Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Josephine Clement Papers Inventory #04444, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Received from Josephine Clement of Durham, N.C., in May 1986, November 1987, July 1989, July 1990, May 1991, December 1993, and May 1996 (Acc. 96071), and from William L. Clement of Atlanta, Ga., in June 1998 (Acc. 98150) and October 1998 (Acc. 98212).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

This collection was processed with support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• African American civic leaders--North Carolina.
• African American families--North Carolina.
• African American leadership--History--20th century.
• African American leadership--North Carolina--Durham.
• African American women--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• African Americans--North Carolina--Durham.
• African Americans--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Butts, June Dobbs.
• Civic leaders--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Clement family.
• Clement, Josephine.
• Clement, William A., 1912-2001.
• Clement, William A., 1943-
• Democratic Party (N.C.)--History--20th century.
• Dobbs family.
• Dobbs, Mattiwilda.
• Durham (N.C.)--Politics and government.
• Durham (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Durham City Board of Education.
• Durham County (N.C.)--Politics and government.
• Durham County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Durham County Board of Commissioners.
• Education, Elementary--North Carolina--Durham.
• Education, Secondary--North Carolina--Durham.
• Families--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Hunt, James B., 1937-
• Jackson family.
• Jackson, Maynard, 1938-
• Local government--North Carolina.
• North Carolina--Politics and government--1951-
• Public schools--North Carolina--Durham.
• School boards--African American membership--North Carolina--Durham.
• Women--North Carolina--Durham.

• William A. Clement Papers (#4024);
• Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007), Interview C-31

Josephine Dobbs Clement (1918-1998) was one of six daughters born to Irene Ophelia Thompson Dobbs and John Wesley Dobbs. Her father was a prominent Atlanta, Ga., businessman. Clement received her B.S. degree from Spelman College in 1937 and her M.A. from Columbia University the following year. During the late 1940s, she moved with her husband, William A. Clement, to Durham, N.C., where she was active in civic affairs and in Durham and North Carolina politics. She served as a member of the Durham Library Board and was active as an organizer for the Democratic Party in Durham County. Her activities also included co-chairing Governor James Hunt's political campaigns in Durham County in 1980 and 1984 and serving as a member and, from 1978, the first African-American chair of the Durham City Board of Education. She was elected to the Durham County Board of Commissioners in 1984 and served three terms, retiring in 1990.

The collection includes correspondence relating to African American civic leader and politician Josephine Clement's work with a variety of business and civic organizations in Durham, N.C., and Durham County, N.C., including the Durham City Board of Education; the Durham County Board of Commissioners; the North Carolina Democratic Party, especially on James Hunt's 1980 and 1984 gubernatorial campaigns; and the White Rock Baptist Church. There are also letters and other materials pertaining to Clement's personal life and to the lives and civic work of her husband, William A. Clement, and their children, including William A. Clement, Jr. Also included are materials relating to other Dobbs, Jackson, and Clement family members, among them Mattiwilda Dobbs, June Dobbs Butts, and Maynard H. Jackson.

Separated items include photographs (P-4444) and oversize papers (OP-4444).