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Collection Number: 05354

Collection Title: Hugh H. Mills and Dorothy Zerbach Mills Papers, 1838-1988

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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Size 8.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 4000 items)
Abstract Hugh Harrison Mills II (1915-1961) was a white doctor born in Bridgewater, N.C., and spent his childhood in Superior, Wis. He was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1935, and married Dorothy Zerbach Mills in 1940. He attended Harvard Medical School, and served in the United States Army from 1944-1946 as a member of the 300th General Hospital. Dorothy Zerbach Mills (1915-2000) was born in Great Falls, Mont. Her family moved to Rocky Mount, N.C., where she attended high school. She was graduated from Duke University in 1938. She and Hugh Harrison Mills II were married in 1940. The collection primarily contains correspondence between Hugh H. Mills and Dorothy Zerbach Mills written during their time at the University of North Carolina and Duke University, respectively, and while Hugh H. Mills was a medical student in Boson, Mass. There are also letters from Hugh H. Mills to Dorothy Zerbach Mills written while he served as an army doctor during World War II. The collection also contains materials from Hugh H. Mills's service in World War II compiled and digitized in 2006 by his sons Hugh H. Mills, III and Michael Sharpe Mills. These include scanned images of air mail letters dated August 1943 through November 1945; typed transcripts of three letters; and images of air mail envelopes. There are newspaper clippings; papers written by Hugh H. Mills and Dorothy Zerbach Mills as students; three scrapbooks, a small number of other items relating to Hugh H. Mills and Dorothy Zerbach Mills; and a few scattered items relating to the 300th General Hospital in Naples, Italy, where Hugh H. Mills served during World War II. There is also a daybook, 1838-1874, kept by Richard Washington Mills in Statesville.
Creator Mills, Hugh Harrison, 1915-1961.

Mills, Dorothy, 1915-2000.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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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 Hugh H. Mills and Dorothy Zerbach Mills Papers #5354, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Michael Sharpe Mills in June 2007 (Acc. 100761).
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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Processed by: Jodi Berkowitz, Amelia W. Holmes, September 2015

Encoded by: Amelia W. Holmes, September 2015

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, January 2021

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine ethnic 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 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 ethnicity to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@email.unc.edu.

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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

Hugh Harrison Mills II (1915-1961) was born on 3 September 1915, in Bridgewater, N.C. He spent his childhood in Superior, Wis., where his father was chief train dispatcher for the Soo Line. He returned to North Carolina for high school at Glen Alpine, subsequently entering the University of North Carolina in 1931 at the age of 16, and graduating in 1935. During the 1935-1936 school year, he taught high school chemistry in Lumberton, N.C. From 1936-1938 he attended the University of North Carolina Medical School, transferring in 1938 to Harvard Medical School, from which he graduated in 1940. In 1940 he married Dorothy Zerbach Mills of Rocky Mount, N.C., a 1938 graduate of Duke University. From 1941 to 1942 he interned at Boston City Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1942, he moved to Vanderbilt Medical School where he began a residency and joined the Army in 1944 as a member of the 300th General Hospital. Upon returning to the United States in 1946, he lived in Forest City, N.C., practicing medicine there until his death on 21 December 1961.

Dorothy Zerbach Mills (1915-2000) was born on 16 May 1915 in Great Falls, Mont. Her family moved to Rocky Mount, N.C., where she attended high school. She was graduated from Duke University in 1938. She and Hugh Harrison Mills II were married in 1940. Dorothy Zerbach Mills died on 15 May 2000.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection primarily contains correspondence between Hugh H. Mills and Dorothy Zerbach Mills written during their time at the University of North Carolina and Duke University, respectively, and while Hugh H. Mills was a medical student in Boson, Mass. There are also letters from Hugh H. Mills to Dorothy Zerbach Mills written while he served as an army doctor during World War II. The collection also contains materials from Hugh H. Mills's service in World War II compiled and digitized in 2006 by his sons Hugh H. Mills, III and Michael Sharpe Mills. These include scanned images of air mail letters dated August 1943 through November 1945; typed transcripts of three letters; and images of air mail envelopes. Originals of these items can be found in Series 1. There is also a digitized photograph of Hugh H. Mills in uniform; and two documents providing an introduction to and information on the digitized items in the folder. There are newspaper clippings; papers written by Hugh H. Mills and Dorothy Zerbach Mills as students; three scrapbooks, a small number of other items relating to Hugh H. Mills and Dorothy Zerbach Mills; and a few scattered items relating to the 300th General Hospital in Naples, Italy, where Hugh H. Mills served during World War II. There is also a daybook, 1838-1874, kept by Richard Washington Mills in Statesville.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Hugh H. Mills and Dorothy Zerbach Mills Correspondence, 1935-1986, 2006, bulk 1940-1945.

About 2000 items.

Arrangement: Chronological.

Correspondence primarily between Hugh H. Mills and Dorothy Zerbach Mills. Correspondence covers their time at the University of North Carolina and Duke University, respectively; Hugh H. Mills's time as a medical student in Boson, Mass.; and letters from Hugh H. Mills when he served as an army doctor during World War II.

