This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Size | 25.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 9,500 items) |
Abstract | The papers of white historian and founding director of the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina J.G. (Joseph Grégoire) de Roulhac Hamilton (1878-1961) document his education including graduate work at Columbia University under William A. Dunning (1857-1922); service in the United States Army during and after the First World War; career as a teacher, historian, and archivist; publishing; travel and curatorial work related to the Southern Historical Collection; social life and civic engagement in Hillsborough and Chapel Hill, N.C.; North Carolina politics including his advocacy for a state constitutional convention in the 1910s and participation in the state's Democratic Party; and historical research especially as related to Confederate generals, Reconstruction, northern "carpet-baggers," white Democratic "Redeemers," and nineteenth-century white supremacist and domestic terror groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. The collection contains correspondence; diaries; scrapbooks; published and unpublished writings; speeches; photographs; and research materials. Correspondents include historians R.D.W. Connor and Dunning; University of North Carolina faculty and administrators; state and national politicians; business leaders; individuals and families who donated their papers to the Southern Historical Collection; and members of his family. The papers reflect Hamilton's historical, political, and social perspectives that were brought to bear on his collecting manuscript materials documenting affluent white families of the nineteenth and early twentieth-century American South. |
Creator | Hamilton, Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac, 1878-1961. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English. |
Processed by: Tim Pyatt, March 1997.
Encoded by: Jackie Dean, 24 March 1998
Revised by: Wakefield Harper, April 2010.
Edited by: Tierra Thomas and Laura Hart, July 2019
Back to TopThe 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.
1878 | Born in Hillsborough, N.C. on 6 August to Daniel Heyward Hamilton (1838-1908) and Frances Gray Roulhac Hamilton (1839-1897). |
1900 | Graduated from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn. with a master's degree. |
1901 | Began teaching at the Horner Military School in Oxford, N.C. |
1904-1906 | Served as principal of Wilmington (N.C.) High School. |
1906 | Graduated from Columbia University in New York, N.Y., with a Ph.D. He studied with historian William A. Dunning. |
1906 | Appointed as associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina. |
1908 | Married Mary Amelia Thompson. |
1908 | Named Alumni Professor and chair of the History Department at the University of North Carolina. |
1910 | Birth of his son Roulhac Hamilton (1910-1981). |
1912 | Birth of his son Alfred Thompson Hamilton (1912-1993). |
1914 | Published Reconstruction in North Carolina. |
1916 | Published Party Politics in North Carolina, 1835-1860. |
1918 | Served as director of the War Issues Course for the Fourth District Students Army Training Corps. |
1919 | Served as a lecturer in the Citizenship Unit of the Army Educational Corps. |
1919 | Published History of North Carolina with co-authors R.D.W. Connor and William Kenneth Boyd. |
1920-1922 | Served as a consultant in general education to the U.S. War Department General Staff. |
1927 | Published Henry Ford, the Man, the Worker, the Citizen. |
14 January 1930 | Southern Historical Collection established at the University of North Carolina. |
1930 | Resigned as chair of the History Department at the University of North Carolina and appointed director of the newly established Southern Historical Collection. |
1930-1951 | Served as director of the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina. |
1961 | Died on 10 November. |
The papers of white historian and founding director of the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina J.G. (Joseph Grégoire) de Roulhac Hamilton (1878-1961) document his education including graduate work at Columbia University under William A. Dunning (1857-1922); service in the United States Army during and after the First World War; career as a teacher, historian, and archivist; publishing; travel and curatorial work related to the Southern Historical Collection; social life and civic engagement in Hillsborough and Chapel Hill, N.C.; North Carolina politics including his advocacy for a state constitutional convention in the 1910s and participation in the state's Democratic Party; and historical research especially as related to Confederate generals, Reconstruction, northern "carpet-baggers," white Democratic "Redeemers," and nineteenth-century white supremacist and domestic terror groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. The collection contains correspondence; diaries; scrapbooks; published and unpublished writings; speeches; photographs; and research materials. Correspondents include historians R.D.W. Connor and Dunning; University of North Carolina faculty and administrators; state and national politicians; business leaders; individuals and families who donated their papers to the Southern Historical Collection; and members of his family. The papers reflect Hamilton's historical, political, and social perspectives that were brought to bear on his collecting manuscript materials documenting affluent white families of the nineteenth and early twentieth-century American South.
