarily in his duties as an officer in the Free Masons and the Shriners organizations. The Alexander Funeral Home subseries contains documents dealing with the operation of the Alexander Funeral Home, currently the oldest continuously operating African-American owned funeral business in the city of Charlotte.

Papers documenting Alexander's service with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, including the Charlotte branch, his presidency of the North Carolina State Conference of Branches, and his membership on and chairing of the national board of directors. Includes minutes, correspondence, reports, speeches, programs, news releases, membership records, documentation on NAACP-initiated court cases, and material on voter education projects. Also includes material on the 1965 bombing of his home, the Charlotte Area Fund, health care, school desegregation, and housing.

Papers of William Tasse Alexander and his descendants in the Mallard Creek area of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Consists primarily of records relating to the operation of the family plantation, including deeds and other legal papers, financial accounts, and information on cotton production and slaves. Also includes correspondence, an 1882 school register, genealogical material, clippings, photographs, and early twentieth century postcards of Charlotte.

Primarily papers (1932-34) of Julian H. Little relating to his guardianship of Grace Carpenter of Statesville and including correspondence about the management of the Grace Hotel in Statesville.

Material related to her research on the textile workers strike in Gastonia in 1929. Includes a copy of her paper, "The Gastonia Strike of 1929: Social and Judicial Injustice."

This collection contains material created by Mildred Andrews to support her publishing interests, and a smaller quantity of materials created or received by Andrews during her term as executive secretary of the American Textile Machinery Association (ATMA).

Correspondence course booklets (1949-50) on textile milling and manufacturing published by International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Penn.

Primarily non-business related correspondence of a Charlotte textile industrialist, civic leader, and philanthropist. The bulk of the collection relates to Barnhardt's donation of copies of Cornelia Wearn Henderson's Early Charlotte and Mecklenburg County for Children (1968) to local schools and colleges.

The collection consists of photocopies of documents pertaining to two prominent families in Charlotte, NC: the Belks and the Everetts. Most of the collection consists of correspondence with Herschel Hill Everett, his daughter, Ann, and her husband, Henderson Belk.

Records of an architectural firm founded in 1905 by Richard C. Biberstein (1859-1931), who had come to Charlotte in 1887. Contains job files and drawings for approximately 350 projects, primarily textile mills and villages in North Carolina and Virginia.

Records of a general contractor founded in 1909 by John F. Blythe and William L. Isenhour, Sr. The Charlotte firm of Blythe and Isenhour operated until 1989. Twenty seven volumes, including job books, ledgers, cashbooks, and time book.

Personal papers, correspondence and memorabilia from Anita S. Brown, personal friend of Harry Golden. Includes materials from her nearly 30 years at Eastern Air Lines.

The Charlotte Business Guild was organized in 1992 to foster a network of business contacts and friendships, encourage fellowship, and support among business, professional and charitable pursuits, and provide and promote positive role models in Charlotte's lesbian and gay community. Records comprise administrative records, publications, and memorabilia of the Charlotte Business Guild.

Film reels of records from the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce.

The Charlotte Corporate Communications collection consists of photographs and negatives (and a few papers), generated by the City of Charlotte, NC.

Financial records of a resident of Cabarrus County, N.C. Contains decorative bill heads from local merchants, including Odell Curtis and Co., Dove and Bost Dealers, Miss Nannie Alexander, Cannons and Fetzer, and D.P. Dayvault.

The collection consists mostly of land indentures, promissory notes, chattel mortgages and receipts for consumer goods concerning primarily the Cochran family in eastern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, dating from 1823 to 1889.

Contains a wide range of corporate records of the Concord Telephone Company, from around 1900 to 1995. This includes such things as annual reports, contracts, correspondence, records about employee benefits, corporate stocks, advances in telephone technology, exchange stations, and more.

Papers of a Charlotte business executive, bibliophile, and benefactor of art museums and libraries in North Carolina. Includes personal and business correspondence, biographical and genealogical materials, subject files, diaries, manuscripts and ephemera, personal and family papers, publications, newspaper clippings, and photographs

The Parks H. Dalton Collection is a small collection of papers and records that came from the Interstate Securities Corporation and Interstate/Johnson Lane, investment firms headquartered in Charlotte, NC.

