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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 | 41 items |
| Abstract | The Harry Lee Harllee Films consist of 41 reels of silent, black and white, color and tinted 16mm motion picture films, including both home movies and commercially released films. The home movies were shot, edited, and titled by Harry Lee Harllee, a white naturalist, ornithologist, taxidermist, and founder of the Harllee Museum of Natural History and the Harllee Construction Company, both in Florence, S.C. Film subjects include people formerly enslaved by the Harllee, Rogers and Brockington families; members of the Harllee, Quattlebaum, Blackwell, and Dargan families; friends; hunting and fishing scenes in North Carolina and South Carolina; Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston, S.C.; members of the Woodstone Hunting Club; and trips to Washington, D.C., the Florida Keys, and Elon College, N.C., in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Many of the films are extensively edited and contain numerous intertitles identifying people and places. Some also have identifying information written on paper inserts or on their boxes. The commercially released films are primarily short nature documentaries. |
| Creator | Harllee, Harry Lee, 1876-1952. |
| 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: Ethan Clauset, May 2008
Encoded by: Ethan Clauset, May 2008
Conscious Editing Work by: Nancy Kaiser, July 2020. Updated abstract, scope and content note, and container list.
Updated by: Anne Wells and Andrew Crook, December 2020; Nancy Kaiser, January 2021
Titles and descriptions provided on original films from the collection come from original housing and intertitles created by Harry Lee Harllee. Some of his descriptions contain offensive and racist language. In 2020 archivists removed transcriptions of these intertitles from the finding aid.
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
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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
Harry Lee Harllee was born on 27 September 1876 to Harry Thomas Harllee and Mary Hart McCall. His great uncle, General William Wallace Harllee, founded the city of Florence, S.C. He served in World War I as captain, 2nd Infantry, South Carolina National Guard. He was a naturalist, ornithologist, taxidermist, and founder of the Harllee Museum of Natural History in Florence. In 1927, he founded the Harllee Construction Company in Florence. In 1947, Alexander McQueen Quattlebaum joined the company as a partner, and it was renamed Harllee-Quattlebaum Inc. Harllee died on 22 February 1952.
Alexander McQueen Quattlebaum, Harry Lee Harllee's nephew, was born on 12 September 1913 to McQueen Quattlebaum and Elizabeth McCall Harllee, daughter of Harry Thomas Harllee and Mary Hart McCall. He died in 1987.
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Scope and Content
The Harry Lee Harllee Films consist of 41 reels of silent, black and white, color and tinted 16mm motion picture films, including both home movies and commercially released films. The home movies were shot, edited, and titled by Harry Lee Harllee, a white naturalist, ornithologist, taxidermist, and founder of the Harllee Museum of Natural History and the Harllee Construction Company, both in Florence, S.C. Film subjects include people formerly enslaved by the Harllee, Rogers and Brockington families; members of the Harllee, Quattlebaum, Blackwell, and Dargan families; friends; hunting and fishing scenes in North Carolina and South Carolina; Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston, S.C.; members of the Woodstone Hunting Club; and trips to Washington, D.C., the Florida Keys, and Elon College, N.C., in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Many of the films are extensively edited and contain numerous intertitles identifying people and places. Some also have identifying information written on paper inserts or on their boxes. The commercially released films are primarily short nature documentaries.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Home movies, 1927-1932.
16mm motion picture films, acetate or diacetate base, silent, all black and white reversal except for one in color (F-4773/17). Estimated lengths from 40 to 475 feet.