Back to TopThe Correspondence Series is divided into chronological (1.1) and alphabetical subseries (1.2). Series 1.1 consists of personal and professional correspondence documenting Hamilton's life as a student at the University of the South and at Columbia University and his career as an historian and director of the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. Series 1.2 consists of correspondence regarding personal and domestic matters and also publications, university business, and reference assistance for collections in the Southern Historical Collection. Letters from Hamilton's sons, Roulhac Hamilton and Alfred T. Hamilton, are primarily found in Subseries 1.2.
Chiefly personal and professional correspondence. Early folders contain letters and other materials from Hamilton's time as a student at the University of the South and later at Columbia University under William A. Dunning. The bulk of this series consists of personal letters from family, friends, fellow historians, and university administrators. There are also requests for research assistance from students, colleagues, and members of the public.
A considerable number of letters and other documents relate to Hamilton's publications, including a co-written school textbook on United States history, Our Republic (1910); Reconstruction in North Carolina (1910); Party Politics in North Carolina (1916); North Carolina since 1860 (1919);biographical studies of Robert E. Lee, Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, and Henry Ford; as well as surveys of significant manuscript collections in the Southern Historical Collection, shorter published essays, and newspaper articles. There is also substantial correspondence relating to Hamilton's participation in professional associations, including the North Carolina Historical Commission, the Southern Historical Association, and the American Historical Association.
Frequent correspondents include James Sprunt (1846-1924); R.D.W. Connor (1878-1950), historian and from 1934 the first Archivist of the United States; Louis Round Wilson (1876-1979); historian E. Merton Coulter (1890-1981); David A. Shepherd, a fellow alumnus of the University of the South; A.R. Newsome; and Charles W. Dabney. Most of the correspondence from Hamilton's sons Roulhac and Alfred T. Hamilton is filed in subseries 1.2.
Folder 1 |
1885-1907Includes some letters from Hamilton to his parents, his father's will, and materials relating to graduate school and his appointment at the University of North Carolina. |
Folder 2 |
1907-1909Includes letters relating to an attempt to lure Hamilton to Cornell University and Hamilton's wedding to Mary Thompson. |
Folder 3 |
1910-1911 |
Folder 4 |
1912Includes a short note from Woodrow Wilson and Hamilton's inquiries and responses received about the Ku Klux Klan in Reconstruction-era North Carolina. In one letter to John S. Henderson, Hamilton stated that his father Daniel Heyward Hamilton (1838-1908) "was a member of the White Brotherhood." |
Folder 5-6
Folder 5Folder 6 |
1913Includes letters from state and national elected officials, business leaders, and colleagues responding to Hamilton's advocacy for a constitutional convention in North Carolina. Some respondents discussed the 1868 constitutional convention, which in their view was forced on the state's former slave holders by "carpet-baggers" and black suffrage, but most respondents saw a convention as unnecessary and possibly dangerous in opening the door for issues such as women's suffrage. |