Personal and professional papers of De Alzugaray, an Argentina-born most noted for his pioneering work in the development of vanadium steel.

Papers of a Charlotte mayor (1935-41), businessman, and promoter of aviation. Consists primarily of material relating to Douglas's service (1961-79) on the Airport Advisory Committee for Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.

Materials documenting the life and career of Earle Sumner Draper, a landscape architect who was involved in several development projects in Charlotte, including Eastover, Myers Park, and Queens Road West. Contains news clippings; biographical materials; and reports and a videotape regarding Draper's career by Charles E. Aguar, professor emeritus of the University of Georgia's School of Environmental Design.

Records of a textile mill which operated in Lexington, N.C. Contains affirmative action plans, financial analyses, income statements, labor policies and statistics, merchandising plans, operating reports and statistics, and strategic plans.

The collection contains an assortment of papers and photographs from the Folger family and Tillett family. The bulk of the materials concern Charles Walter Tillett, a lawyer and Duncan Tillett, a banker; both of Charlotte in the early twentieth century.

Primarily photographs of Mecklenburg County scenes, including the family and the family business.

Records of a grocery store that operated in downtown Belmont. Consists primarily of ledger books of customer accounts and wholesalers. Also includes invoices, receipts, and banking records.

This collection is comprised primarily of financial information records of a Charlotte jewelry firm, comprised primarily of ledger books (1925-75) showing customer names and purchases.

Four ledgers on textile mills in Gaston County, NC, 1950-1970 and several textile books.

The collection contains two items: a handbill entitled "Military Warning" dated September 6, 1934, issued by Stephen B. Dolley; and a letter, dated September 12, 1934, written by George Rembert to Mrs. F. R. Summers, concerning the strike.

Joseph Free Grady was in the building business in Charlotte, North Carolina in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Memorabilia relating to Gus's Original Forty Niner restaurant, located near UNC Charlotte at 10008 University City Boulevard.

Collection includes personal and business records, including clippings, articles, photographs, legal/financial records, and memorabilia documenting Dale Halton and the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Charlotte.

Full page advertisement (page 4) from Charlotte Observer, Nov. 2, 1919 featuring P. H. Hanes Knitting Company, Winston-Salem, NC.

Originally opened in 1996, Hartigan’s was part dance club, part sports bar, part Irish pub and part restaurant. It attracted a diverse and unique clientele, with a mix of LGBT and straight ally patrons for lunches and dinners and women party-goers on the weekends. Hartigan's closed in 2014. The Hartigan’s Irish Pub and Restaurant Memorabilia collection consists of menus, posters, banners, a T shirt and a signed framed photograph.

Primarily photocopies of material relating to the career of his father, Ingenuin Hechenbleikner, Sr., with the chemical industry and including Duke Power.

Sue Henry is a prominent gay rights activist in Charlotte, NC. She was owner of Rising Moon Books & Beyond bookstore, the first out lesbian to run for Mayor of Charlotte, and an active member of several political and social LGBTQ organizations. The collection primarily documents in her participation in the Charlotte LGBTQ+ community in the 1990s, but also includes materials from her childhood and later life.

Donated by Shelton Drum, owner of Heroes Aren't Hard to Find, the collection contains several specialty comics that are HeroesCon-themed or were designed by Charlotte artists. Additionally, there is a series of convention booklets from HeroesCon.

Papers of the first non-family member to head Cannon Mills. Includes annual reports, correspondence, speeches, an unpublished company history, clippings, an anti-union film, copies of the firm's newspaper, and a scrapbook.

Minute books and financial records of one of Charlotte's oldest businesses, founded in 1883 by Samuel Wittkowsky as the Mechanics Perpetual Building and Loan Association.

This collection is comprised primarily of engineering drawings for highway bridges. Includes both general and specific project designs. Includes a biographical sketch of Horner, and three volumes regarding engineering specifications and practices.

