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Collection Number: 05098

Collection Title: Lawrence D. Kessler Collection, 1820-2014

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.


expand/collapse Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size 20.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 5875 items)
Abstract Lawrence D. Kessler, emeritus professor of Chinese history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, gathered the unrelated papers of George R. Marvell, the North Carolina China Council, Lawrence D. Kessler, and the Newton and Underwood families. George Ralph Marvell was a career United States Navy officer, who retired from active service in 1931 as a rear admiral. His papers, many of which relate to travels and work in China and the Philippines, contain personal correspondence, financial and legal papers, photographs, and other materials relating to him; his wife, Anna Nippes Wynkoop Marvell; and their son, George, who served as a submarine officer in the Navy, 1917-1935. The North Carolina China Council, a regional affiliate of the Asia Society, was established in 1977 and remained active until at least 1989. Records consist of administrative materials, including newsletters, annual reports, minutes from meetings, memoranda, funding and grant proposals, and a correspondence file, and research materials, including photographs and audio-visual recordings relating to the Council's traveling exhibit and presentation, North Carolina's China Connections, 1840-1949. Publications include pamphlets, flyers, posters, and a bound print version of the text and photographs that were in the exhibit. There are also research materials and publications related to other Council activities on topics such as the One-Child Policy and United States-China trade. The Lawrence Kessler papers relate to his activities in radical politics. They include organizational materials and public documents of the North Carolina Legal Defense Fund and the Chapel Hill chapter of the New University Conference. The organizational papers include minutes from meetings, annual reports, press releases, project proposals, correspondence, fund raising letters, and posters. The public documents include pamphlets, position papers, and serial publications of the New University Conference. Ruth Elizabeth Newton (fl. 1888-1957) was the daughter of John C. Calhoun Newton (1849-1931) and Letty Lay Newton (1848-1924?) of Kobe, Japan, where her father, a minister, taught theology and ethics at the Kwansei Gakuin, a secondary school run by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In 1905, Ruth Newton married Emory Marvin Underwood, a lawyer who later served as a federal judge in Atlanta, Ga. The Newton and Underwood family papers consist of the personal letters received or written by Ruth Elizabeth Newton Underwood, the sermons and other unpublished writings of John C. Calhoun Newton, United States and Japanese publications of the Episcopal Methodist Church, South, and photographs of the Newton family and their friends from Kobe, Japan. The Addition of December 2006 consists of materials relating to activism and activist groups on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus and in the Chapel Hill community at large, including publications relating to activist groups, such as newsletters of the Chapel Hill Peace Center, Bread and Roses socialist community newsletters, issues of The Southern Patriot, and other printed materials. The addition of March 2023 contains documents pertaining to Kessler's work on a book about the connections between the North Carolina and Chinese tobacco industries with coauthor Burton Floyd Beers (1927-2016), a history professor of at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. The main focus of the papers is about history and workings of the British American Tobacco company. The documents consist of a wide variety of materials including printed and annotated news and academic articles about tobacco, cigarettes, North Carolina tobacco, and the Chinese agriculture industry; conference reports; chapter drafts; notes on interviews or source readings; correspondence between Kessler and Beers related to drafts and sources; and obituary material for Beers. There are extensive handwritten notes, some of where are written on index cards and staple bound. At least one document is written entirely in Chinese.
Creator Kessler, Lawrence D.
Curatorial Unit Southern Historical Collection
Language English.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

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 Lawrence Kessler Collection #5098, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Provenance
Received from Lawrence Kessler of Chapel Hill, N.C., in July 2002 (Acc. 99289) and December 2006 (Acc. 100559). Received from Bonnie Bechard Kessler in March 2023 (Acc. 20230331.2).
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 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

Lawrence Kessler, professor emeritus of Chinese history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, assembled and donated the various papers that comprise this collection. In keeping with his formal academic interests, he was one of the founders and the long-time director of the North Carolina China Council. Kessler was also actively involved with a number of political organizations, including the North Carolina Legal Defense Fund and the Chapel Hill chapter of the New University Conference.

George Ralph Marvell, an officer in the United States Navy, was born in Fall River, Mass., in 1869. His parents were Edward Tracy and Anna Congdon Wilbur Marvell. In 1889, Marvell graduated from the Naval Academy and three years later, in 1892, he married Anna Nippes Wynkoop. Their only child, George, who also graduated from the Naval Academy and served as an officer until he was forced to retire for medical reasons in 1935, was born in 1899. George Ralph Marvell's career was a successful one, and he was eventually promoted to rear admiral. He retired in 1933 and died in 1941. While in the Navy, Marvell served in the following postings:

1885-1889 Midshipman at the United States Naval Academy
1889-1890 Served aboard the U.S.S. Pensacola during an expedition to Cape Ledo, Angola, and west Africa to view a total eclipse
1894 Patrol duty in the Bering Sea
1898 Served aboard the U.S.S. Vicksburg during the Spanish-American War
1899 Part of a team surveying the bay at Santiago, Cuba
1906-1908 In command of the team conducting a survey of Cuba and Haiti while serving as navigator on the U.S.S. Eagle
1909-1912 Chair of the Department of Navigation at the United States Naval Academy
1912-1913 Commanded the U.S.S. Monterey and then the U.S.S. Helena in China
1915 Assigned to the Navy Department's Bureau of Ordnance
1917-1919 Commanded the U.S.S.Louisiana and engaged in troop transport and convoy duty with the Atlantic Fleet during World War I
1919-1921 Inspector of Ordnance at the Naval Ordnance Plant, South Charleston, W.Va.
1921-1922 Commanded the U.S.S. Arizona
1922-1924 Commandant of the 16th Naval District, the Philippine Islands
1924-1925 Commanded the Fleet Base Force in the Pacific
1926-1927 Naval War College
1927-1930 Commandant of the 14th Naval District, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
1930-1931 Commanded Light Cruiser Division Five
1932-1933 Chair of the United States Navy General Board
1933 Retired from active service as a Rear Admiral

