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Collection Number: 01662

Collection Title: Edgar Wallace Knight Materials Relating to Education in the South Before 1860, 1634-1950.

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 8.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 7000 items)
Abstract Edgar Wallace Knight (1885-1953) was University of North Carolina Kenan professor of educational history, and author of numerous publications. This collection chiefly contains source material from various repositories collected by Knight in preparation for A Documentary History of Education in the South before 1860 (1949-1954). Papers include letters; wills; petitions; trustees' minutes of schools and colleges; personal diaries; and other selected materials concerning education and related cultural and social aspects of the antebellum South. Institutions represented include the University of Alabama, the University of Georgia, Davidson College, South Carolina College, the University of Tennessee, and the Texas Military Institute. Persons and organizations represented include Henry Harrisse, Horace Mann, Henry Barnard, Joseph Lancaster, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and Dr. Thomas Bray's Associates.
Creator Knight, Edgar Wallace, 1885-1953.
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 Edgar Wallace Knight Materials Relating to Education in the South Before 1860, #1662, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Gifts of Edgar Wallace Knight, 1949-1952; William Kornegay, 1976, 1989.
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: Adam Fielding, Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, November 2010; Nancy Kaiser, January 2021; Dawne Howard Lucas, July 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

Edgar Wallace Knight (1885-1953) was University of North Carolina Kenan professor of educational history, and author of numerous publications, including A Documentary History of Education in the South Before 1860 (1949-1954).

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

This collection chiefly contains source material from various repositories collected by Edgar Wallace Knight (1885-1953) in preparation for A Documentary History of Education in the South before 1860 (1949-1954). Papers include letters; wills; petitions; trustees' minutes of schools and colleges; personal diaries; and other selected materials concerning education and related cultural and social aspects of the antebellum South. Institutions represented include the University of Alabama, the University of Georgia, Davidson College, South Carolina College, the University of Tennessee, and the Texas Military Institute. Persons and organizations represented include Henry Harrisse, Horace Mann, Henry Barnard, Joseph Lancaster, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and Dr. Thomas Bray's Associates.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Miscellaneous Items, 1631-1881 and undated.

Arrangement: Chronological.

Series chiefly contains photocopies of wills, petitions, and reports, along with a few letters and photographs of documents.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

Will of Benjamin Syms, 1634

Folder 2

Will of Thomas Eaton, 1659

Folder 3

Will of Richard Beresford, S.C., 1715

Folder 4

Will of Wm. Gordon, Middlesex County, Va., 1684

Folder 5

Will of James Child, S.C., 1728

Folder 6

Document, 1729

Appointment of Edward Gibson, Bishop of London, to the Chancellorship of the College of William and Mary.

Folder 7

Document, 1766

Will of Bartholomew Zouberbuhler, Georgia.

Folder 8

Legislative bill for a college in S.C., 1765

Folder 9

English translation, 1741

French statute governing the care of minor children in France and the colonies. Typed copies in French and English translation.

Folder 10

Free translation, 1759

Apprenticeship indenture, New Orleans, La. Typed copies in French and English translation.

Folder 11

Three photographs, 1767-1768

Folder 12

Will of George Whitefield, 1770

Folder 13

Petition of John Firby, schoolmaster in Fla., for house and lands for school, 1772

Folder 14

Petition of Henry Zimmerman, apprentice, to the General Assembly of Virginia, 1792

Folder 15

Letter by James Freeman, 1793

Folder 16

Three photographs, 1792-1793

Folder 17

Jedidiah Morse's reply to St. George Tucker, 1795

Folder 18

Will of John de la Howe, S.C., 1796

Folder 19

Miscellaneous photocopies and microcopies, 1797, 1799

Folder 20

St. David's Society, 1801, 1803, 1811

Folder 21

1814

Letter from Henry W. De Saussure to Benjamin Silliman of S.C.

Folder 22

Report of the Commissioners for the University of Virginia, 8 December 1818

Known as the Rockfish Gap Commission Report.

Folder 23

1823 petition

South Carolina College Board of Trustees petition to the General Assembly for aid to the library.

Folder 24

Bill for literary fund in N.C., 1825

Folder 25

Legislative resolution, 1825

Legislative resolution requesting the Faculty of South Carolina College to make a survey of the schools of South Carolina.

Folder 26

Petition of Andrew Broughton, 1826

Folder 27

Petition of John Mackety to the legislature of S.C., 1826

Folder 28

Photocopies on the controversy over the Syms-Eaton School, Elizabeth City County, Va., 1830

Folder 29

Part of the original charter of Georgia Female College, 1836

Folder 30

Petition by R.M. Smith, of a boarding school at Warrenton, Va., to the governor on military services of students, 1843

Folder 31

Will of Susan English, York County, Va., undated

Folder 32

W.C. Doub papers, Greensboro Female College, 1851

Folder 33

Petition by Board of Trustees at Anne Smith Academy, undated

Folder 34

Report of a debate at Bingham School, Mebane, N.C., 1881

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Minutes, Diaries, and Related Documents, 1640-1866.