Records of an organization established in 1977 to preserve the northern Mecklenburg County home of Hugh Torance (1743-1816), which was built in the 1770s or 1780s. Includes information on the history and restoration of the house, board minutes, financial records, correspondence, legal documents, fund raising material, and photographs.

Primarily papers and photographs of a president of the J. B. Ivey Department Store chain, which was later absorbed into Dillard's.

An account book for wholesale feed distributor located at 113 S. College Street. Entries date from 1932 through 1938.

Account book for a general goods store on North Tryon Street in Charlotte operated by James Kirk and Edwin Alexander, a son of Maj. Thomas Alexander. Entries begin on July 28, 1819 and go through March 28, 1821.

Photocopy of a policy manual (ca. 1960) of a manufacturer of rayon and silk in Greensboro, N.C.

Clarence O. Kuester, Sr. was active with the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and a tireless promoter of the city and its business potential.

The George Terry Lathrop papers concerns his career in city planning, land use, and especially traffic planning.

Material documenting Latimer's membership on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Energy Conservation Task Force created in 1973. Includes correspondence, minutes, news releases, reports, and speeches.

Material relating to the history of a West Charlotte mill. Includes photocopies of a promotional piece (1900) and a notebook (1919-20) involving construction of mill #2.

Keynote address of William S. Lee (President and Chief Operating Officer of the Duke Power Company) at the 1979 Joint Power Generation Conference, in Charlotte, N.C., on October 8, 1979.

The collection consists of one item: an appointment book used by William States Lee, senior in 1922, and concerns his work as an engineer in hydro-electrical utilities.

A single black-and-white photograph of Jimmie Lewallen, with his stock car, ca. 1955.

Papers relating to his services as a member of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners (1972-74) and as the principal organizer and president of the Spirit Square Development Group (1975-82). Includes correspondence, campaign material, reports, and newspaper clippings.

Papers of a UNC Charlotte political science professor primarily documenting his membership on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission, 1984-1991. Includes rezoning petitions, plans for proposed developments, correspondence, reports, small area and district plans, and maps.

Blueprints of projects constructed by a Charlotte firm, which was established in 1856 by John Wilkes and sold to Carolina Steel Corporation in the 1960s. Includes drawings for residences and commercial buildings, primarily in the Charlotte area.

Early records of a leading Charlotte men's clothing store that operated at The Square for more than 85 years and includes 2 ledger books.

The Ralfe Mesrobian records document Mesrobian's architectural practice from the 1950s through the early years of the twenty-first century. The bulk of the collection derives from Mesrobian's own firm, founded in 1956. Mesrobian's practice focused on both residential and commercial buildings and undertook numerous projects for the K-Mart Corporation.

Ledger books listing the accounts of dentist Edgar Dorsett Moore.

Papers documenting Nance's sex discrimination case against the Union Carbide plant in Charlotte. Consists primarily of legal documents, including motions, briefs, court proceedings, and depositions.

Collection contains five items from the National Caucus of Labor Committees (1974 and n.d.), a radical left wing organization that promoted socialism in America.

Primarily advertising material for a Charlotte-based hosiery mill founded in 1923 by William Nebel, a German immigrant, and purchased in 1968 by Morris Speizman. Also includes photographs of employees.

Printed ephemera produced by a fine press publisher founded in 1929 by George Macy. Consists primarily of advance annual listings, prospectuses, and other descriptions of the club's publications.

Collection of periodicals related to the racing industry.

Primarily plans (architectural drawings) of one of Charlotte’s oldest shopping centers, located at the intersection of Park and Woodlawn roads.

Annual reports for 1918-1935, in 2 bound volumes, for Parks-Cramer Company, a manufacturer of early HVAC equipment for factories and mills.

Primarily material relating to the involvement of this Textile Workers Union of America official in a strike at Harriet-Henderson Mills in Henderson, N.C. (1958-61), his conviction and subsequent imprisonment amidst allegations of a state-supported frame-up, and his eventual pardon. Includes correspondence, transcripts of radio broadcasts, clippings, audio-visual material, and manuscripts of his book.

Records of the Piedmont and Northern Railway Company (incomplete), which operated in North Carolina and South Carolina, 1910-1969. Materials include operating reports and balance sheets, stockholder information, publications, legal documents, correspondence, and photographs.

