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Collection Number: 01743

Collection Title: Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac Hamilton Papers,1895-1961

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.


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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 The collection contains correspondence; diaries; scrapbooks; published and unpublished writings; speeches; photographs; and research materials.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.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

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 Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac Hamilton Papers #01743, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from J.G. de Roulhac Hamilton in July 1950 with additions from Hamilton in November 1955, March 1956, September 1956, March 1960, and August 1961. Transferred from the Southern Historical Collection in 1998 (Acc. 98012) and from University Archives in September 1999 (Acc. 98441).
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.
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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

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

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.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

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.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

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.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1885-1961.

The 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.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.1. Correspondence, Chronological, 1885-1952.

About 6000 items.

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

1885-1907

Includes 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

1907-1909

Includes letters relating to an attempt to lure Hamilton to Cornell University and Hamilton's wedding to Mary Thompson.

Folder 3

1910-1911

Folder 4

1912

Includes 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 5

Folder 6

1913

Includes 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 7

Folder 8

Folder 9

1914

Folder 10-13

Folder 10

Folder 11

Folder 12

Folder 13

1915

Folder 14-16

Folder 14

Folder 15

Folder 16

1916

Folder 17-19

Folder 17

Folder 18

Folder 19

1917

Folder 20-28

Folder 20

Folder 21

Folder 22

Folder 23

Folder 24

Folder 25

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

1918

Folder 29-32

Folder 29

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

1919

Folder 33-38

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Folder 36

Folder 37

Folder 38

1920

Folder 39-43

Folder 39

Folder 40

Folder 41

Folder 42

Folder 43

1921

Folder 44-47

Folder 44

Folder 45

Folder 46

Folder 47

1922

Folder 48-52

Folder 48

Folder 49

Folder 50

Folder 51

Folder 52

1923

Folder 53-56

Folder 53

Folder 54

Folder 55

Folder 56

1924

Folder 57-61

Folder 57

Folder 58

Folder 59

Folder 60

Folder 61

1925

Folder 62-67

Folder 62

Folder 63

Folder 64

Folder 65

Folder 66

Folder 67

1926

Folder 68-74

Folder 68

Folder 69

Folder 70

Folder 71

Folder 72

Folder 73

Folder 74

1927

Folder 75-79

Folder 75

Folder 76

Folder 77

Folder 78

Folder 79

1928

Folder 80-89

Folder 80

Folder 81

Folder 82

Folder 83

Folder 84

Folder 85

Folder 86

Folder 87

Folder 88

Folder 89

1929

Folder 90-94

Folder 90

Folder 91

Folder 92

Folder 93

Folder 94

1930

Folder 95-98

Folder 95

Folder 96

Folder 97

Folder 98

1931

Folder 99-102

Folder 99

Folder 100

Folder 101

Folder 102

1932

Folder 103-107

Folder 103

Folder 104

Folder 105

Folder 106

Folder 107

1933

Folder 108-112

Folder 108

Folder 109

Folder 110

Folder 111

Folder 112

1934

Folder 113-117

Folder 113

Folder 114

Folder 115

Folder 116

Folder 117

1935

Folder 118-122

Folder 118

Folder 119

Folder 120

Folder 121

Folder 122

1936

Folder 123-128

Folder 123

Folder 124

Folder 125

Folder 126

Folder 127

Folder 128

1937

Folder 129-134

Folder 129

Folder 130

Folder 131

Folder 132

Folder 133

Folder 134

1938

Folder 135-139

Folder 135

Folder 136

Folder 137

Folder 138

Folder 139

1939

Folder 140-145

Folder 140

Folder 141

Folder 142

Folder 143

Folder 144

Folder 145

1940

Folder 146-151

Folder 146

Folder 147

Folder 148

Folder 149

Folder 150

Folder 151

1941

Folder 152-157

Folder 152

Folder 153

Folder 154

Folder 155

Folder 156

Folder 157

1942

Folder 158-162

Folder 158

Folder 159

Folder 160

Folder 161

Folder 162

1943

Folder 163-165

Folder 163

Folder 164

Folder 165

1944

Folder 166-168

Folder 166

Folder 167

Folder 168

1945

Folder 169-171

Folder 169

Folder 170

Folder 171

1946

Folder 172-173

Folder 172

Folder 173

1947

Folder 174-175

Folder 174

Folder 175

1948

Folder 176-177

Folder 176

Folder 177

1949

Folder 178

1950

Folder 179

1951-1952

Folder 180-187

Folder 180

Folder 181

Folder 182

Folder 183

Folder 184

Folder 185

Folder 186

Folder 187

Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.2. Correspondence, Alphabetical, 1953-1961.

About 2000 items.

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 190

Folder 191

C

Folder 192

Clark, John W.