Folder 7-9
Folder 7Folder 8Folder 9 |
1914 |
Folder 10-13
Folder 10Folder 11Folder 12Folder 13 |
1915 |
Folder 14-16
Folder 14Folder 15Folder 16 |
1916 |
Folder 17-19
Folder 17Folder 18Folder 19 |
1917 |
Folder 20-28
Folder 20Folder 21Folder 22Folder 23Folder 24Folder 25Folder 26Folder 27Folder 28 |
1918 |
Folder 29-32
Folder 29Folder 30Folder 31Folder 32 |
1919 |
Folder 33-38
Folder 33Folder 34Folder 35Folder 36Folder 37Folder 38 |
1920 |
Folder 39-43
Folder 39Folder 40Folder 41Folder 42Folder 43 |
1921 |
Folder 44-47
Folder 44Folder 45Folder 46Folder 47 |
1922 |
Folder 48-52
Folder 48Folder 49Folder 50Folder 51Folder 52 |
1923 |
Folder 53-56
Folder 53Folder 54Folder 55Folder 56 |
1924 |
Folder 57-61
Folder 57Folder 58Folder 59Folder 60Folder 61 |
1925 |
Folder 62-67
Folder 62Folder 63Folder 64Folder 65Folder 66Folder 67 |
1926 |
Folder 68-74
Folder 68Folder 69Folder 70Folder 71Folder 72Folder 73Folder 74 |
1927 |
Folder 75-79
Folder 75Folder 76Folder 77Folder 78Folder 79 |
1928 |
Folder 80-89
Folder 80Folder 81Folder 82Folder 83Folder 84Folder 85Folder 86Folder 87Folder 88Folder 89 |
1929 |
Folder 90-94
Folder 90Folder 91Folder 92Folder 93Folder 94 |
1930 |
Folder 95-98
Folder 95Folder 96Folder 97Folder 98 |
1931 |
Folder 99-102
Folder 99Folder 100Folder 101Folder 102 |
1932 |
Folder 103-107
Folder 103Folder 104Folder 105Folder 106Folder 107 |
1933 |
Folder 108-112
Folder 108Folder 109Folder 110Folder 111Folder 112 |
1934 |
Folder 113-117
Folder 113Folder 114Folder 115Folder 116Folder 117 |
1935 |
Folder 118-122
Folder 118Folder 119Folder 120Folder 121Folder 122 |
1936 |
Folder 123-128
Folder 123Folder 124Folder 125Folder 126Folder 127Folder 128 |
1937 |
Folder 129-134
Folder 129Folder 130Folder 131Folder 132Folder 133Folder 134 |
1938 |
Folder 135-139
Folder 135Folder 136Folder 137Folder 138Folder 139 |
1939 |
Folder 140-145
Folder 140Folder 141Folder 142Folder 143Folder 144Folder 145 |
1940 |
Folder 146-151
Folder 146Folder 147Folder 148Folder 149Folder 150Folder 151 |
1941 |
Folder 152-157
Folder 152Folder 153Folder 154Folder 155Folder 156Folder 157 |
1942 |
Folder 158-162
Folder 158Folder 159Folder 160Folder 161Folder 162 |
1943 |
Folder 163-165
Folder 163Folder 164Folder 165 |
1944 |
Folder 166-168
Folder 166Folder 167Folder 168 |
1945 |
Folder 169-171
Folder 169Folder 170Folder 171 |
1946 |
Folder 172-173
Folder 172Folder 173 |
1947 |
Folder 174-175
Folder 174Folder 175 |
1948 |
Folder 176-177
Folder 176Folder 177 |
1949 |
Folder 178 |
1950 |
Folder 179 |
1951-1952 |
Folder 180-187
Folder 180Folder 181Folder 182Folder 183Folder 184Folder 185Folder 186Folder 187 |
Undated |
Correspondence regarding personal and domestic matters and also publications, university business, and reference assistance for collections in the Southern Historical Collection. Postcards from friends and messages of condolence following Mary Thompson Hamilton's death in 1959 are included. This series also contains the bulk of the correspondence from Hamilton's sons Roulhac Hamilton and Alfred T. Hamilton to their parents.
