Manuscripts Department
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#2551
RUTH C. CANNON PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Ruth C. (Mrs. Charles Albert) Cannon (1891-1966)
was an active member of the Garden Club of North
Carolina and a resident of Concord, N.C.
Chiefly notes, correspondence, clippings, and
photographs relating to the publication of "Old Homes
and Gardens of North Carolina" (1939). The materials
are arranged by county and include 123 photographs of
historic North Carolina houses by Bayard Wootten.
Also included are pictures of Confederate leaders and
battle scenes; typed transcripts of interviews with
old inhabitants of the Roanoke Farms project
established by the U.S. Resettlement Administration in
Halifax County, N.C.; essays and pictures of old
churches in North Carolina and correspondence,
1946-1953, relating to the Roanoke Island Historical
Association and its production of "The Lost Colony"
and to the Elizabethan Gardens.
Online Catalog Terms:
Cannon, Ruth C., 1891-1966.
Churches--North Carolina--History.
Confederate States of America. Army--Officers--Photographs.
Elizabethan Gardens (Roanoke Island, N.C.)--History.
Halifax County (N.C.)--History.
Historic gardens--North Carolina.
Historic houses--North Carolina.
New Deal, 1933-1939--North Carolina.
North Carolina--Photographs.
Roanoke Island Historical Association, Inc.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Battles--
Photographs.
United States. Resettlement Administartion (N.C.).
Wootten, Bayard Morgan, 1873- .
Size: About 2,000 items (2.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Gifts of Mrs. Charles A. Cannon and Mrs. Lyman A.
Cotton in the 1940s and 1950s.
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: This collection was rehoused under the
sponsorship of a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities, Office of
Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
Related Collection: Elizabeth Henderson Cotten Papers (#1650).
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
Series Descriptions
Series 1. Historic Sites Files
Series 2. Roanoke Island Historical Association
Series 3. Volumes
Series 4. Photographs
Shelf List
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
Mrs. Charles A. (Ruth C.) Cannon was an active clubwoman
residing in Concord, N.C. In the 1930s and 1940s, she was a
researcher for the Garden Club of North Carolina's project on
historic homes. In 1950, she served as chair of the Roanoke
Island Historical Association.
Collection Overview
Correspondence, memoranda, and clippings collected by Mrs.
Charles A. Cannon as a member of the Garden Club of North
Carolina and the Roanoke Island Historical Association. The bulk
of the collection is made up of information on historic homes,
much of which was collected for publication in Old Homes and
Gardens of North Carolina (1939). Also included are photographs
of historic homes, some of which were taken by Bayard Wooten. A
smaller portion of the material relates to the Roanoke Island
Historical Association's production of "The Lost Colony" and to
the development of the Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke Island.
Volumes include a history of Roanoke Farms, Halifax County, N.C.,
a Resettlement Administration project, containing typed
transcripts of interviews with residents.
The collection is divided into four series:
Series 1. Historic Sites Files
Series 2. Roanoke Island Historical Association Materials
Series 3. Volumes
Series 4. Photographs
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Historic Sites Files
1934-1953 and undated. About 1,550 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical by county name.
These papers contain the letters, memoranda, and newspaper
clippings collected by Mrs. Cannon and sent to her by members of
the Garden Club of North Carolina and by other interested
persons. The papers document the history of old homes in 81
North Carolina counties. The material was edited and published
in Old Homes and Gardens of North Carolina under the auspices of
the Garden Club. The original order of the files, which included
slight inconsistencies in the alphabetical arrangement, has been
maintained. Some photographs are included (see also series 4).
Of note is a United Daughters of the Confederacy prize-winning
essay on old churches.