Transcripts of minutes, diaries, and publications. Volume 23 is only avaiable on microfilm (M-378.768 Tk-b).

Folder 35

Volume 1: 1822-1833

Ordinances and Resolutions of the Trustees of the University of Alabama.

Folder 36

Volume 2: 1835-1837

Minutes of the Faculty of the University of Alabama.

Folder 37

Volume 3: 1849-1858

Two copies of day book and personal accounts of William P. Caughran, schoolteacher and farmer.

Folder 38

Volume 4: Diary of James Nunn, 1854-1856

Folder 39

Volume 5: Copies of sundry documents relating to the seminary lands in Florida, 1840s

Folder 40

Volume 6

Documents related to Florida schools.

Folder 41

Volume 7: Extracts from the minutes of the Senatus Academicus of the University of Georgia, 1799-1803

Folder 42

Volume 8: Minutes of the Trustees of the University of Georgia, 1794-1817, pp. 1-79

Folder 43

Volume 9: Minutes of the Trustees of the University of Georgia, 1794-1817, pp. 80-150

Folder 44

Volume 10: Minutes of the Trustees of the University of Georgia, 1794-1817, pp. 151-219

Folder 45

Volume 11: Minutes of the Trustees of the University of Georgia, 1817-1834, pp. 1-187

Folder 46

Volume 12: Minutes of the Trustees of the University of Georgia, 1817-1834, pp. 188-318

Folder 47

Volume 13: Some minutes of the Board of Trustees of Davidson College, 1836-1854

Folder 48

Volume 14: Minutes of the Trustees of South Carolina College (Univ. of S.C.), 1802-1812

Folder 49

Volume 15: Minutes of Faculty of South Carolina College (Univ. of S.C.), 1805-1812

Folder 50

Volume 16: Extracts from the minutes of the Commissioners of Free Schools, Charleston, S.C., 1856-1864

Folder 51

Volume 17: Minutes of the Trustees of the University of Tennessee, 1808-1847

Folder 52

Volume 18: The American Eagle, Fort Pickering and Memphis, Tenn., 1842-1848

Also includes The Memphis Daily Eagle and The Weekly American Eagle.

Folder 53

Volume 19: The Appeal, Memphis, Tenn., 1844-1860

Folder 54

Volume 20: The Enquirer, Memphis, Tenn., 1837-1848

Folder 55

Volume 21: The Somerville Reporter, 1839-1840

Folder 56

Volume 22: Copies of documents relating to the Laredo, Tex. schools, 1783-1866

Folder 57

Folder number not used

Reel M-378.768 Tk-b

Volume 23: 1808-1829 Minutes of the Board of Trustees of East Tennessee College, pp. 1-137; 1840-1847 Minutes of Faculty of East Tennessee University

Microfilm only.

Folder 58

Volume 24: Northhampton County, Va. court orders, deeds, wills, etc., 1640-1645

Folder 59

Volume 25: Manuscript minutes of Washington Henry Academy in Va., 1778

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Selected Papers, circa 1743-1858.

Selected materials from collections of papers at different repositories. Volumes 26-27 are from the Henry Harrisse Papers; volume 28 is from the Henry Barnard Papers; volume 30 is from the Joseph Lancaster Papers; and volumes 31-32 are from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts Papers.

Folder 60

Volume 26: Henry Harrisse's essay on collegiate education

Folder 61

Volume 27: Henry Harrisee: miscellaneous materials

Folder 62a-62b

Volume 28

Selected copies of materials from the Horace Mann papers, Massachusetts Historical Society. Letters chiefly regard schools and education.

Folder 63

Volume 29: Letters from Southerners to Henry Barnard

Folder 64

Volume 30: Letters from Southerners to Joseph Lancaster

Folder 65

Volume 31: Papers of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts Papers

Folder 66

Volume 32: Dr. Bray's Associates Papers

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Subject Files, circa 1825-1950 and undated.

These files include theses and other literature relating to American education.

Folder 67

Stanton's thesis

Folder 68

John Chavis: Daniel L. Boyd

"Free-Born Negro: The Life of John Chavis" thesis by by Daniel L. Boyd.

Folder 69

"Educational Theories and Influence of Archibald D. Murphey" by Vera Millsaps, 1924

Folder 70

"Compulsory Education"

Folder 71

Blair Bill

Folder 72

"Readings in Education Administration"

Folder 73a-73b

"Readings in American Education History"

Folder 74

"Fifty Years of American Education"

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 5. State Documents, circa 1800-1921.

Arrangement: Alphabetical.

State reports, articles, and other literature relating to education in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Folder 75

Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana

Folder 76

Florida

Folder 77

Georgia

Folder 78

North Carolina

Folder 79-83

Folder 79

Folder 80

Folder 81

Folder 82

Folder 83

South Carolina

Folder 84-89

Folder 84

Folder 85

Folder 86

Folder 87

Folder 88

Folder 89

Tennessee

Folder 90a-93

Texas

Folder 94-99

Folder 94

Folder 95

Folder 96

Folder 97

Folder 98

Folder 99

Virginia

Folder 100

Miscellaneous, non-Southern

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