The North Carolina China Council, a regional affiliate of the Asia Society, was established in 1977 and remained active until at least 1989. Locally sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and Duke University, the Council was a non-partisan and non-profit educational entity designed to promote a broader awareness among North Carolinians of Chinese culture, history, and recent events as well as to foster better Chinese-American relations. As a part of its public education efforts, the Council sponsored a number of local conferences devoted to topics such as China's One-Child policy, United States-China trade, and the process of scholarly exchange. The Council also carried out an extensive investigation of North Carolina's ties with China that culminated in the creation of an exhibit called North Carolina's China Connections. This multi-media presentation was exhibited at numerous venues throughout the state.

Ruth Elizabeth Newton (fl. 1888-1957), the sole surviving daughter of John C. Calhoun Newton (1849-1931) and Letty Lay Newton (1848-1924?) spent her early childhood in Kobe, Japan, where her father, a minister, taught theology and ethics at the Kwansei Gakuin, a secondary school run by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In the mid-1890s, Ruth Newton and her mother returned to the United States so that she could complete her education. In 1898, she graduated from the Nashville College for Young Ladies and shortly thereafter assumed a teaching post at the Littleton Female College, Littleton, N.C. In 1905, she married Emory Marvin Underwood (1877-1960), a graduate of Vanderbilt University (B.A., 1900, LL.B., 1902), an attorney in Atlanta, Ga. In addition to having a private law practice, Underwood served in the following positions:

1914-1917 Assistant Attorney General of the United States
1917-1919 General Counsel of the Seaboard Air Line Company
1919-1920 General Solicitor of the United States Railroad Administration
1931-1948 United States District Court Judge, Northern District of Georgia
Both Ruth Newton and Marvin Underwood were involved in social reform and relief efforts. She chaired the Southern Conference on Women and Children in Industry, and he was a board member of Herbert Hoover's European Relief Drive and the Commission on Interracial Cooperation. They had two children.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The Lawrence D. Kessler Collection contains four discrete collections: the George Ralph Marvell papers, the North Carolina China Council papers, the Lawrence D. Kessler papers, and the Newton and Underwood family papers.

George Ralph Marvell papers contain personal correspondence, financial and legal papers, photographs, and other materials, including school papers, newspaper clippings, a passport, and Masonic documents of George Ralph Marvell (1869-1941), a United States Navy officer; his wife, Anna Nippes Wynkoop Marvell; and their son, George Marvell, who served as an officer in the Navy. Correspondence begins with Marvell's entrance into the United States Naval Academy in 1885 and continues until his death in 1941. Major correspondents were his parents, Edward Tracy Marvell and Anna Congdon Marvell; siblings, Mary Marvell, M. D. Marvell, and Edward I. Marvell; his wife, Anna Nippes Wynkoop Marvell; and eventually his son, George Marvell. In addition to addressing family matters, Marvell's letters contain descriptions of his travels and duty postings with the United States Navy. Similarly, after his graduation from the Naval Academy in 1917, George Marvell, the son, often wrote to his father about his career in the submarine service and as a staff officer. Correspondence prior to 1885 falls into three categories. In the 1850s, Anna Congdon Wilbur received a number of business letters concerning agricultural properties that she owned in Ralls County, Mo. In the 1860s, Mary Marvel Sullings received letters concerning a law suit that she was pursuing in an attempt to gain control of her deceased-husband's estate. Also in the 1860s, Edward Tracy Marvel, who was serving as a private in the 7th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the Civil War in defense of Washington, D.C., wrote home about military life. Financial materials primarily concern the affairs of George and Anna Marvell. There is a complete set of federal income tax filings, 1913-1939, and extensive property files that include surveys as well as an inventory and history of the Marvell's most significant belongings. Finally, there are various materials relating to the settlement of the estate of Anna Marvell's father, Henry Wynkoop. There are also three 18th-century financial letters; a number of late 19th-century receipts; land grants issued in 1837 for property in Palmyra County, Mo.; and a variety of legal pleadings and documents, some of which relate to Mary Marvel Sullings's legal case to gain control of her deceased husband's estate. Other materials include clippings, school papers and report cards, Masonic documents, a United States passport, miscellaneous writings, pencil sketches, blank 19th-century European postcards, a genealogical research notebook, and family and travel photographs taken by the Marvell and Wynkoop families. Photographs of George Ralph Marvell and his son, George Marvell, include pictures taken aboard United States Navy vessels, including surface ships and submarines. There are extensive photographs of various Asian locales that were taken during Admiral Marvell's assignments to China, 1912-1913, and the Philippine Islands, 1922-1924.

North Carolina China Council papers consist of administrative, published, and research materials of the North Carolina China Council, 1977-1989. Administrative materials include newsletters, annual reports, minutes from meetings, memoranda, funding and grant proposals, and a correspondence file. The bulk of the research materials relates to the Council's traveling exhibit and presentation, North Carolina's China Connections, 1840-1949. Research materials include an extensive collection of photographs, including prints; slides and some negatives; audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with various North Carolinians who worked or lived in China; video tape recordings of exhibit presentations and interviews; and film footage taken by various interviewees in China during the first half of the 20th century. Exhibit publications include pamphlets, flyers, posters, and a bound print version of the text and photographs that made up the exhibit. There are also research materials, audio recordings, and publications of other Council conferences and events on topics such as the One-Child Policy and United States-China trade.