| Film F-4773/1 |
Wild goose hunting, New Holland, N.C., 1928-192916mm motion picture film Scenes from a wild goose hunt at Mattamuskeet Lake, New Holland, in Hyde County, N.C., in the winter of 1928. Subjects include New Holland Village and New Holland Inn, Mattamuskeet Lake pumping station, and Harry Lee Harllee and hunting companions. This film is heavily edited and contains numerous intertitles describing the pictured scenes. |
| Film F-4773/2 |
Pamlico Sound, N.C., 192816mm motion picture film Coastal scenes and wild duck hunting. Subjects include an African American woman in a white dress and heels, dancing; Pamlico Sound; North Wimber Creek; wild birds; an open water hunting blind; placing wooden decoys; and hunting guide Albert Murphy. |
| Film F-4773/11 |
Harllees, Quattlebaums, and others, 1927-192916mm motion picture film Family and friends of the Harllees and Quattlebaums, all identified by numerous intertitles. Subjects include Christmas dinner at the home of McQueen Quattlebaum in Johnston, S.C.; a picnic at Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and the Woodstone Hunting and Fishing Clubhouse on the Great Pee Dee River, S.C. |
| Film F-4773/12 |
A visit to Magic Magnolia, S.C., April 192816mm motion picture film Subjects identified by numerous intertitles include the estate formerly known as Magnolia-on-the-Ashley, but now called Magnolia Gardens, on the Ashley River, near Charleston, S.C.; the Ashley River Bridge; Frazier, the official gate-opener at Magnolia Gardens and formerly enslaved; and the Drayton tomb in the gardens. |
| Film F-4773/13 |
Dargan family, 1928-192916mm motion picture film Subjects identified by numerous intertitles include men rounding up live duck decoys on Wando River, S.C.; Cherry Hill Plantation; dancing at the Dargans' home, Florence, S.C., 1929; and family and friends of the Dargans. |
| Film F-4773/14 |
Friends and people formerly enslaved by the Harllee family, 1928-192916mm motion picture film Subjects identified by numerous intertitles include Oliver Pierce, who was formerly enslaved by Dr. Robert Harllee, of Florence County, S.C.; Mingo Jackson, who was formerly enslaved by the Rogers family of Florence, S.C.; Cato Brockington, who was formerly enslaved by the Brockington family; Oliver Wilds, who was formerly employed as a servant to Harry Lee Harllee in Harllee's childhood; and men squirreling in the Pee Dee Swamp and frying fish on Black Creek. |
| Film F-4773/15 |
Washington, D.C., undated16mm motion picture film Subjects include White House exterior and grounds, Washington Zoo, Washington Monument, Capitol Building and Mall, a coastal scene, unearthing eggs at the beach. |
| Film F-4773/17 |
Florida Keys, Fla., undated16mm motion picture film Subjects include the Florida Keys and birds and dolphins at a water park. This is the only color film in this collection. |
| Film F-4773/18 |
Blackwell family, Florence, S.C., 192816mm motion picture film Members of the Blackwell family of Florence, S.C. |
| Film F-4773/19 |
Duck hunt outtakes, 192816mm motion picture film Subjects include a brace of ducks hanging from the side of a car, unidentified hunters, an unidentified person in a small boat, and open water. |
| Film F-4773/21 |
Harry Lee Harllee, 192816mm motion picture film Harry Lee Harllee walking with two unidentified women. |
| Film F-4773/22 |
Elon College, Elon, N.C., undated16mm motion picture film People and scenes of Elon College, N.C. |
| Film F-4773/23 |
Coastal scenes at Beaufort, S.C., undated16mm motion picture film Subjects include beach scenes, unidentified people, and a motorboat. |
| Film F-4773/24 |
Pelican Island, Fla.; alligator farm, St. Augustine, Fla., undated16mm motion picture film Subjects include Pelican Island; Mrs. Harry Lee Harllee; and an alligator farm in Saint Augustine, Fla. |
| Film F-4773/25 |
Elon College, Elon, N.C., 192916mm motion picture film Subjects include Elon College campus; Elon Mayor W.E. Lowe; residential and commercial areas of Elon; and the Southern Railway freight and passenger station. |
| Film F-4773/26 |
Elon College, N.C.: Titles16mm motion picture film Titles only, no images. |
| Film F-4773/27 |
Goose hunt outtakes, 192816mm motion picture film Subjects include a coastal area; ducks and geese; and George E. McNutt of Raleigh, N.C. |