Included are materials generated by Pride Publishing and Typesetting, Inc., of Charlotte, publisher of QNotes, one of the oldest, continuously published LGBT community newspapers on the East Coast and the oldest in the Carolinas.

Primarily papers of Ella Hargrove Sayre Sullivan Robinson, a Montgomery, AL, native who married Walter Bernard Sullivan, co-owner of The Columbia Record and The Charlotte Observer. Includes business records and family papers.

Time book for the railway's Charlotte yard. Includes employees's names, job assignments, hours worked, and wages paid.

Papers relating to his membership on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Consolidation Study Committee and his involvement with Crestran Corporation (1976-78), a non-profit corporation established to analyze the feasibility of high-speed rail passenger service between Raleigh and Anderson, S.C.

The Southern Engineering Company was founded by Leslie G. Berry, Sr., in Charlotte, NC, in 1911. The company fabricated the structural steel used in the construction of power plants, commercial buildings, bridges and other structures in Charlotte and other locations in the Southeast. The collection includes corporate publications, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and photographs.

Papers of the Springs family of Mecklenburg County, N.C. and of York County, S.C.

Minute book of the Stephens Company, which owned and developed the property that became Myers Park, Charlotte, NC

This collection contains newspaper clippings, advertising brochures, and correspondence. The clippings are primarily reviews of Stone publications, while the correspondence is composed chiefly of business letters from newspaper editors.

Records (mostly minute books and books of stock certificates) of the Textile Mill Supply Company, the Industrial and Hardware Supply Company, and the Industrial and Textile Supply Company, of Charlotte, NC from 1898 to 1997.

Papers of Hugh Torrance and his descendants, including, his son, James Galbraith Torrance, and his grandson Richard Allison Torrance. Includes account books, Revolutionary War service records, family correspondence, land and estate records, information on slaves, and contracts with overseers.

Records of an organization that served as a commercial traveler "watch-dog" group against abuses by hotels, transportation providers, and other interests. Includes minutes, reports, and lists of members and officers.

Materials pertaining to NASCAR, ca. 1970-2007.

Files documenting the creation and operation of the University Research Park, established in northeast Charlotte in 1966 as a research and development park for business and industry. Includes correspondence, board minutes, financial and legal records, and information on marketing strategies and tenant firms.

Primarily papers relating to his two terms as mayor of Charlotte (1953-1957). Includes routine correspondence, speeches, clippings, biographical information, and photographs.

This collection includes extensive records/paperwork, press-kits/media-guides, speedway/racetrack information, photographs, promotional material, motorsport magazines and programs, driver data/statistics, CD-ROMs, newspapers/newsletters, and other information pertaining to the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA).

This collection contains the records of WBT radio, WBTV television, and the Jefferson-Pilot Communication Company of Charlotte, North Carolina from the 1920s to approximately the year 2009. There are also records from the Columbia Broadcasting System and a variety of syndicated television shows.

The collection consists of the papers of John (Jack) Weil, circa 1960-2009. This includes, journals, appointment books, papers from Christ Episcopal Church (in Charlotte, NC), Weil family genealogical notes, records from Systems Associates, Inc., and a rare IBM corporate songbook.

Personal, family, and business papers of a long-time Charlotte resident and construction company executive. Includes his diaries as a high school student (late 1920s); family correspondence and photographs; and records of the Southeastern Construction Company.

Papers of a family that settled in Charlotte in the 1850s. Contains extensive records involving the purchase and operations of gold mines, mills, and other businesses owned by the family and by their Renwick and Smedberg relations in North Carolina and South Carolina beginning in the 1820s.

The records of the Women Executives, of Charlotte, North Carolina, span from 1977 to 2008. These include the organization's charter and bylaws, minutes of meetings, newsletters, membership information, scrapbooks and more.

Primarily financial records, including Confederate and North Carolina state bonds (1862-64), shares of stock (1866) in the Rock Island Manufacturing Company, and bills and receipts (1884-85) paid by the estate of Joseph Harvey Wilson of Charlotte.