Lawrence D. Kessler papers include organizational materials and public documents of the North Carolina Legal Defense Fund and the Chapel Hill chapter of the New University Conference. The organizational papers include minutes from meetings, annual reports, press releases, project proposals, correspondence, fund raising letters, and posters. Public documents include pamphlets, position papers, and serial publications of the New University Conference. The addition of March 2023 contains documents pertaining to Kessler's work on a book about the connections between the North Carolina and Chinese tobacco industries with coauthor Burton Floyd Beers (1927-2016), a history professor of at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. The main focus of the papers is about history and workings of the British American Tobacco company. The documents consist of a wide variety of materials including printed and annotated news and academic articles about tobacco, cigarettes, North Carolina tobacco, and the Chinese agriculture industry; conference reports; chapter drafts; notes on interviews or source readings; correspondence between Kessler and Beers related to drafts and sources; and obituary material for Beers. There are extensive handwritten notes, some of where are written on index cards and staple bound. At least one document is written entirely in Chinese.

Newton and Underwood family papers contain personal letters received or written by Ruth Elizabeth Newton Underwood, the unpublished writings of John C. Calhoun Newton, United States and Japanese publications of the Episcopal Methodist Church, South, and photographs of the Newton family and their friends from Kobe, Japan. The bulk of the letters are between Ruth Newton Underwood and her parents, who resided at the Kwansei Gakuin, a Methodist Episcopal secondary school in Kobe, Japan. Although predominately concerned with daily life and family news, the letters contain references to current events. Those written by John C. Calhoun Newton, who served in various administrative and teaching positions at the Kwansei Gakuin, often make reference to the school's affairs and its relationships with the Japanese world. Ruth Newton's correspondence with Emory Marvin Underwood, who became a lawyer and federal judge, begins during her college years. After their marriage in the summer of 1905, there are fewer letters, but during Underwood's service, 1919-1920, as the general solicitor for the United States Railroad Administration in Washington, D.C., their correspondence resumes. These are personal letters devoted to family matters and concerns, but there is also mention of Underwood's legal career and the couple's broader activities in civic organizations such as Herbert Hoover's European Relief Drive and the Commission on Interracial Cooperation. Writings of John C. Calhoun Newton consist of sermons, prayer meeting talks, lecture notes on ethics delivered to the students of the Kwansei Gakuin, and drafts of a larger work devoted to the subject of christian ethics. There are a number of publications commemorating communal events or the achievements of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in both the United States and Japan. The Japanese publications include The Yearbook and Minutes of the Japanese Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South , 1907-1908; the 1909 20th Anniversary Catalogue of the Kwansei Gakuin; The Japanese Student Bulletin, 1931; and a small pamphlet about the first Methodist church built in Kobe, Japan. There are also inscribed photographic portraits of friends and their families in Japan and less formal photographs of various members of the Newton and Underwood family.

The Addition of December 2006 consists of materials relating to activism and activist groups on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus and in the Chapel Hill community at large, including publications relating to activist groups, such as newsletters of the Chapel Hill Peace Center, Bread and Roses socialist community newsletters, issues of The Southern Patriot, and other printed materials.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. George Ralph Marvell Papers, 1820-1941.

About 2,000 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Primarily personal correspondence, financial and legal papers, photographs, and other materials, including school papers, newspaper clippings, a passport, and Masonic documents of George Ralph Marvell, a United States Navy officer; his wife, Anna Nippes Wynkoop Marvell, and their son, George Marvell, who also served as an officer in the Navy. Letters and other papers created prior to 1885 relate to Marvell's parents and other relatives.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.1. Correspondence, 1820-1941.

About 1,500 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly family letters either to or from George Ralph Marvell, who was an officer in the United Navy. The correspondence begins with his entrance into the United States Naval Academy in 1885 and continues until his death in 1941. Marvell's major correspondents were his parents, Edward Tracy Marvell and Anna Congdon Wilbur Marvell; his siblings, Mary Marvell, M.D., and Edward I. Marvell, his wife, Anna Nippes Wynkoop Marvell, and eventually his son, George Marvell.

Letters to Marvell from his parents and siblings typically recount family news as well as items of interest from Fall River, Mass. Likewise, his wife's letters also concern life at home and eventually, their son George. In addition to addressing family matters, Marvell's letters contain descriptions of his extensive travels and various duty postings with the United States Navy. Similarly, after his graduation from the Naval Academy in 1917, George Marvell often wrote to his father about his career as a naval officer in the submarine service and later as a staff officer. After 1936, George often wrote to his father about the extensive renovations that he was directing at the family's farm in Pennsylvania.

Most of the correspondence written prior to 1885 falls into three categories. In the 1850s, Anna Congdon Wilbur received a number of business letters concerning agricultural properties that she owned in Ralls County, Mo. In the 1860s, Mary Marvel Sullings received letters concerning a law suit that she was pursuing in an attempt to gain control of her deceased husband's estate. Also in the 1860s, Edward Tracy Marvel, who was serving as a private in the 7th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the Civil War in defense of Washington, D.C., wrote home about camp life. Although Marvel did survive the war, the letters end abruptly in 1862.

