Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

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 James Franklin Cooley Papers #05663, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from T. Mike Childs in November 2015 (Acc. 102457).

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.

Processed by: Jackie Dean, March 2016

Encoded by: Jackie Dean, March 2016

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--Arkansas.
• African Americans--Arkansas--History--20th century.
• African Americans--Arkansas--Little Rock.
• African Americans--History.
• Beauty contests.
• Civic leaders--Arkansas--History--20th century.
• James F. (James Franklin), 1926-1992.

Dr. James Franklin Cooley was born in Robeson County, N.C., on 11 January 1926. He became an educator, minister, police officer, veteran, and civil rights activist. After serving in World War II, he recieved his first degree from Johnson C. Smith College in Charlotte, N.C. He earned a Master's in Divinity and Sociology, Doctor of Divinity, and a Doctorate of Social Science. He served as a minister at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Forrest City, Ark., and worked for the school board there. He also worked in law enforcement and in higher education in Arkansas; he served as a Dean at Shorter College and as a juvenille probation officer. His work earned him many honors, awards, and attention.

The collection contains James Franklin Cooley's resume; scattered printed materials relating to his candidacy in statewide and local elections; proclamations honoring Cooley chiefly from Pulaski County and Little Rock, Ark.; certificates and awards; pages from biographical dictionaries containing James Franklin Cooley's entry; and clippings about him. Materials are primarily photocopies. There are also programs from three beauty pageants, 1971-1974, held in Little Rock, Ark., for African-American contestants sponsored by Cooley's Athletic and Teenage Club, Inc.