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 M. A. Curtis Papers, #199, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Partial microfilm copy available.

Acquisitions Information

1935-2004

Additional Descriptive Resources

A more complete finding aid for this collection is available at the Southern Historical Collection.

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.

• Berkeley, M. J. (Miles Joseph), 1808-1889.
• Botanists--United States--History--19th century.
• Botany--Study and teaching.
• Charleston (S.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Children--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Church music--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Military life.
• Curtis family.
• Curtis, Jared, fl. 1823-1837.
• Curtis, M. A. (Moses Ashley), 1808-1872.
• Curtis, Mary Jane DeRosset.
• DeRosset family.
• Diaries.
• Episcopal Church--Clergy--North Carolina.
• Gray, Asa, 1810-1888.
• Mycologists--United States--History--19th century.
• Mycology--Study and teaching.
• Ravenel, Henry William, 1814-1887.
• Wilmington (N.C.)--Social life and customs.

• See also William Preston Bynum Papers (#117); DeRosset Family Papers (#214); Edmund and Dorothy Smith Berkeley, Collectors of Correspondence of Moses Ashley Curtis (#4254), in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Moses Ashley Curtis (1808-1872) was an Episcopal priest, teacher, and noted mycologist. Curtis lived in Wilmington, Raleigh, and Hillsborough, N.C., and Society Hill, S.C.

The collection includes correspondence between Curtis and his wife, Mary Jane DeRosset Curtis; letters from his father, Reverend Jared Curtis of Massachusetts; letters from Mrs. Curtis's DeRosset relatives of Wilmington, N.C., and Charleston, S.C.; correspondence with the Curtis children at school, in the Confederate army, and in their own homes; scattered letters about activities of the Episcopal Church; and letters to Curtis from other botanists, especially Henry William Ravenel, Asa Gray, and Miles Joseph Berkeley, particularly about fungi.

Later papers are family correspondence and papers relating to the disposition of Curtis's scientific materials. Also included are diaries, botanical notes, school notebooks, sermons, photographs, and church music.