Folder 1

1820-1861

Folder 2

1862-1884

Folder 3

1885

Folder 4-6

Folder 4

Folder 5

Folder 6

1886

Folder 7-9

Folder 7

Folder 8

Folder 9

1887

Folder 10-12

Folder 10

Folder 11

Folder 12

1888

Folder 13-14

Folder 13

Folder 14

1889

Folder 15-16

Folder 15

Folder 16

1890

Folder 17

1891-1895

Folder 18-19

Folder 18

Folder 19

1896

Folder 20

1897

Folder 21

1901-1904

Folder 22

1904

Folder 23-24

Folder 23

Folder 24

1906

Folder 25-29

Folder 25

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

Folder 29

1907

Folder 30-36

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Folder 36

1908

Folder 37-41

Folder 37

Folder 38

Folder 39

Folder 40

Folder 41

1909

Folder 42

1910-1911

Folder 43-46

Folder 43

Folder 44

Folder 45

Folder 46

1912

Folder 47-52

Folder 47

Folder 48

Folder 49

Folder 50

Folder 51

Folder 52

1913

Folder 53

1914

Folder 54

1917-1919

Folder 55

1920-1922

Folder 56

1923

Folder 57

1924

Folder 58

1925

Folder 59

1926

Folder 60

1927-1929

Folder 61

1932-1934

Folder 62

1934-1935

Folder 63-64

Folder 63

Folder 64

1936

Folder 65

1937

Folder 66-67

Folder 66

Folder 67

1938

Folder 68-69

Folder 68

Folder 69

1939

Folder 70-71

Folder 70

Folder 71

1940

Folder 72

1941

Folder 73-74

Folder 73

Folder 74

Undated

Folder 75

Notes and letter fragments

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.2. Financial and Legal Papers, 1892-1940.

About 240 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Mainly receipts, legal documents, financial and business correspondence, federal income tax returns, financial statements, property files, and older historical family materials of a financial or legal nature. The bulk of the materials concerns the affairs of George and Anna Marvell. There is a complete set of federal income tax filings, 1913-1939. There are extensive property files that include property surveys as well as an inventory and history of the Marvell's most significant belongings. Finally, there are various materials relating to the settlement of the estate of Anna Marvell's father, Henry Wynkoop.

The older documents in this series consist of three 18th-century financial letters; a number of late 19th-century receipts; land grants issued in 1837 for property in Palmyra County, Mo.; and a variety of legal pleadings and documents, some of which relate to Mary Marvel Sullings's legal case to gain control of her deceased husband's estate.

Folder 76

Receipts, 1892-1917

Folder 77

Legal documents for Plummer v. Marvell, 1915

Folder 78-80

Folder 78

Folder 79

Folder 80

Marvell federal income tax filings, 1913-1939

Folder 81-82

Folder 81

Folder 82

Property file, Jamestown, R.I., 1936-1940

Folder 83

Property survey, Annapolis, Md., 1937

Folder 84

House inventory and history of items, Annapolis, Md., 1933-1938

Folder 85

Letters from the Henry Wynkoop Trust, 1931-1939

Folder 86

Statements from the Henry Wynkoop Trust, 1931-1940

Folder 87

List of securities from the Henry Wynkoop Trust, 1939

Folder 88

Historical family financial documents, 1764-1793

Folder 89

Historical family receipts, 1850-1887

Folder 90

Historical family legal documents, 1835-1866

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-5098/1

Oversize materials

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.3. Other Papers, 1885-1920s.

About 200 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Newspaper clippings, school papers and report cards, Masonic documents, a U.S. passport, miscellaneous writings, pencil sketches, blank 19th-century European postcards, and a genealogical research notebook.

Folder 91

Newspaper clippings, 1910s-1920s

Folder 92

School papers, United States Naval Academy, 1885-1888

Folder 93

Honors, Passport, and a Masonic membership certificate, 1891-1921

Folder 94

Typescript copies of writings

Folder 95

School papers, 1908

Folder 96

Pencil sketches

Folder 97

Genealogical research notebook

Folder 98-99

Folder 98

Folder 99

Blank picture postcards, 1897-1911

Folder 100

Pamphlets and other printed materials

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.4. Photographs, 1840s-1930s.

About 70 items.

Arrangement: by subject.

Family and travel photographs taken by the Marvell and Wynkoop families. Photographs of George Ralph Marvell and his son, George Marvell, include pictures taken aboard United States Navy vessels, including surface ships as well as submarines. There are extensive photographs of various Asian locales that were taken during Admiral Marvell's assignments to China, 1912-1913, and the Philippine Islands, 1922-1924.

Image Folder PF-5098/1-2

PF-5098/1

PF-5098/2

George Ralph Marvell, 1880s-1930s

Photograph Album PA-5099/1

Photograph album of the George Ralph Marvell family, 1910s -1920s

Image Folder PF-5098/3

Anna Nippes Wynkoop Marvell, 1880s-1930s

Image Folder PF-5098/4

George Marvell, 1890s-1920s

Image Folder PF-5098/5

Marvell family photographs, 1840s-1930s

Special Format Image SF-P-5098/1

Photographic portrait of four young women

Image Folder PF-5098/6

Wynkoop family photographs, 1890s-1920s

Image Folder PF-5098/7

China and the Philippine Islands, 1920s-1930s

Oversize Image Folder OP-PF-5098/1

Oversize photographs

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. North Carolina China Council, 1977-1989.

