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Collection Number: 00686

Collection Title: Adolphus Staton Papers, 1907-1936.

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 4.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 4,400 items)
Abstract Adolphus Staton (died 1964) was a native of Tarboro, N.C., and United States Navy officer, who graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1902 and retired as rear admiral in 1937. Papers of Adolphus Staton, primarily relating to Staton's naval career, including personal and official correspondence, some with prominent military, naval, and political figures, including Calvin Coolidge, H. G. Rickover, and Josephus Daniels; and reports, clippings, newsletters, and other official publications of the United States Navy. Topics of interest include Staton's command of various destroyers; Navy bureaucracy, relations with other branches of the United States Armed Forces, and internal politics; Staton's experiences in the Asiatic fleet, especially in China during the civil unrest of the 1920s; and his shore duty at the United States Navy's Bureau of Navigation, where he handled naval discipline and legal affairs. There is also personal correspondence with friends and family discussing family matters, financial matters, and social news; scattered bills and receipts; and three volumes of scrapbooks containing clippings, photographs, and other memorabilia pertaining to Staton's naval career, 1918-1936.
Creator Staton, Adolphus.
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 Adolphus Staton Papers, #686, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Loaned by Adolphus Stanton, 1936.
Additional Descriptive Resources
A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1aa.
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: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, May 2009

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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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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Adolphus Staton born Tarboro, N.C.
1902 Graduated United States Naval Academy
1908 U.S.S. Yorktown
1910-1914 U.S.S. North Carolina and U.S.S. South Carolina
1915-1917 Judge Advocate General's office
1917 Married to Edith Blair of Washington, D.C.
1917-1918 U.S.S. Oklahoma and U.S.S. Dubuke
1918 Appointed executive officer of U.S.S. Mount Vernon
1919 Received Distinguished Service Cross
1919 Executive officer of U.S.S. Leviathan
1921-1923 U.S.S. Tennessee and U.S.S. Nevada
1924 Commanded South China Patrol, U.S.S. Asheville
1927-1928 Bureau of Navigation
1929-1930 Commanded Destroyer Squadron Eleven, U.S.S. Decatur and Destroyer Squadron Four, U.S.S. Melville
1931-1932 Army War College
1933-1935 Commanded U.S.S. Nevada
1934-1935 Army Command and Staff School
July 1937 Retired with rank of rear admiral
1964 Died
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes the papers of Adolphus Staton, primarily relating to Staton's naval career, including personal and official correspondence, some with prominent military, naval, and political figures; and reports, clippings, newsletters, and other official publications of the United States Navy. Topics of interest include Staton's command of various destroyers; Navy bureaucracy, relations with other branches of the United States Armed Forces, and internal politics; Staton's experiences in the Asiatic fleet, especially in China during the civil unrest of the 1920s; and his shore duty at the United States Navy's Bureau of Navigation, where he handled naval discipline and legal affairs. mong the correspondents are Calvin Coolidge, Thomas Tingey Craven, David W. Bagley, Thomas Washington, Josephus Daniels, H. G. Rickover, and Albert Gleaves. There is also personal correspondence with friends and family discussing family matters, financial matters, and social news; scattered bills and receipts; and three volumes of scrapbooks containing clippings, photographs, and other memorabilia pertaining to Staton's naval career, 1918-1936.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Adolphus Staton Papers, 1907-1936 and undated.

Folder 1aa

Original finding aid

Folder 1a

1907-1912

Folder 1b

1916

Folder 2

1917

Folder 2-3

Folder 2

Folder 3

1918

Folder 4-5

Folder 4

Folder 5

1919

Folder 6-7

Folder 6

Folder 7

1920

Folder 8-9

Folder 8

Folder 9

1921

Folder 10

1922

Folder 11

1923

Folder 12-14A

1924

Folder 14B-16B

1925

Folder 17-22

Folder 17

Folder 18

Folder 19

Folder 20

Folder 21

Folder 22

1926

Folder 23-30

Folder 23

Folder 24

Folder 25

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

Folder 29

Folder 30

1927

Folder 31-37

Folder 31

Folder 32

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Folder 36

Folder 37

1928

Folder 38-49

Folder 38

Folder 39

Folder 40

Folder 41

Folder 42

Folder 43

Folder 44

Folder 45

Folder 46

Folder 47

Folder 48

Folder 49

1929

Folder 50-53

Folder 50

Folder 51

Folder 52

Folder 53

1930

Folder 54-58

Folder 54

Folder 55

Folder 56

Folder 57

Folder 58

1931

Folder 59

1932

Folder 59-60

Folder 59

Folder 60

1933

Folder 61-73

Folder 61

Folder 62

Folder 63

Folder 64

Folder 65

Folder 66

Folder 67

Folder 68

Folder 69

Folder 70

Folder 71

Folder 72

Folder 73

1934

Folder 74-78

Folder 74

Folder 75

Folder 76

Folder 77

Folder 78

1935

Folder 79-83C

Undated

Folder 84

U.S.S. Tennessee Poster

Folder 85-89

Folder 85

Folder 86

Folder 87

Folder 88

Folder 89

Volume 1: Scrapbook, 1918-1919

Folder 90

Volume 2: Scrapbook, 1919-1920

Folder 91

Volume 3: Personal Detachment Folder U.S.S. Nevada, 1934-1936

Folder 92-93

Folder 92

Folder 93

Printed material

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-686/1

Naval commission

Extra Oversize Image Folder X-OP-PF-686/1

Photographs of U.S.S. Mount Vernon, officers and crew, 1918; and U.S.S. Tennessee, 1921

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