Folder 188 |
A |
Folder 189a-189b |
B |
Folder 190-191
Folder 190Folder 191 |
C |
Folder 192 |
Clark, John W. |
Folder 193 |
D |
Folder 194 |
E |
Folder 195 |
F |
Folder 196 |
G |
Folder 197-202
Folder 197Folder 198Folder 199Folder 200Folder 201Folder 202 |
H |
Folder 203-211
Folder 203Folder 204Folder 205Folder 206Folder 207Folder 208Folder 209Folder 210Folder 211 |
Hamilton, Alfred T. |
Folder 212 |
Hamilton, Bill |
Folder 213 |
Hamilton, Mary Thompson |
Folder 214 |
Hamilton Portrait |
Folder 215-220
Folder 215Folder 216Folder 217Folder 218Folder 219Folder 220 |
Hamilton, Roulhac |
Folder 221 |
Historical Society of North Carolina |
Folder 222 |
I |
Folder 223 |
Income tax |
Folder 224 |
J |
Folder 225 |
K |
Folder 226 |
L |
Folder 227-228
Folder 227Folder 228 |
M |
Folder 229 |
N |
Folder 230 |
National historic sites |
Folder 231 |
O |
Folder 232 |
P |
Folder 233 |
Q |
Folder 234-235
Folder 234Folder 235 |
R |
Folder 236-237
Folder 236Folder 237 |
S |
Folder 238 |
Shepherd, David A. |
Folder 239 |
T |
Folder 240 |
U-V |
Folder 241 |
W |
Folder 242a |
X-Z |
Folder 242b |
Miscellaneous |
Chiefly typewritten scripts of articles, reviews, speeches, and other writings relating to southern history in general and to the history of North Carolina in particular. A short story about a ghost at the University of the South, written under the pseudonym "James Heyward" is included, as are Hamilton's notes for a project on Confederate generals and periodic bibliographies of Hamilton's work.
Arrangement: Unsorted.
Folder 243-260
Folder 243Folder 244Folder 245Folder 246Folder 247Folder 248Folder 249Folder 250Folder 251Folder 252Folder 253Folder 254Folder 255Folder 256Folder 257Folder 258Folder 259Folder 260 |
Typescripts, printed items, reviews, speeches, notes, and notes on Confederate generals. |
Arrangement: chronological.
Diaries, 1919 and 1933-1949, chiefly recount Hamilton's extensive collecting trips around the South and his working and social life in Chapel Hill. The diaries include candid observations on donors and contributors to the Southern Historical Collection, potential and actual; Hamilton's dealings with university administrators and colleagues; impressions of places and people he encountered on his collecting trips around the South; social engagements with family and friends; and leisure activities such as golf and vacations. Also included are some 1919 diaries and typewritten letters to Mary Thompson Hamilton from France, where Hamilton served in the Army Educational Commission. The indices in Boxes 15-19 are unarranged slips of paper in Hamilton's hand that index the handwritten diaries by person and place name.
Folder 261-262
Folder 261Folder 262 |
French Diaries (1919) |
Folder 263-264
Folder 263Folder 264 |
Typed diaries: December 1933, October-December 1934 |
Folder 265-266
Folder 265Folder 266 |
1935 |
Folder 267-275
Folder 267Folder 268Folder 269Folder 270Folder 271Folder 272Folder 273Folder 274Folder 275 |
1936 |
Folder 276-283
Folder 276Folder 277Folder 278Folder 279Folder 280Folder 281Folder 282Folder 283 |
1937 |
Folder 284 |
1937-1938 |
Folder 285-291
Folder 285Folder 286Folder 287Folder 288Folder 289Folder 290Folder 291 |
1938 |
Folder 291-297
Folder 291Folder 292Folder 293Folder 294Folder 295Folder 296Folder 297 |
1939 |
Folder 297-301
Folder 297Folder 298Folder 299Folder 300Folder 301 |
1940 |
Folder 301-308
Folder 301Folder 302Folder 303Folder 304Folder 305Folder 306Folder 307Folder 308 |
1941 |
Folder 308-313
Folder 308Folder 309Folder 310Folder 311Folder 312Folder 313 |
1942 |
Folder 313-319
Folder 313Folder 314Folder 315Folder 316Folder 317Folder 318Folder 319 |
1943 |
Folder 319-327
Folder 319Folder 320Folder 321Folder 322Folder 323Folder 324Folder 325Folder 326Folder 327 |
1944 |
Folder 327-334
Folder 327Folder 328Folder 329Folder 330Folder 331Folder 332Folder 333Folder 334 |