About 450 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Administrative, published, and research materials of the North Carolina China Council from 1977 until 1989. The administrative materials include newsletters, annual reports, minutes from meetings, memoranda, funding and grant proposals, and a correspondence file. The bulk of the research materials relates to the Council's traveling exhibit and presentation, North Carolina's China Connections, 1840-1949. The research materials include an extensive collection of photographs, including prints, slides and some negatives, audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with various North Carolinians who worked or lived in China, video tape recordings of exhibit presentations and interviews, and film footage taken by various interviewees in China during the first half of the 20th century. There are also exhibit publications, including pamphlets, flyers, posters, and a bound print version of the text and photographs that make up the exhibit. There are also research materials, audio recordings, and publications of other Council conferences and events on topics such as the One-Child Policy and United States-China trade.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.1. Organizational Materials, 1977-1989.

About 100 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Newsletters, annual reports, minutes from meetings, memoranda, and a general correspondence file, relate to the normal administrative functions and routines carried out by the staff and officers of the North Carolina China Council from 1977 until 1989.

Folder 101

Newsletter: China Notes, 1978-1984

Folder 102

Annual reports, 1977-1985

Folder 103

Organizational materials: Minutes and memoranda, 1977-1983

Folder 104

Correspondence, 1978-1989

Folder 105

National China Council of the Asia Society, 1978-1987

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.2. North Carolina's China Connections Exhibit, 1979-1981.

About 300 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Administrative and research materials for the North Carolina China Council's traveling exhibit and presentation, North Carolina's China Connections, 1840-1949. This exhibit focused on the roles North Carolinians played in China as missionaries, tobacco businessmen, and soldiers. This subseries includes funding and grant proposals, correspondence, exhibit publications, including pamphlets, flyers, posters, and a bound print version of the exhibit, as well as research materials concerning North Carolina's various ties to China. The research materials include an extensive collection of photographs, including prints, slides and some of their negatives, audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with various North Carolinians who worked or lived in China, video tape recordings of exhibit presentations and interviews, and film footage taken by various interviewees in China during the first half of the 20th century.

Folder 106-107

Folder 106

Folder 107

Exhibit file, 1980

Folder 108

Funding proposals, 1979-1981

Folder 109

Signed release forms, 1982

Folder 110

North Carolina's China Connections publications, 1980-1981

Folder 111

School children's letters about the exhibit, 1980

Folder 112

Visitor register for the exhibit, 1980

Photograph Album PA-5098/2

China photographs, 1920s-1940s

Image Folder PF-5098/8-9

PF-5098/8

PF-5098/9

Slide presentation of the exhibit, North Carolina's China Connections, 1840-1949, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/28-29

C-5098/28

C-5098/29

Audiotape recording of the presentation, North Carolina's China Connections, 1840-1949. Parts I and II

Videotape VT-5098/1

Videotape recording of the presentation, North Carolina's China Connections, 1840-1949. Parts I and II

Videotape VT-5098/2

Videotape recording of a presentation of North Carolina's China Connections by Erwin Hyatt, May 1980

Image Folder PF-5098/10

Slides of North Carolina China Council events, 1970s-1980s

Image Folder PF-5098/11

Slides of Chinese puppets

Image Folder PF-5098/12-22

PF-5098/12

PF-5098/13

PF-5098/14

PF-5098/15

PF-5098/16

PF-5098/17

PF-5098/18

PF-5098/19

PF-5098/20

PF-5098/21

PF-5098/22

Slides of China, 1900-1948

Image Folder PF-5098/23

Photographs used in the exhibit, North Carolina's China Connections, 1840-1949

Image Folder PF-5098/24

Photographs used in the presentation, China as a Place of Work: Missions

Image Folder PF-5098/25

Photographs of China used for a presentation, "China as Home"

Image Folder PF-5098/26

Photographs of North Carolina China Council events, including North Carolina's China Connections exhibit, 1980

Image Folder PF-5098/27

Photographs of Chinese street life, 1880s-1940s

Image Folder PF-5098/28

Photographs of Chinese buildings and landscapes

Image Folder PF-5098/29

Photographs of Western military forces in China, 1880s-1940s

Image Folder PF-5098/30

Photographs of Western missionary activities in China, 1880s-1940s

Image Folder PF-5098/31

Photographs of Western business and tobacco companies in China, 1900s-1940s

Image Folder PF-5098/32

Photographs of Westerners and their activities in China, 1900s-1940s

Image Folder PF-5098/33

Strip photographic negatives # 1

Image Folder PF-5098/34

Strip photographic negatives # 2

Image Folder PF-5098/35

Strip photographic negatives # 3

Image Folder PF-5098/36

Strip photographic negatives, Herring collection

Image Folder PF-5098/37

Strip photographic negatives, East Carolina University collection

Image Folder PF-5098/38

Strip photographic negatives, Montreat collection

Image Folder PF-5098/39

Strip photographic negatives, New Hanover county museum collection

Image Folder PF-5098/40

Strip photographic negatives, Duke University collection

Image Folder PF-5098/41

Strip photographic negatives, Collier Cobb collection

Image Folder PF-5098/42

Strip photographic negatives, Welton collection

Image Folder PF-5098/43

Strip photographic negatives, Virginia Hebbert

Image Folder PF-5098/44

Strip photographic negatives of the North Carolina China Council's events and exhibits, 1980

Folder 113

Biographical information on North Carolina's "Old China Hands"

Folder 114

Transcripts and video scripts by Dr. Burton Beers, 1980 and 1999

Folder 115

Typed transcript of an interview of Ruth Worth and a description of her films of China, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/1

Audiotaped interview of Ruth Worth

Film F-5098/7

Movie film of China, 1939-1940

Folder 116

Typed transcript of an interview of Helen Ward, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/4

Audiotaped interview of Helen Ward

Folder 117

Typed transcript of an interview of Christina Kennedy Bunn, 1980

See C-5098/6

Folder 118

Typed transcript of an interview of I. J. (Pete) Galantin, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/5