Folder 1 Alamance-Anson
2 Alamance-Anson clippings
3 Allegheny-Alexander-Ashe
4 Beaufort
5 Beaufort clippings
6 Bertie
7 Bertie clippings
8 Bladen
9 Bladen clippings
10 Brunswick
11 Brunswick clippings
12 Buncombe
13 Buncombe clippings
14 Burke
15 Burke clippings
16-17 Cabarrus-Catawba
18 Cabarrus-Catawba clippings
19 Caldwell
20 Caldwell clippings
21 Camden-Carteret
22 Camden-Carteret clippings
23 Caswell
24 Caswell clippings
25 Chatham
26 Chatham clippings
27-28 Chowan
29 Chowan clippings
30 Cleveland
31 Cleveland clippings
32 Craven
33 Craven clippings
34 Cumberland
35 Cumberland clippings
36 Dare clippings
37 Davidson
38 Davidson clippings
39 Davie
40 Davie clippings
41 Durham-Duplin
42 Durham-Duplin clippings
43 Edgecombe
44 Forsythe
45 Forsythe clippings
46 Franklin
47 Franklin clippings
48 Gaston
49 Gaston clippings
50 Gates
51 Granville
52 Granville clippings
53 Green
54 Guilford
55 Guilford clippings
56 Halifax-Hertford
57 Halifax-Hertford clippings
58 Henderson-Harnett
59 Henderson-Harnett clippings
60 Hyde clippings
61 Iredell
62 Iredell clippings
63 Johnston-Jackson
64 Johnston-Jackson clippings
65 Jones
66 Jones clippings
67 Lenoir
68 Lenoir clippings
69 Lincoln-Lee
70 Lincoln-Lee clippings
71 Macon
72 Mecklenburg-Martin
73 Mecklenburg-Martin clippings
74 Montgomery, Moore, McDonnell
75 Montgomery, Moore, McDonnell clippings
76 Nash
77 Nash clippings
78 New Hanover
79 New Hanover clippings
80 Orange-Onslow
81 Orange-Onslow clippings
82 Pasquotank-Pitt
83 Pasquotank-Pitt clippings
84 Person
85 Person clippings
86 Polk
87 Randolph
88 Rockingham-Robeson
89 Rockingham-Robeson clippings
90 Rowan
91 Rowan clippings
92 Rutherford-Richmond
93 Rutherford-Richmond clippings
94 Sampson
95 Sampson clippings
96 Scotland
97 Scotland clippings
98 Stanly
99 Stanly clippings
100 Stokes
101 Stokes clipping
102 Surry
103 Surry clippings
104 Transylvania
105 Tyrrell
106 Tyrrell clippings
107 Vance
108 Vance clippings
109 Wake
110 Wake clippings
111 Washington-Wayne
112 Washington-Wayne clippings
113 Warren-Wilson
114 Warren-Wilson clippings
115 Wilkes-Watauga
116 Wilkes-Watauga clippings
117 Yancey-Yadkin
118 Yancey-Yadkin clippings
119 Garden Tour clippings
120 Miscellaneous historic churches, gardens,
homes
121-123 Miscellaneous clippings
Series 2. Roanoke Island Historical Association
1946-1953 and undated. About 450 items.
Arrangement: by subject.
This series contains correspondence, chiefly 1950, relating to
the Roanoke Island Historical Association, its production of "The
Lost Colony," and the Elizabethan Gardens project. Also included
are related clippings and other materials.
Folder 124 Correspondence, 1946-1949
125 Correspondence, January-June 1950
126 Correspondence, July-December 1950
127 Correspondence, 1951-1953 and undated
128 Elizabethan Gardens
129 The Lost Colony
130-131 The Lost Colony (clippings)
132 Roanoke Island Historical Association
Series 3. Volumes.
1934, 1937, 1951, and undated.
Folder 133 Guest Book for Luncheon in Honor of the Colonial
Dames of North Carolina, 1934
134 The State, 1951
135 "Leaders of North Carolina," n.d.
136 North Carolina Scrapbook of Mariam Cannon, n.d.
137 History of Roanoke Farms, Halifax County, N.C., a
Resettlement Administration project, compiled by
Thomas W. Adickes and including many interviews
with old inhabitants. Typescript, 1937.
Series 4. Photographs.
280 items.
The bulk of the photographs, many of them taken by Bayard
Wooten, are of old homes in North Carolina. There are a smaller
number of pictures of gardens as well. Also included are
photographs of Confederate leaders, including Bernard E. Bee,
Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Bushrod Johnson, and a few
battle scenes.
P-2551/1-280
SHELF LIST
Box 1 Series 1 (folders 1-28)
Box 2 Series 1 (folders 29-71)
Box 3 Series 1 (folders 72-108)
Box 4 Series 1 (folders 109-123)
Series 2 (folders 124-126)
Box 5 Series 2 (folders 127-132)
Series 3 (folders 133-137)
Items separated:
P-2551/1-280