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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 146.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 91,000 items) |
| Abstract | George Hyndman Esser Jr. was born in Norton, Va., in 1922. Esser was a life-long civil rights advocate and crusader against poverty who led the North Carolina Fund under Governor Terry Sanford in the 1960s. He was also a professor of public law and government at the Institute of Government, University of North Carolina, 1948-1963; executive director of the North Carolina Fund, 1963-1969; program officer for the South for the Ford Foundation; 1969-1972; and executive director of the Southern Regional Council, 1972-1976. He died in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 2006. The collection includes correspondence, proposals, reports, speeches, minutes of meetings, articles, clippings, and other materials relating to George Esser's work with the Eastern North Carolina area of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (ENC-LISC); the Ford Foundation; the Southern Regional Council; the North Carolina Fund; the Episcopal Church, especially the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill; the North Carolina Indian Cultural Center; Joint Orange-Chatham Community Action, Inc. (JOCCA); the North Carolina Community Development Initiative; the National Academy of Public Administration; the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina; and other organizations. In addition to information about the organizations themselves, there is much information about the South, community development, rural development, poverty, race relations, and the work of foundations. Also included are files on activities of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation in other states and files of MDC, Inc., which was originally established in 1968 as the North Carolina Manpower Development Corporation and changed its name to MDC, Inc. in the mid-1970s when it became a national organization. Other materials in the collection include family correspondence and related items; materials relating to the life and work of George Esser's wife, Mary Irene Strother Parker Esser; materials relating to George Esser's education at the Virginia Military Institute and Harvard Law School, including a diary, 1946-1948; and materials relating to George Esser's involvement in World War II and the 89th Chemical Mortar Battalion. |
| Creator | Esser, George H. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Processing Information
Processed by: Adera Scheinker, Linda Sellars, Brian Kelsey, Roslyn Holdzkom, 1997-2000; and Margaret Dickson, 2007
Encoded by: Roslyn Holdzkom, January 2007
Finding aid updated by: Margaret Dickson, March 2007
Because additions have not been integrated into the original deposit of papers, researchers are advised to review all box descriptions for materials of interest.
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Subject Headings
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.
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Related Collections
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Biographical Information
George Hyndman Esser Jr. was born in Norton, Va., in 1922. He received degrees from Virginia Military Institute and Harvard Law School. He was professor of public law and government at the Institute of Government, University of North Carolina, 1948-1963; executive director of the North Carolina Fund, 1963-1969; program officer for the South for the Ford Foundation; 1969-1972; and executive director of the Southern Regional Council, 1972-1976. Esser wrote and spoke widely on the topics of North Carolina government, economy, and education. Esser died in Chapel Hill, NC., on 5 November 2006.
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Scope and Content
The collection includes correspondence, proposals, reports, speeches, minutes of meetings, articles, clippings, and other materials relating to civil rights advocate and a crusader against poverty George H. Esser's work with the Eastern North Carolina area of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (ENC-LISC); the Ford Foundation; the Southern Regional Council; the North Carolina Fund; the Episcopal Church; the North Carolina Indian Cultural Center; Joint Orange-Chatham Community Action, Inc. (JOCCA); the North Carolina Community Development Initiative; the National Academy of Public Administration; the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina; and other organizations. In addition to information about the organizations themselves, there is much information about the South, community development, rural development, poverty, race relations, and the work of foundations. Also included are files on activities of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation in other states and files of MDC, Inc., which was originally established in 1968 as the North Carolina Manpower Development Corporation and changed its name to MDC, Inc. in the mid-1970s when it became a national organization. Other materials in the collection include family correspondence and related items; materials relating to the life and work of George Esser's wife, Mary Irene Strother Parker Esser; materials relating to George Esser's education at the Virginia Military Institute and Harvard Law School, including a diary, 1946-1948; and materials relating to George Esser's involvement in World War II and the 89th Chemical Mortar Battalion.
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Series Quick Links
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Original Deposit.
See also Box 34.
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Additions.
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Addition of July 1999 (Acc. 98404), 1958-1989.
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Additions of January and February 2000 (Acc. 98534 and 98573), 1949-1998
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Addition of August 2000 (Acc. 98731), 1960-2000
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Addition of March 2006 and January 2007 (Acc. 100348, 100572).
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Addition of February 2007 (Acc. 100583), 1963-1970.
Two data compact discs and related documents created in 2006 and 2007 from collected interviews conducted 1963-1970.