Audiotaped interview of I. J. (Pete) Galantin

Folder 119

Typed transcript of an interview with Edmund Gravely, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/6

Audiotaped interview of Christina Kennedy Bunn; Audiotaped interview of Edmund Gravely

Folder 120

Typed transcript of an interview of N. E. Hodgekins, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/21

Audiotaped interview of N. E. Hodgekins; Audiotaped interview of Admiral Wilson Leverton

Folder 121

Typed transcript of an interview of Admiral Wilson Leverton, 1980

See C-5098/21

Folder 122

Typed transcript of an interview of John Palmer, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/3

Audiotaped interview of John Palmer

Folder 123

Typed transcript of an interview of Dr. Edmund Rice, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/15

Audiotaped interview of Dr. Edmund Rice

Film F-5098/6

Movie film of Huchoo Hospital by Dr. Edmund Rice

Folder 124

Typed transcript of an interview of Dr. Henry Stenhouse, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/2

Audiotaped interview of Dr. Henry Stenhouse

Folder 125

Typed transcript of an interview of Paul Vancamp, 1980

See C-5098/5

Folder 126

Typed transcript of a panel discussion of medical missionaries, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/11

Audiotape of a panel discussion of medical missionaries

Folder 127

Typed transcript of a panel discussion of missionary educators, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/14

Audiotape of a panel discussion of missionary educators

Folder 128

Typed transcript of a panel discussion of missionaries born in China, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/9

Audiotape of a panel discussion of missionaries born in China

Folder 129

Typed transcript of a panel discussion of the missionary experience in China, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/13

Audiotapes of a panel discussion of the missionary experience in China

Audiocassette C-5098/16

Audiotapes of a panel discussion of the missionary experience in China

Folder 130

Typed transcript of a panel discussion of tobacconists in China, 1980

Audiotape T-5098/1

Audiotape of a panel discussion of tobacconists in China

Folder 131

Typed transcript of a lecture on the cultural impact of tobacco advertising in China by Professor Sherman Cochran, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/22

Audiotapes of lectures by Professor Sherman Cochran

Audiocassette C-5098/25-26

C-5098/25

C-5098/26

Audiotapes of lectures by Professor Sherman Cochran

Folder 132-134

Folder 132

Folder 133

Folder 134

Typescript copy of a memoir, "As I Look Back" by Eugene E. Barnett

Folder 135

Additional research materials contained in various media formats

Audiocassette C-5098/7

Audiotaped interview of Dr. Martin Lorber, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/8

Audiotaped interview of General and Mrs. Yarborough, 1980; Audiotaped interview of Gordon Smith, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/10

Audiotaped interview of Mae Hicks, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/12

Audiotaped interview of Gail Henderson, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/17

Audiotaped interview of Lee Parker, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/20

Audiotaped interview of Evelyn Anderson, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/23

Audiotaped interview of [?] Sitton, 1980

Audiocassette C-5098/27

Audiotaped interview of Al Huebner, 1980; Recorded Chinese music

Audiocassette C-5098/30-32

C-5098/30

C-5098/31

C-5098/32

Audiotaped lectures and discussions of Art and Ideology in Communist China

Film F-5098/1-2

F-5098/1

F-5098/2

The Canton Missionary, black and white film

Film F-5098/3-4

F-5098/3

F-5098/4

The Canton Missionary, color

Film F-5098/5

[unidentified motion picture film]

Videotape VT-5098/3

Videotape recording of North Carolina's China Connections interviews by Marv Wilson, Mary Israel, and Charles LaMonica, 1980

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.3. Other Public Outreach Programs and Research Projects, 1978-1986.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Lawrence D. Kessler Papers, 1968-1988.

About 150 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Other materials relating to this series can be found in the Addition of December 2006.

Lawrence D. Kessler, professor emeritus of Chinese history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was actively involved in radical politics. His papers contain internal organizational materials and public documents of the North Carolina Legal Defense Fund and the Chapel Hill chapter of the New University Conference. The organizational papers include minutes from meetings, annual reports, press releases, project proposals, correspondence, fund raising letters, and posters. The public documents include pamphlets, position papers, and serial publications of the New University Conference.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 3.1. North Carolina Legal Defense Fund, 1972-1988.

About 75 items.

Arrangement: by type and chronological.

Materials relating to the North Carolina Legal Defense Fund, which is described as a provider of financial assistance for the legal defense of people accused of crimes associated with political opposition to "militarism, racism, sexism, imperialism, and other injustices," include minutes from meetings, annual reports, press releases, project proposals, correspondence, and fund raising letters.

Folder 144

North Carolina Legal Defense Fund, Inc., 1972-1988

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 3.2. New University Conference, 1968-1976.

About 75 items.

Arrangement: by type and chronological.

Materials relating to the Chapel Hill chapter of the New University Conference, which was founded in 1968 as a radical political activist organization of faculty, students, and others that sought to transform American academic life, include position papers and pamphlets, meeting posters, progress reports, agenda, correspondence and serial publications.

Folder 145

New University Conference, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapter, 1968-1971

Folder 146-151

Folder 146

Folder 147

Folder 148

Folder 149

Folder 150

Folder 151

Newsletter,1968-1972

Folder 152-153

Folder 152

Folder 153

Position papers and other pamphlets, 1968-1970

Folder 154

Women's newsletter and other pamphlets related to women's issues, 1970-1972

Folder 155

The Radical Teacher, 1969

Folder 156-157

Folder 156

Folder 157

Radical Historian Caucus Newsletter, 1970-1976

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 3.2A. Tobacco Industry Research, 1998-2014 (Addition of March 2023)

Acquisitions Information: Acc. 20230331.2.

