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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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Collection Overview
| Size | 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 900 items) |
| Abstract | Adelaide Walters (1907-1981) of Chapel Hill, N.C., was a local political activist, volunteer, civic leader, and Democratic Party officer. The collection includes correspondence, writings, clippings, and other papers of Adelaide Walters. These papers are mostly political correspondence and records relating to various organizations, especially the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen, the Community Church of Chapel Hill, and the Chapel Hill Interfaith Council for Social Service. They treat such topics as civil rights of African Americans in Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Democratic Party, women in politics, and urban and regional planning. |
| Creator | Walters, Adelaide, 1907-1981. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Processing Information
Processed by: SHC Staff
Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007
Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, October 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.
Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
| 1907 | Born Adelaide Harvey, Gouveneur, N.Y., to Warren W. and Anna McNeil Harvey |
| 1929 | Received A.B., St. Lawrence University, Canton, N.Y. |
| 1930 | Received M.A., Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass. |
| 1930-1932 | Teacher at Hillsdale School, Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 1933 | Married Harold W. Walters |
| 1936-1939 | Teacher at Goodyear-Burlingame School, Syracuse, N.Y. |
| 1940-1941 | Post-graduate study at the University of North Carolina |
| 1941-1943 | Administrative assistant, Statistics Department, University of North Carolina |
| 1943-1946 | Research assistant, University of North Carolina; collaborated with Dr. Ervin Hexner on International Cartels |
| 1950-1951 | President, Chapel Hill League of Women Voters |
| 1953-1981 | Member, later chairman, Board of Directors, Community Church of Chapel Hill |
| 1954-1956 | President, League of Women Voters of North Carolina |
| 1956 | Vice-President, North Carolina Council of Women's Organizations |
| 1957-1965 | Member, Board of Aldermen, Chapel Hill, N.C. |
| 1959-1961 | Member, Research Triangle Planning Commission |
| 1960-circa 1966 | Democratic Party Regional Coordinator |
| 1961-1963 | Member, North Carolina Commission to Study the Impact of State Sovereignty upon Local Government |
| 1964 | Member, Executive Committee, Piedmont Crescent 2000 Commission |
| 1964-1967 | Member, United States Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations |
| 1966-1969 | Member, Urban America Council, Inc. |
| 1966-1973 | Chairman, Inter-Church (later Interfaith) Council for Social Services Housing Committee |
| 1972- | Member, Executive Committee, Triangle Housing Development Corporation |
| 1976 | Orange County (N.C.) Co-manager for Jimmy Carter presidential campaign |
| 1977-1978 | Member, Senior Center Study Committee, Orange County (N.C.) Council on Aging |
| 1977-1981 | Member, Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Rights, University of North Carolina School of Nursing |
| 1981 | Killed in automobile accident near Chapel Hill, N.C. |
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Scope and Content
The collection includes correspondence, writings, clippings, and other papers chiefly related to the community, political, and governmental activities of Adelaide Walters. A large portion of the materials pertain to Walters's efforts on behalf of political candidates, and her service on the Chapel Hill (N.C.) Board of Aldermen, the Board of Directors of the Community Church of Chapel Hill, and the Inter-Church Council for Social Service. They treat such topics as civil rights of African Americans in Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Democratic Party, women in politics, and urban and regional planning.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Subject Files 1954-1981.
Arrangement: alphabetical by subject
Note that original arrangement and folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
Materials include organizational papers, files of professional correspondence, writings by Adelaide Walters, political campaign materials, and newspaper clippings. The majority of the papers pertain to organizations with which Walters was affiliated. Organizational papers include official records but also loosely related items, correspondence, clippings, and reproductions. Prominent among organizational papers are those that relate to Walters's service on the Chapel Hill (N.C.) Board of Aldermen, the Board of Directors of the Community Church of Chapel Hill, and the Inter-Church Council for Social Service (later Interfaith Council for Social Service). There is also much material concerning local regional planning and housing commissions. Of significance are papers relating to the Chapel Hill Board of Alderman for a period when that body was deliberating the passage of a local public accomodations law (1963-1964). These papers document events in the community at a time when civil rights activities in Chapel Hill, N.C., made national news.
Political correspondence includes incoming mail and carbon copies of Walters's letters. Much of the correspondence consists of letters of support or advice by Walters and requests or thanks for support from candidates or office-holders. The letters reveal her strong support of the candidacies of Terry Sandford, Richardson Preyer, Bert Bennett, Nick Galifianakis, and Howard Lee. There is also some material concerning her involvement in the Democratic Party at the state executive level. Few personal letters are present in the papers, and most of the miscellaneous correspondence relates to Walters's participation in various panels and conferences.
Walters's writings reflect her interest in community and church affairs. They include reports, articles, drafts of speeches, press releases, and letters to newspapers. The topics of her speeches deal with her candidacy, her service as alderman and on different commissions, human rights, local government, and women in politics.
Campaign materials are largely printed political advertisements for candidates that Walters supported. The remaining papers are local records of the gubernatorial campaign of Terry Sanford in 1960 and records of Walters's campaigns for alderman in 1957 and 1961. The Sanford material is chiefly notes, tips, and newsletters for the organizers of the campaign. The Walters material includes financial records, press releases, letters of support, and outlines of campaign strategies and deadlines.
There are also newspaper clippings of articles on subjects that were of high interest to Adelaide Walters. Chief among these were women in politics, political elections, and the civil rights movement.
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Series 2. Photographs, circa 1957-1967 and undated.
Chiefly photographs of Adelaide Walters or of meetings of the United States Advisory Council on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR). An original drawing for an editorial cartoon is also included.
Image P-4293/1-2
P-4293/1P-4293/2 |
Walters, Adelaide, circa 1957Photographer: Lavergne, Chapel Hill, N.C. |
| Image P-4293/3 |
Walters, Adelaide, circa 1962Photographer: Lavergne, Chapel Hill, N.C. |
| Image P-4293/4 |
Walters, Adelaide, circa 1955-1970 |
| Image P-4293/5 |
Walters, Adelaide and three unidentified members of the United States Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR), circa 1964-1967 |
Image P-4293/6-9
P-4293/6P-4293/7P-4293/8P-4293/9 |
ACIR meeting, 1965 |
| Image P-4293/10 |
Unidentified baby, circa 1950-1965 |
| Image P-4293/11 |
Editorical cartoon, circa 1965Depicts the burning of the United States Constitution by the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen upon the departure from office of Adelaide Walters, Paul Wager, and Hubert Robinson. |
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Items Separated
Photographs (PF-4293/1).
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