| Film F-4773/28 |
Flooded Pee Dee River, S.C., 192816mm motion picture film Subjects include a flood in the Pee Dee River and friends of the Harllee family. Notations on original film box read: "C. E. Bunron[?], Oliver etc, Cannon[?] children and home, first scenes with 6" lens" |
| Film F-4773/29 |
Outtakes, 192916mm motion picture film Subjects include Jennie McRae Johnson of Florence, S.C., and deer hunting. Notations on original film box read: "Annie [?] class, Bill [?], Jeannie, Mobley, Holt, Bill on deer stand, dressing on Bills Cr[eek?] [?] 1930" |
| Film F-4773/30 |
Outtakes, 192816mm motion picture film Subjects include ducks on Cooper River, S.C., and people and scenes of Elon College, N.C. Notations on original film box read: "ducks on Cooper River; Mandi Rogers, Mack, Mrs. Mack, Olive, [?], Mumford, Glenn and Ed Gregg" |
| Film F-4773/31 |
Birds, 192816mm motion picture film Subjects include various birds and an unidentified man climbing a tree to a birds' nest. Notation on original film box reads: "Birds" |
| Film F-4773/32 |
Elon College, Elon, N.C., 192816mm motion picture film Elon College, N.C., campus and students. Notations on original film box read: "J. L. Morgan, Coker[?], etc" |
| Film F-4773/33 |
Virginia Ariail, Spartanburg, S.C., 192816mm motion picture film From intertitles: "Miss Virginia Ariail strolling in the park, Spartanburg, S.C." Notations on original film box read: "Chimney Rock, Lake Lure, Asheville scenes, Virginia" |
| Film F-4773/34 |
Pocataligo River, Beaufort County, S.C., 192816mm motion picture film Subjects include a picnic on the Pocataligo River; scenes of the Pocataligo River near Yemassee, Beaufort County, S.C.; family and friends of the Harllees; African American children watching a boat; crabbing in the Pocataligo River; and an African American man, possibly Tom Barringer, doing a clog dance on the river bank. Notations on original film box read: "Bill and Mrs. Mack boating, Joe dancing, Kate Brant, Filling St., Tom Barringer" |
| Film F-4773/35 |
Spear fishing, 193116mm motion picture film Subjects include spear fishing on a river, birds, a cotton field, unidentified people, a beach, and a hunting party in a field. Notations on original film box read: "[?] rock fish, Mrs. Holt, birds, etc" |
| Film F-4773/36 |
Military drill, Charleston, S.C., 193116mm motion picture film Subjects include buildings and a military parade or drill, possibly at Battery Park, and the Citadel Military College in Charleston, S.C. |
| Film F-4773/37 |
Hopewell Church cemetery, undated16mm motion picture film Subjects include Hopewell Church cemetery and ruins of Melrose Plantation. Notations on original film box read: "ruins of Melrose Plantation, Hopewell Church and cemetary, Mary and Corbet (poor)" |
| Film F-4773/38 |
Heron rookery, 193216mm motion picture film Subjects include Sander's Heron Rookery, birds, nests, and a coastal area. Notations on original film box read: "Sander's Heron Rookery 1932" |
| Film F-4773/39 |
Birds, 193216mm motion picture film Subjects include birds' nests and a boy climbing trees to retrieve eggs. |
| Film F-4773/40 |
Buzzard Island, S.C., hunting, 1931Subjects identified by a handwritten note include family and friends of the Harllees, fishing, coastal area, hunting deer, a dying buck, dogs, Buzzard Island, ducks at Hutton's on Edisto River, deer killed at Woodstone Dee, a bee hive on Witherspoon Island, and a large group of people eating dinner on Witherspoon Island and cutting shirt tails. Notations on original film box read: "Wilson on Buzzard Island, ducks at Hutton's, Buck and hounds, deer at W[ood]stone, B[ee] hive W[itherspoon] island, dinner W[itherspoon], cutting shirt tails, house [?]" The film contains images of animal death, including scenes of a deer running, falling, and dying after being shot (1:48-2:14) and footage of dead deer being hung by hunters for dressing (2:23-2:46). |
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Series 2. Commercial films, 1927-1945.
16mm motion picture films, acetate or diacetate base, silent, all black and white positives. Some of the films are tinted: F-4773/3, F-4773/5, F-4773/8, F-4773/9, F-4773/10, F-4773/16.
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Items Separated