1945 |
Folder 334-342
Folder 334Folder 335Folder 336Folder 337Folder 338Folder 339Folder 340Folder 341Folder 342 |
1946 |
Folder 342-349
Folder 342Folder 343Folder 344Folder 345Folder 346Folder 347Folder 348Folder 349 |
1947 |
Folder 349-356
Folder 349Folder 350Folder 351Folder 352Folder 353Folder 354Folder 355Folder 356 |
1948-26 January 1949 |
Box 15-19
Box 15Box 16Box 17Box 18Box 19 |
Index (on 3x5 slips of paper) |
The scrapbooks consist chiefly of newspaper clippings and other printed materials. Many of the clippings are undated with the newspaper unidentified. Some overlapping of dates and subject matter occur in the different volumes. Scrapbook 1, 1903-1921, contains material on Hamilton's academic and professional career, with information on his student days at the University of the South and at Columbia University, and more on his life at the University of North Carolina. Some material relates to his service with the Education and Recreation Branch of the Army during the First World War.
Scrapbook 2, 1919, records Hamilton's service in France with the Army Educational Commission. Scrapbook 3, circa 1900-1948, contains many types of materials, from birthday cards to ration cards, with historical materials interspersed. Scrapbooks 4-5 contain personal and professional materials, including clippings of book reviews written while Hamilton was editor of the Greensboro News book review page. Scrapbooks 6-9 document the Southern Historical Collection.
The oversized diplomas include Hamilton's undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as honorary degrees from Washington and Lee University and the University of the South.
Folder 357 |
Scrapbook 1, 1903-1921 |
Folder 358-366
Folder 358Folder 359Folder 360Folder 361Folder 362Folder 363Folder 364Folder 365Folder 366 |
Folder numbers not used |
Oversize Volume SV-01743/2-9
SV-01743/2SV-01743/3SV-01743/4SV-01743/5SV-01743/6SV-01743/7SV-01743/8SV-01743/9 |
Scrapbooks 2-9 |
Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-01743/1 |
Diplomas |
Folder 367 |
Miscellaneous |
Image P-01743/1 |
J.G. de Roulhac Hamilton in uniform during the First World War (Paris) |
Image P-01743/2 |
Young Hamilton (copy of original at North Carolina Department of Archives and History) |
Image P-01743/3 |
Hamilton portrait (photograph) |
Accession 98012.
Office correspondence of Hamilton prior to the formation of the Southern Historical Collection. These files contain the correspondence of Hamilton with potential donors of southern materials; with people inquiring about genealogy, old stamps, and museum items; answers to Hamilton's inquiries about various papers that he collected; discussions about the library's collection; and responses to 1928 newspaper announcements launching a collection of southern historical manuscripts.
Folder 368 |
1908-1919 |
Folder 369 |
1920-1925 |
Folder 370 |
1926-1927 |
Folder 371-373
Folder 371Folder 372Folder 373 |
1928 |
Accession 98441.
Personal and professional correspondence of Hamilton, 1929-1958. The personal correspondence, 1929-1955, contains information concerning his travels, personal affairs, recommendations and references, invitations to civic and social functions, and answers to research inquiries. The professional correspondence, 1929-1958, contains information regarding his travels for the Southern Historical Collection, obtaining papers for the Southern Historical Collection, professional meetings and speaking engagements, references and recommendations, people seeking manuscript publication, and his own publications.
Folder 374-380
Folder 374Folder 375Folder 376Folder 377Folder 378Folder 379Folder 380 |
Personal correspondence, 1929-1955 |
Folder 381-391
Folder 381Folder 382Folder 383Folder 384Folder 385Folder 386Folder 387Folder 388Folder 389Folder 390Folder 391 |
Professional correspondence, 1929-1955, 1958 |