Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION

#4904
JOHN THOMAS ALDERMAN PAPERS
Inventory

Abstract:      John Thomas Alderman (1853-1932) was an educator,
       North Carolina state senator, Baptist historian, and
       Mason.
               Correspondence of John Alderman relating to his
       position as Masonic leader and articles and lectures
       written by Alderman on various topics. Correspondence
       between Alderman and various Masons includes information
       about members, dues, conferences, initiations, conferring
       of degrees, officer elections, resignations, expulsion of
       members for various reasons, and the distribution of
       philanthropic funds. Included are several undated articles
       and lectures Alderman wrote on topics such as the history
       of the Masons, the history of the Netherlands, American
       national songs, famous jewels, the business of education,
       the role of the family, and the Civil War.

Online Catalog Terms:
   Alderman, John Thomas, 1853-1932.
   Freemasons--North Carolina--History.
   Freemasons. Grand Lodge of North Carolina--History.

Size:          About 300 items (0.5 linear feet).

Date Span:     1914 and undated.

Provenance:    Purchased from J. Douglas Mattox of Raleigh, N.C.,
               in November 1997 (Acc. 97155.).

Access:        No restrictions.

Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
           their descendants, as stipulated by United States
           copyright law.

Table of Contents:
   Biographical Note
   Description

                        BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

   John Thomas Alderman, educator, state senator, Baptist
historian, and Mason was a native of Salemburg, Sampson County,
N.C. He served as superintendent of schools of Henderson, N.C.,
until his retirement in 1923. He was a North Carolina state
senator in 1925 and 1929 and was chair of the historical
commission of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. He
was an active Mason, holding many offices, culminating with his
election as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina in
1914.

                           DESCRIPTION

   Correspondence between Alderman and various Masons regarding
Masonic business, written during Alderman’s term as Grand Master
of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina in 1914. Included is
information about members, dues, conferences, initiations,
conferring of degrees, officer elections, resignations, expulsion
of members with questionable reputations, and the distribution of
philanthropic funds. The correspondents were mostly Masons from
various regions of North Carolina; a few letters were from other
parts of the country requesting information about the way the
North Carolina Lodge was run.

   The collection also includes several undated articles and
lectures written by Alderman on topics such as the history of the
Masons, the history of the Netherlands, American national songs,
famous jewels, the business of education, the role of the family,
and the Civil War.

               Correspondence
Folder 1           1914 January - February
Folder 2           1914 March - April
Folder 3           1914 May - June
Folder 4           1914 July - August
Folder 5           1914 September - October
Folder 6           1914 November - December
Folders 7-8    Writings