Folder 193

D

Folder 194

E

Folder 195

F

Folder 196

G

Folder 197-202

Folder 197

Folder 198

Folder 199

Folder 200

Folder 201

Folder 202

H

Folder 203-211

Folder 203

Folder 204

Folder 205

Folder 206

Folder 207

Folder 208

Folder 209

Folder 210

Folder 211

Hamilton, Alfred T.

Folder 212

Hamilton, Bill

Folder 213

Hamilton, Mary Thompson

Folder 214

Hamilton Portrait

Folder 215-220

Folder 215

Folder 216

Folder 217

Folder 218

Folder 219

Folder 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 227

Folder 228

M

Folder 229

N

Folder 230

National historic sites

Folder 231

O

Folder 232

P

Folder 233

Q

Folder 234-235

Folder 234

Folder 235

R

Folder 236-237

Folder 236

Folder 237

S

Folder 238

Shepherd, David A.

Folder 239

T

Folder 240

U-V

Folder 241

W

Folder 242a

X-Z

Folder 242b

Miscellaneous

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Writings.

About 800 items.

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 243

Folder 244

Folder 245

Folder 246

Folder 247

Folder 248

Folder 249

Folder 250

Folder 251

Folder 252

Folder 253

Folder 254

Folder 255

Folder 256

Folder 257

Folder 258

Folder 259

Folder 260

Typescripts, printed items, reviews, speeches, notes, and notes on Confederate generals.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Diaries and Index, 1919, 1933-1949.

3 items

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 261

Folder 262

French Diaries (1919)

Folder 263-264

Folder 263

Folder 264

Typed diaries: December 1933, October-December 1934

Folder 265-266

Folder 265

Folder 266

1935

Folder 267-275

Folder 267

Folder 268

Folder 269

Folder 270

Folder 271

Folder 272

Folder 273

Folder 274

Folder 275

1936

Folder 276-284

Folder 276

Folder 277

Folder 278

Folder 279

Folder 280

Folder 281

Folder 282

Folder 283

Folder 284

1937

Folder 284-291

Folder 284

Folder 285

Folder 286

Folder 287

Folder 288

Folder 289

Folder 290

Folder 291

1938

Folder 291-297

Folder 291

Folder 292

Folder 293

Folder 294

Folder 295

Folder 296

Folder 297

1939

Folder 297-301

Folder 297

Folder 298

Folder 299

Folder 300

Folder 301

1940

Folder 301-308

Folder 301

Folder 302

Folder 303

Folder 304

Folder 305

Folder 306

Folder 307

Folder 308

1941

Folder 308-313

Folder 308

Folder 309

Folder 310

Folder 311

Folder 312

Folder 313

1942

Folder 313-319

Folder 313

Folder 314

Folder 315

Folder 316

Folder 317

Folder 318

Folder 319

1943

Folder 319-327

Folder 319

Folder 320

Folder 321

Folder 322

Folder 323

Folder 324

Folder 325

Folder 326

Folder 327

1944

Folder 327-334

Folder 327

Folder 328

Folder 329

Folder 330

Folder 331

Folder 332

Folder 333

Folder 334

1945

Folder 334-342

Folder 334

Folder 335

Folder 336

Folder 337

Folder 338

Folder 339

Folder 340

Folder 341

Folder 342

1946

Folder 342-349

Folder 342

Folder 343

Folder 344

Folder 345

Folder 346

Folder 347

Folder 348

Folder 349

1947

Folder 349-356

Folder 349

Folder 350

Folder 351

Folder 352

Folder 353

Folder 354

Folder 355

Folder 356

1948-26 January 1949

Box 15-19

Box 15

Box 16

Box 17

Box 18

Box 19

Index (on 3x5 slips of paper)

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Scrapbooks and Miscellaneous, 1903-1961.

About 20 items.

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 358

Folder 359

Folder 360

Folder 361

Folder 362

Folder 363

Folder 364

Folder 365

Folder 366

Folder numbers not used

Oversize Volume SV-01743/2-9

SV-01743/2

SV-01743/3

SV-01743/4

SV-01743/5

SV-01743/6

SV-01743/7

SV-01743/8

SV-01743/9

Scrapbooks 2-9

Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-01743/1

Diplomas

Folder 367

Miscellaneous

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 5. Pictures.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 6. Additions

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Professional Correspondence, 1908-1928 (Addition of January 1998).

About 100 items.

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 371

Folder 372

Folder 373

1928

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Personal and Professional Correspondence, 1929-1958. (Addition of September 1999).

About 500 items.

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 374

Folder 375

Folder 376

Folder 377

Folder 378

Folder 379

Folder 380

Personal correspondence, 1929-1955

Folder 381-391

Folder 381

Folder 382

Folder 383

Folder 384

Folder 385

Folder 386

Folder 387

Folder 388

Folder 389

Folder 390

Folder 391

Professional correspondence, 1929-1955, 1958

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

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