Contains documents pertaining to Kessler's work on a book about the connections between the North Carolina and Chinese tobacco industries with coauthor Burton Floyd Beers (1927-2016), a history professor of at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. The main focus of the papers is about history and workings of the British American Tobacco company. The documents consist of a wide variety of materials including printed and annotated news and academic articles about tobacco, cigarettes, North Carolina tobacco, and the Chinese agriculture industry; conference reports; chapter drafts; notes on interviews or source readings; correspondence between Kessler and Beers related to drafts and sources; and obituary material for Beers. There are extensive handwritten notes, some of where are written on index cards and staple bound. At least one document is written entirely in Chinese.

Folder 292

A-Beal

Resources on British American Tobacco.

Folder 293-294

BAT News and notes

Issues of BAT News, 1983-1984; tables depicting Chinese imports and value in NC, 1923-1941; notes on Chinese Tobacco Production; correspondence from Larry to Burton Floyd Beers; and book chapter notes.

Folder 295

Beers-Bunn

Thesis/dissertation research draft, 1979; research materials regarding Chinese tobacco and smoking; article drafts for the News & Observer; Burton Beers conference articles; interview with James I. Bennett; and newspaper articles about Rocky Mount's Fred and Christina Bunn who were imprisoned in Shanghai in 1943.

Folder 296

C

Research materials and notes about the Chinese agricultural economy.

Folder 297-298

D-G

Notes regarding: how tobacco connects to Africa; Duke's tobacco; and Chinese identity during Jim Crow.

Folder 299-301

H-R

Research materials on tobacco profits; magazine articles; notes on special collection archival materials at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University realted to tobacco and China. Also includes inerviews conducted by Burton Beers.

Folder 302-303

S-Z

Notes relating to Duke Homestead, the Southern Tobacco Journal, and tobacco in China.

Folder 304

Branchhead Boys' drafts

Drafts of book chapters.

Folder 305

Tobacco personnel

Working list of tobacco leaf personnel, both independent and BAT leaf suppliers, in China.

Folder 306

Miscellaneous notes

Book notes for Kessler and slight correspondence between Kessler and Beers.

Folder 307

Tobacco in NC Today (1959)

Folder 308

North Carolina-China Trade (Tobacco)

Folder 309

China - maps - tobacco book

Folder 310

Britannica Arts - Honah, Shangtung, Anhwei Tobacco (general)

Folder 311

Branchhead Boys' sources

Folder 312

Burt Beers correspondence - tobacco book

Folder 313-315

Notes on tobacco book

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Newton and Underwood Family Papers, 1888-1957.

About 2000 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Family letters received or written by Ruth Elizabeth Newton Underwood, the unpublished writings of John C. Calhoun Newton, United States and Japanese publications of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and photographs of the Newton family and their friends from Kobe, Japan.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 4.1. Correspondence, 1888-1957.

About 1800 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Family letters received or written by Ruth Elizabeth Newton Underwood. Her main correspondents were her parents, John C. Calhoun Newton and Letty Lay Newton of Kobe, Japan, and her husband, Emory Marvin Underwood of Atlanta, Ga.

The bulk of the letters are between Ruth Newton Underwood and her parents. With a few exceptions from 1888 until 1923, Ruth Newton's parents resided at the Kwansei Gakuin, a Methodist Episcopal secondary school in Kobe, Japan. Although their correspondence is predominately concerned with daily life and family news, it also contains references to current events such as the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, World War I, and Japanese involvement in North East Asia. Additionally, the letters written by John C. Calhoun Newton, who served in various administrative and teaching positions at the Kwansei Gakuin, often make reference to the school's affairs, its relationship with the broader Japanese world, and other Methodist missionaries such as Bishop Walter R. Lambuth, who were serving in Japan and China.

Ruth Newton's correspondence with Emory Marvin Underwood, who became an lawyer and federal judge, begins during her college years at the Nashville College for Young Ladies and continues during a teaching stint at the Littleton Female College, Littleton, N.C., and a two-year stay with her parents in Japan. After their marriage in the summer of 1905, there are fewer letters, but during Underwood's service, 1919-1920, as the general solicitor for the United States Railroad Administration in Washington, D.C., their correspondence resumed. In general, these are personal letters devoted to family matters and concerns, but there is also mention of Underwood's legal career and the couple's broader activities in organizations such as Herbert Hoover's European Relief Drive and the Commission on Interracial Cooperation.

