Restrictions to Access

CLOSED pending processing.

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 Crown Hosiery Mills Records #4867, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Amos R. Kearns, Jr. of High Point, N.C., in 1997 (Acc. 97024).

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.

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.

• Bankruptcy--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Boy Scouts--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Crown Hosiery Mills (High Point, N.C.)
• Hosiery industry--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Industries--North Carolina.
• Kern family.
• Textile workers--North Carolina--History--20th century.

• Gurney Harris Kearns Papers, Special Collections Library, Duke University, Durham, N.C.

Crown Hosiery Mills was founded in 1913 by G. H. Kearns in High Point, N.C. Kearns was joined in the business by his two sons, Amos R. and Charles L. Kearns, who took over the business after his death in 1962. Both Amos and Charles Kearns died in 1979. Amos R. Kearns, Jr., joined the business in 1958. After he acquired Crown in 1978 in a leveraged buy-out from his father and uncle, he was president and sole stockholder. Crown Hosiery filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations in 1991.

Business documents, financial papers, and tax records of Crown Hosiery Mills. Business documents include general correspondence and reports created in the day-to-day operations of the company. Financial papers consist mainly of payroll and accounting records. The collection also contains extensive documentation of structural problems at the company's Bladenboro facility. Individual files exist for retailers. Papers on Amos R. Kearns, Jr.'s involvement as Regional Vice President of the Boy Scouts of America are also included.