Box 1

Folder 1

Correspondence, April-June 1935

Box 1

Folder 2

Correspondence, July 1935

Box 1

Folder 3

Correspondence, August 1935

Box 1

Folder 4

Correspondence, September 1935

Box 1

Folder 5

Correspondence, October 1935

Box 1

Folder 6

Correspondence, November 1935

Box 1

Folder 7

Correspondence, December 1935

Box 1

Folder 8

Letterless envelopes, circa 1935-1940

Box 2

Folder 9

Correspondence, circa 1935-1938

Box 2

Folder 10

Correspondence, January 1936

Box 2

Folder 11

Correspondence, February 1936

Box 2

Folder 12

Correspondence, March-September 1936

Box 2

Folder 13

Correspondence, October 1936

Box 2

Folder 14-15

Folder 14

Folder 15

Correspondence, November 1936

Box 2

Folder 16

Correspondence, December 1936

Box 3

Folder 17

Correspondence, January 1937

Box 3

Folder 18

Correspondence, February 1937

Box 3

Folder 19

Correspondence, March 1937

Box 3

Folder 20

Correspondence, April 1937

Box 3

Folder 21

Correspondence, May 1937

Box 4

Folder 22

Correspondence, June 1937

Box 4

Folder 23-24

Folder 23

Folder 24

Correspondence, July 1937

Box 4

Folder 25-26

Folder 25

Folder 26

Correspondence, August 1937

Box 5

Folder 27

Correspondence, September 1937

Box 5

Folder 28

Correspondence, October-December 1937

Box 5

Folder 29

Correspondence, March-June 1938

Box 5

Folder 30

Correspondence, July 1938

Box 5

Folder 31

Correspondence, August 1938

Box 5

Folder 32

Correspondence, September-October 1938

Box 5

Folder 33

Correspondence, November-December 1938

Box 6

Folder 34

Correspondence, January-June 1939

Box 6

Folder 35-36

Folder 35

Folder 36

Correspondence, July 1939

Box 6

Folder 37

Correspondence, August-December 1939

Box 7

Folder 38

Correspondence, January-May 1940

Box 7

Folder 39-40

Folder 39

Folder 40

Correspondence, June 1940

Box 7

Folder 41

Correspondence, July 1940

Box 7

Folder 42

Correspondence, August 1940

Box 7

Folder 43

Correspondence, September-December 1940

Box 8

Folder 44

Correspondence, January 1941

Box 8

Folder 45-46

Folder 45

Folder 46

Correspondence, February 1941

Box 8

Folder 47

Correspondence, March 1941

Box 8

Folder 48

Correspondence, April 1941

Box 9

Folder 49

Correspondence, May 1941

Box 9

Folder 50

Correspondence, June 1941

Box 9

Folder 51-52

Folder 51

Folder 52

Correspondence, July 1941

Box 9

Folder 53

Correspondence, August 1941

Box 9

Folder 54

Correspondence, September 1941

Box 10

Folder 55

Correspondence, October 1941

Box 10

Folder 56-57

Folder 56

Folder 57

Correspondence, November 1941

Box 10

Folder 58

Correspondence, December 1941

Box 10

Folder 59

Correspondence, circa 1941

Box 10

Folder 60

Correspondence, January-June 1942

Box 11

Folder 61

Correspondence, July-December 1942

Box 11

Folder 62

Correspondence, January-May 1943

Box 11

Folder 63

Correspondence, June-September 1943

Box 11

Folder 64

Correspondence, October 1943

Box 11

Folder 65

Correspondence, November 1943

Box 11

Folder 66

Correspondence, December 1943

Box 12

Folder 67

Correspondence, January 1944

Box 12

Folder 68

Correspondence, February 1944

Box 12

Folder 69

Correspondence, March 1944

Box 12

Folder 70

Correspondence, April 1944

Box 12

Folder 71

Correspondence, May 1944

Box 13

Folder 72

Correspondence, June 1944

Box 13

Folder 73

Correspondence, July 1944

Box 13

Folder 74

Correspondence, August 1944

Box 13

Folder 75

Correspondence, September 1944

Box 13

Folder 76

Correspondence, October 1944

Box 14

Folder 77

Correspondence, November 1944

Box 14

Folder 78

Correspondence, December 1944

Box 14

Folder 79

Correspondence, January 1945

Box 14

Folder 80

Correspondence, February 1945

Box 14

Folder 81

Correspondence, March 1945

Box 14

Folder 82

Correspondence, April 1945

Box 15

Folder 83

Correspondence, May 1945

Box 15

Folder 84

Correspondence, June 1945

Box 15

Folder 85

Correspondence, July 1945

Box 15

Folder 86

Correspondence, August 1945

Box 15

Folder 87

Correspondence, September 1945

Box 16

Folder 88

Correspondence, October 1945

Box 16

Folder 89

Correspondence, November-December 1945

Box 16

Folder 90

Correspondence, 1946-1949

Box 16

Folder 91

Correspondence, 1950-1955

Box 16

Folder 92

Correspondence, 1956

Box 16

Folder 93

Correspondence, 1957-1959

Box 16

Folder 94

Correspondence, 1960-1968

Box 16

Folder 95

Correspondence, 1986

Box 16

Folder 96

Correspondence, undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Digitized Hugh H. Mills World War II Materials, 1943-1945.