Folder 158

1888-1889

Folder 159

1890-1892

Folder 160

1893

Folder 161

1894

Folder 162

1895

Folder 163

1896

Folder 164

1897

Folder 165-166

Folder 165

Folder 166

1898

Folder 167-169

Folder 167

Folder 168

Folder 169

1899

Folder 170

1890s

Folder 171-175

Folder 171

Folder 172

Folder 173

Folder 174

Folder 175

1900

Folder 176-187

Folder 176

Folder 177

Folder 178

Folder 179

Folder 180

Folder 181

Folder 182

Folder 183

Folder 184

Folder 185

Folder 186

Folder 187

1901

Folder 188-195

Folder 188

Folder 189

Folder 190

Folder 191

Folder 192

Folder 193

Folder 194

Folder 195

1902

Folder 196-200

Folder 196

Folder 197

Folder 198

Folder 199

Folder 200

1903

Folder 201-204

Folder 201

Folder 202

Folder 203

Folder 204

1904

Folder 205-209

Folder 205

Folder 206

Folder 207

Folder 208

Folder 209

1905

Folder 210-214

Folder 210

Folder 211

Folder 212

Folder 213

Folder 214

1906

Folder 215-217

Folder 215

Folder 216

Folder 217

1907

Folder 218

1909-1911

Folder 219-221

Folder 219

Folder 220

Folder 221

1912

Folder 222-224

Folder 222

Folder 223

Folder 224

1913

Folder 225

1914

Folder 226

1915

Folder 227-228

Folder 227

Folder 228

1916

Folder 229

1917

Folder 230-231

Folder 230

Folder 231

1918

Folder 232-234

Folder 232

Folder 233

Folder 234

1919

Folder 235-237

Folder 235

Folder 236

Folder 237

1920

Folder 238-241

Folder 238

Folder 239

Folder 240

Folder 241

1921

Folder 242-243

Folder 242

Folder 243

1922

Folder 244

1923

Folder 245

1929

Folder 246

1931

Folder 247

1932-1957

Folder 248

Letter fragments, enclosed writings, and notes

Folder 249

Calling cards

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 4.2. Writings and Other Papers, 1880-1931.

About 300 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Primarily, the writings of John C. Calhoun Newton. These works consist of sermons, prayer meeting talks, lecture notes on ethics delivered to the students of the Kwansei Gakuin, and drafts of a larger work devoted to the subject of christian ethics. Also included are newspaper clippings about the Newton and Underwood families; several eulogy-like tributes of John C. Calhoun Newton and his wife, Letty Lay Newton; and several financial receipts.

Folder 250

Index of sermons

Folder 251

Notebook of sermons, 1880

Folder 252

Notebook of sermons, 1880-1881

Folder 253

Notebook of sermons and prayer meeting talks, undated

Folder 254

Sermons and talks, 1880s

Folder 255-256

Folder 255

Folder 256

Sermons, 1902

Folder 257

Notebook of lectures on ethics for the second year classes

Folder 258

Bound volume of lectures on ethics delivered to divinity students of Kwansei Gakuin

Folder 259

Outline of coursework for students of Kwansei Gakuin

Folder 260

Notebook of essays, 1920s

Folder 261

Notebook of notes on Chinese history and sermons

Folder 262-267

Folder 262

Folder 263

Folder 264

Folder 265

Folder 266

Folder 267

Manuscript of a text on christian ethics, 1920s

Folder 268-270

Folder 268

Folder 269

Folder 270

Miscellaneous writings, 1920s

Folder 271

Receipts, 1901-1922

Folder 272

Tributes to John C. Calhoun Newton and Letty Lay Newton, 1931

Folder 273

Newspaper clippings, 1890s-1930s

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 4.3. Pamphlets and Printed Materials, 1896-1931.

About 50 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Publications commemorating communal events or the achievements of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in both the United States and Japan. The United States publications relate primarily to meetings, such as the 6th Ecumenical Conference of Methodism in 1931 and the Union Bi-Centenary Celebration of 1903. The Japanese publications include The Yearbook and Minutes of the Japanese Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South , 1907-1908; the 1909 20th Anniversary Catalogue of the Kwansei Gakuin; The Japanese Student Bulletin of 1931; and a small pamphlet about the first Methodist church built in Kobe, Japan. There are also several printed materials that relate to events held at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., in the 1890s.

Folder 274

Pamphlets related to events at Vanderbilt University, 1896

Folder 275

United States Methodist publications, 1903-1931

Folder 276-277

Folder 276

Folder 277

Japanese Methodist publications, 1907-1931

Folder 278

Japanese postcards

Folder 279

Miscellaneous printed materials

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 4.4. Photographs, 1890s-1920s.

40 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Inscribed portraits of friends and their families in Japan, less formal pictures of various members of the Newton and Underwood families, especially John C. Calhoun Newton on the grounds of the Kwansei Gakuin, and color tinted photographs of Japanese landscapes and women.

Image Folder PF-5098/45-47

PF-5098/45

PF-5098/46

PF-5098/47

Inscribed portraits of friends and associates in Japan, 1900s-1920s

Image Folder PF-5098/48

Newton and Underwood family pictures, 1890s-1920s

Image Folder PF-5098/49

Tinted photographs of Japan

Oversize Image Folder OP-PF-5098/1

Oversize photographs

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Addition of December 2006 (Acc. 100559), 1966-1976 and undated.

About 175 items.

Arrangement: by type of material.

These materials have not been integrated into the arrangement of the original deposit, but relate to those that can be found in Series. 3, Lawrence D. Kessler Papers. The donor's folder titles for folders 280 through 285 have been retained.

Materials relating to activism and activist groups on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus and in the Chapel Hill community at large. The addition consists chiefly of publications relating to activist groups, such as newsletters of the Chapel Hill Peace Center, Bread and Roses socialist community newsletters, issues of The Southern Patriot, and other printed materials.

Folder 280

Black Student Movement Demands Struggle

Folder 281

Food Service Workers Strike

Folder 282

Football at UNC

Folder 283

New University Conference

Folder 284

Radical Activity, miscellaneous

Folder 285

Other papers

Folder 286

Southern labor movement publications

Folder 287

Chapel Hill Peace Center newsletters and two issues of The Left Heel

Folder 288

Bread and Roses newsletters

Folder 289-291

Folder 289

Folder 290

Folder 291

The Southern Patriot

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

Items separated include photographs (P-5098), a photograph album (PA-5098), audiotapes (C-5098), film (F-5098), and videotapes (VT-5098).

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