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 Wetter Family Papers #4678, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Microfilm copy (filmed June 2004) available.

• Reel 1: Folders 1-4
• Reel 2: Folders 5-11, P-4678

Acquisitions Information

Received from Harold L. Katz of Baltimore, Md., in October 1993 (Acc. 93134).

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.

Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, December 1993

Encoded by: Linda Sellars, June 2004

Updated by: Laura Hart, December 2021

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.

• Communism--History.
• Conscientious objectors--United States--History--20th century.
• Family--Georgia--Social life and customs.
• Industrial Workers of the World.
• Labor movement--United States--History--20th century.
• Labor unions and communism--United States--History--20th century.
• Labor unions--United States--History--20th century.
• Political prisoners--United States--History--20th century.
• Radicalism--United States--History--20th century.
• Real property--Georgia--History--20th century.
• Sharon Plantation (Chatham County, Ga.).
• Soviet Union--History--Revolution, 1917-1921.
• Telfair family.
• Telfair, Edward, ca. 1735-1807.
• United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas.
• Wetter family.

• Minis Family Papers (#2725).

Wetter family ancestors include Edward Telfair (ca. 1735-1807), merchant, member of the Continental Congress, and governor of Georgia. Family members important in this collection are Mildred R. Gould, Louise G. Koch, Pierce T. Wetter (d. 1963), and Telfair S. Wetter (d. 1939), all of whom inherited shares in Sharon Plantation, Chatham County, Ga. Pierce Wetter was a conscientious objector during World War I and was imprisoned at Leavenworth, 1918-1921, because of this. Telfair Wetter ran the Baltimore office of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) during that same period.

Correspondence, 1919-1921, is chiefly between Pierce Wetter in the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas and Telfair Wetter at the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) office in Baltimore, Md. These letters include much discussion of strikes and other labor actions; political prisoners and their trials; events of the Russian Revolution; Communism in general; and internal I.W.W. politics, especially tensions between the Baltimore and Philadelphia branches. The Wetter brothers strongly disagreed on such topics as who among the radical leaders was sincerely committed to the cause, whether or not married women were necessarily parasites, and if conscientious objectors should accept individual pardons or insist on solidarity. Most letters are signed, "Yours for the O.B.U." or "Yours for freedom." Also included are letters, financial and legal documents, clippings, and other materials relating to the management and sale of Sharon Plantation, Chatham County, Ga., by Mildred Gould; Louise Koch; Pierce Wetter; Telfair Wetter; and Pauline L. Wetter, Telfair Wetter's widow. There are also a few photographs of unidentified persons and places.

• Image folder (PF-4678/1)
• Microfilm reel (M-4678/1-2)