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Collection Number: 02970

Collection Title: Harley Bascom Ferguson Papers, 1892-1941.

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.


This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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Size 5.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1,000 items)
Abstract Harley Bascom Ferguson, of Waynesville, N.C., graduated from West Point in 1897 and served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers, retiring in 1939 as a major general. The collection includes papers pertaining to Ferguson's domestic and foreign military assignments, particularly to service in the China Relief Expedition, 1901; the raising of the U.S.S. "Maine" in Havana harbor, Cuba, 1910-1911; and flood control on the Mississippi River, 1932-1939. There also is information on his World War I service as a general of engineers in France and commander of the Newport News (Va.) port of embarkation, and his work with industrial mobilization in the office of Assistant Secretary of War Dwight Filley Davis, 1921-1927.
Creator Ferguson, Harley Bascom, b. 1875.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

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 Harley Bascom Ferguson Papers, #2970, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Additional Descriptive Resources
A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.
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.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, June 2009; Dawne Howard Lucas, May 2021

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse 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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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Harley Bascom Ferguson (1875-1968), of Waynesville, N.C., graduated from West Point in 1897 and served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers. During his military service he was stationed in Cuba, 1898; the Phillippines, 1899; and as chief engineer of the China Relief Expedition, 1900, of the Boxer War. He was also district engineer in Montgomery, Ala., 1907-1909; the executive officer in charge of the U.S.S. "Maine" in Havana harbor, 1910-1911; and district engineer in Milwaukee, Wis., 1913-1916. During World War I, he served in France as brigadier general and chief engineer of the 2nd Army, and on his return commanded the Newport News (Va.) port of embarkation. He was district engineer in Pittsburg, Pa., in 1920. He was in charge of organization of industrial mobilization, working with the assitant secretary of war, Dwight F. Davis, and served as director of the Army Industrial College, 1921-1927. He also served as division engineer of Gulf Division, New Orleans, La., 1928; of the Ohio River Division, 1928-1930; and of the South Atlantic Division, Norfolk, Va., 1930-1932. From 1932 until his retirement as major general in 1939, he was division engineer of the Lower Mississippi River Division and president of the Mississippi River Commission, with headquarters in Vicksburg, Miss. He was a member of special engineering boards concerned with rivers and harbors, 1930-1932; the St. Lawrence Waterway, 1930-1931; Muscle Shoals; the Delaware River; the Lexington Dam; the mouth of the Columbia River; and the mouth of the Mississippi River.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes papers pertaining to Ferguson's military assignments in the United States Army Corps of Engineers, particularly to service in the China Relief Expediton, 1901; the raising of the U.S.S. "Maine" in Havana harbor, 1910- 1911; and flood control on the Mississippi River, 1932-1939. There also is information on his World War I service as a general of engineers in France and commander of the Newport News (Va.) port of embarkation, and his work with industrial mobilization in the office of Assistant Secretary of War Dwight Filley Davis, 1921-1927.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Papers, 1892-1941 and undated.

The papers closely parallel Ferguson's military and engineering career, and are concerned with his assignments and work, particularly full in relation to the China Relief Expedition, the raising of the U.S.S. "Maine," industrial mobilization, and Mississippi flood control work. There is no material on his service in Cuba and the Philippines during the Spanish-American War.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

1892-1900

Folder 2

1901-1905

Folder 3

1906-1909

Folder 4-5

Folder 4

Folder 5

1910

Folder 6-9

Folder 6

Folder 7

Folder 8

Folder 9

1911

Folder 10-15

Folder 10

Folder 11

Folder 12

Folder 13

Folder 14

Folder 15

1912

Folder 16

1913-1915

Folder 17

1916

Folder 18

1918-1919

Folder 19

1920-1922

Folder 20

1923-1926

Folder 21

1927

Folder 22

1928

Folder 23-24

Folder 23

Folder 24

1929

Folder 25

1930

Folder 26-29

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

Folder 29

1931

Folder 30-33

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

Folder 33

1932

Folder 34-35

Folder 34

Folder 35

1933

Folder 36-37

Folder 36

Folder 37

1934

Folder 38-41

Folder 38

Folder 39

Folder 40

Folder 41

1935

Folder 42-43

Folder 42

Folder 43

1936

Folder 44-47

Folder 44

Folder 45

Folder 46

Folder 47

1937

Folder 48-51

Folder 48

Folder 49

Folder 50

Folder 51

1938

Folder 52-53

Folder 52

Folder 53

1939

Folder 53

1941

Folder 54-56

Folder 54

Folder 55

Folder 56

Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Dwight Filley Davis Letters, 1923.

Letters addressed to Dwight Filley Davis in reply to a letter he sent to businessmen in connection with industrial mobilization.

Folder 57-59

Folder 57

Folder 58

Folder 59

May-July 1923

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Daily reports, 1910-1912.

Daily reports of work on raising the U.S.S. "Maine."

Folder 60-76

Folder 60

Folder 61

Folder 62

Folder 63

Folder 64

Folder 65

Folder 66

Folder 67

Folder 68

Folder 69

Folder 70

Folder 71

Folder 72

Folder 73

Folder 74

Folder 75

Folder 76

Reports 1-16, December 1910-February 1912

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Volumes, 1900-1938.

Chiefly records and reports primarily related to Ferguson's work on the China Relief Expedition, the raising of the U.S.S. "Maine," and Mississippi river flood control.

Folder 77

Volume 1: Records, Headquarters China Relief Expedition, 1900-1901

Folder 78

Volume 2: Records, Headquarters China Relief Expedition, 1900-1901

Folder 79

Volume 3: Record book, communications, Office Chief Engineer Officer, China Relief Expedition, 1900-1901

Folder 80

Volume 4: Report, Foreign Engineer Troops, 1901

Folder 81

Volume 5: Letterbook, correspondence with War Department, 1907-1912

Folder 82-86

Folder 82

Folder 83

Folder 84

Folder 85

Folder 86

Volumes 6-10: Photograph albums, U.S.S. "Maine"

Folder 87

Volume 11: Report, rivers survey, 1910

Oversize Volume SV-2970/12

Volume 12: Scrapbook, Newport News (Va.) port of embarkation, 1918-1919

Folder 89

Volume 13: Report, Mississippi River floods, 1930

Folder 90-93

Folder 90

Folder 91

Folder 92

Folder 93

Volumes 14-17: Muscle Shoals Commission, 1931

Folder 94

Volume 18: Report, Mississippi River, 1932

Folder 95

Volume 19: Report, Mississippi River flood control, 1932-1939

Folder 96

Volume 20: Index to Congressional statements made by Brigadier General Harley Bascom Ferguson, 1933-1936

Folder 97-99

Folder 97

Folder 98

Folder 99

Volumes 21-23: Scrapbooks, Mississippi River flooding, 1937

Folder 100

Volume 24: Scrapbook, 1933-1938

Folder 101

Volume 25: Data, Mississippi River, 1937

Folder 102

Volume 26: Report, Mississippi River navigation, 1938

Folder 103

Volume 27: Report, Mississippi River navigation and flood control, 1938

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

Oversize volume (SV-2970/12).

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