Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4684
MARY CLAIRE ENGSTROM PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Mary Claire Engstrom (1906- ) served as chair of
the Historic Hillsborough Commission, Hillsborough,
N.C., from 1964 to 1966 and 1976 to 1983.
Primarily research files compiled for
numerous projects conducted for the Historic
Hillsborough Commission and others, documenting
Hillsborough and Orange County, N.C., historic
buildings, sites, and individuals. Substantial files
include those on architect John Berry, the Burwell
School, Quakers in the Eno area, inns and taverns,
mills, and cemeteries. Personal correspondence in the
collection includes letters from other local
historians and genealogists, including Margaret Berry
Street, and carbon copies of weekly letters, 1977-
1983, from Mary C. Engstrom's husband, Alfred Garvin
Engstrom (1907- ), Distinguished Alumni Professor of
French at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, to a childhood friend, discussing philosophy,
literature, and current and local events.
Online Catalog Terms:
Berry, John.
Burwell School (Hillsborough, N.C.).
Cemeteries--North Carolina--History.
Engstrom, Alfred Garvin, 1907- .
Engstrom, Mary Claire, 1906- .
Genealogists--North Carolina--Correspondence.
Genealogy.
Hillsborough (N.C.)--History.
Historians--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Historic buildings--North Carolina.
Historic districts--North Carolina.
Historic Hillsborough Commission (N.C.).
Historic preservation--North Carolina.
Historic sites--North Carolina.
Hotels, taverns, etc.--North Carolina--History.
Local history--North Carolina.
Orange County (N.C.)--History.
Quakers--North Carolina--History--18th century.
Street, Margaret Berry.
Size: About 10,000 items (15.0 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Mary Claire Engstrom in December
1993; from John Kennedy of Hillsborough, N.C., in
October 1994 (Acc. 94158); and from Philip M.
Griffith of Monroe, N.C., in March 1998 (Acc.
98067).
Processing Note: Arrangment is only roughly to the box level
and the collection has not been archivally
refoldered. Oversized papers: OP-4684/1-11.
Access: No restrictions.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
Related Collections: Mary Claire Engstrom Collection,
Photographic Archives, North Carolina
Collection, Library of the University of
North Carolina at chapel Hill.
Table of Contents:
Biographical Note
Description
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Mary Claire Engstrom (1906- ), daughter of Lester L. Randolph
and Florence Alberta Toynbee Randolph of Kansas City, Mo., served
as chair of the Historic Hillsborough Commission, Hillsborough,
N.C., 1963-1983, in addition to acting in an official capacity
for other Orange County, N.C., historic groups. She received her
Ph.D. in 18th-century English from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and did postdoctoral research at Harvard
and Yale, specializing in 18th-century satire. She was married
to Alfred Garvin Engstrom (1907-1990), Distinguished Alumni
Professor of French at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill.
DESCRIPTION
The collection consists primarily of historical research files
compiled by Mary Claire Engstrom from various sources. Her
historical research was predominantly concerned with Orange
County personalities, buildings, institutions, and groups, and
resulted in the documentation and description of 18th- and 19th-
century Hillsborough deed records, 122 historic sites in
Hillsborough, a colonial history of Hillsborough, numerous
biographies, and a survey of all cemeteries and isolated graves,
both black and white persons, in Orange County. Among other
topics she studied in depth were early Quakers in the area, local
inns and taverns, mills, and the Hillsborough Academy for boys
and Burwell School for girls. In addition, she assisted in
genealogical research in response to individual requests. Her
research files contain final published versions of many of her
historical essays.
Additionally, the collection contains some personal
correspondence, including letters from other local historians
sharing details of their discoveries and intended research
strategies. Carbon copies of detailed weekly letters sent by
Alfred Garvin Engstrom from 1977 to 1983 to his childhood friend
Dez Dwyer of Belvedere, Ill., discuss philosophy, literature,
remembrances, current events, weather, sports, local events, and
include descriptions of nature, all written in an entertainingly
erudite manner. Also included are letters, chiefly 1983-1988,
about books and literature from Alfred Engstrom to Philip
Griffith of Monroe, N.C.
While the collection has not yet been formally arranged, the
papers have been somewhat organized. Please note that this
organization is superficial; that is, some files will not be in
the "proper" box. Also, there is considerable crossover between
files compiled on historic individuals and families and files
compiled for historic buildings associated with those families.
Related photographs may be found in the Mary Claire Engstrom
Collection in the Photographic Archives, North Carolina
Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill.
The collection is organized as follows:
Box 1. Correspondence, including letters from other local
historians and genalogists to Mary Claire Engstrom, and
carbon copies of weekly letters written by Alfred Garvin
Engstrom from 1977 to 1983 to childhood friend Dez Dwyer
of Belvedere, Ill.
Addition of March 1998 (Acc. 98067): Eleven letters
from Alfred G. Engstrom to Philip M. Griffith, one in 1964
and the rest, 1983-1988, mostly about books and
literature; a letter from Mary Claire Engstrom to Philip
Griffith informing him of her husband’s death; and two
clippings about Alfred G. Engstrom.
Miscellaneous research files, including files on
garden designs, early Orange County families, and schools
and academies.
Box 2. Miscellaneous research files. Topics include local
families and individuals, mills, Quakers, Presbyterianism,
and architect John Berry.
Box 3. Research files on John Berry and on 18th-century Quakers
in the Eno area.
Box 4. Research files on the Burwell School and other schools for
girls.
Box 5. Research files on individuals and families, names
beginning with A-H.
Box 6. Research files on individuals and families, names
beginning with H-Z.
Box 7. Research files compiled primarily to document Historic
Hillsborough Commission tours.
Box 8. Research files primarily concerning historic buildings,
plats, and land grants.
Box 9. Maps and plats.
Box 10. Miscellaneous research files on various topics
including Presbyterianism, weather, colonial crafts,
early social life, inns, taverns and ordinaries,
mills, mines and minerals, and weights and measures.
Addition of October 1994 (Acc. 94158):
"Statement of George W. Teer concerning the Alexander
Dickson house and farm"; "Statement of John William
Dickson."
Oversized items include annotated maps of Orange County, hand-
drawn plats of Hillsborough and of Chapel Hill's bridges and
springs, plots of Orange County cemeteries, and photocopied and
transcribed materials on Thomas Hart and on Eno Quakers.