Aproximately 1650 items.

Materials from Hugh H. Mills's service in World War II compiled and digitized in 2006 by his sons Hugh H. Mills, III and Michael Sharpe Mills. Includes scanned images of air mail letters dated August 1943 through November 1945; typed transcripts of three letters; and images of air mail envelopes. Originals of these items can be found in Series 1. There is also a digitized photograph of Hugh H. Mills in uniform; and two documents providing an introduction to and information on the digitized items in the folder.

Data Compact Disc DCD-5354/001

"Letters of Captain Hugh Harrison Mills II," 2006

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Other Papers, 1838-1961.

300 items.

Arrangement: Alphabetical by filename.

Items include newspaper clippings, papers written by Hugh H. Mills and Dorothy Zerbach Mills as students, three scrapbooks, a daybook, and a small number of other materials.

Box 16

Folder 97

"Cook of the Week," circa 1950

Newspaper clipping from "The Women's Page" of unknown newspaper. Article provides a brief sketch of Dorothy Zerbach Mills as well as three of her recipes.

Box 16

Folder 98

"Concepts of Primary Parenchymal Liver Disease," 1948

Article by Hugh H. Mills in the Southern Medicine and Surgery journal.

Oversize Volume SV-5354/4

Daybook for Statesville, 1838-1874

Used by Richard Washington Mills.

Oversize Volume SV-5354/1

Dorothy Zerbach Mills scrapbook, circa 1915-1975

Scrapbook seemingly assembled by Dorothy Zerbach Mills. Contents of the scrapbook document her life from a newspaper photograph of her as an infant with her mother to the marriage announcement of her son during the Vietnam war. Includes her acceptance letter to Duke University as a part of the first honors curriculum cohort; an invitation to her wedding to Hugh H. Mills; photographs and correspondence from Hugh H. Mills during World War II; and other materials.

Oversize Volume SV-5354/2

Dorothy Zerbach Mills scrapbook, circa 1931-1934

Scrapbook given as a gift to Dorothy Zerbach Mills. Items document activities in which she participated as a student.

Oversize Volume SV-5354/3

Dorothy Zerbach Mills scrapbook, 1933-1934

After graduating high school in February 1933, Dorothy Mills Zerbach began working at The Evening Telegram. Scrapbook contains dated clippings of her articles as well as her assignment sheets.

Box 17

Folder 99

Dorothy Zerbach Mills scrapbook: Enclosures

Enclosures include photographs, newspaper clippings, and other loose materials from Dorothy Zerbach Mills's scrapbook.

Box 17

Folder 100

Dorothy Zerbach Mills student materials, 1930-1934

Includes an essay, commencement programs, newspaper clippings, and a few other items from Dorothy Zerbach Mills's time at Rocky Mount High School.

Box 17

Folder 101

Dorothy Zerbach Mills student materials, 1935-1938

Notes and stories written by Dorothy Zerbach Mills during her time at Duke University. Comments on her stories are written by William "Bill" Blackburn.

Box 17

Folder 102

Hugh H. Mills medical student materials, 1938

Box 17

Folder 103

Hugh H. Mills physician's notebook, 1941

Box 17

Folder 104

Hugh H. Mills physician's papers, 1940-1961

Includes written conversation between Dr. Mills and a deaf patient, 1961.

Box 17

Folder 105

Hugh H. Mills student materials, 1929

Includes copy of his valedictory speech given at Glen Alpine High School.

Box 17

Folder 106

Hugh H. Mills student materials, 1931

Items from Hugh H. Mills's junior high graduation.

Box 17

Folder 107

Printed material, 1938-1961

Materials collected by Hugh H. Mills.

Box 17

Folder 108

United States Army travel orders, 1942

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. 300th General Hospital Papers, 1929-1988.

3 items.

Arrangement: Alphabetical by filename.

The 300th General Hospital was located in Naples, Italy, during World War II and served soldiers from the battlefields of Salerno, Foggia, Cassino, Anzio, and Rome. Hugh H. Mills was among the medical staff at the hospital. Series includes photocopies of two books and notes on the hospital's history.

Box 17

Folder 109

The Fighting 300th: A History of the Vanderbilt University Medical Unit During World War II, 1985

Photocopy of book.

Box 17

Folder 110

"Notes on the History of the 300th General Hospital," 1947

Notes by George W. Reyer.

Box 17

Folder 111

Reminiscing: An Account of the 300th Army General Hospital in WWII, 1988

Photocopy of book. Inscription dated 1989.

Box 18-20

Postcards, primarily gathered by Cowan family

Box 21

Miscellaneous family papers - includes some photographs; ration books; loose print/ephemera; some papers of Hugh I and Sadie's life in Wisconsin, etc.

Box 22

Richard Mills M.D. papers

Box 23-25

Richard and Henry Mills papers - primarily financial and business records

Box 26-27

Richard and Henry Mills ledgers

Box 28

Miscellaneous papers

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

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