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Collection Number: 03904

Collection Title: Edgar Wallace Knight Papers, 1915-1953

This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.

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 3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1,850 items)
Abstract Edgar Wallace Knight (1885-1953) was professor of education at Trinity College, 1913-1917, and at the University of North Carolina, 1919-1953. Papers of Edgar Wallace Knight include letters concerning his work written while he was a fellow at the Social Science Research Council, studying folk schools and rural education in Denmark, 1925-1926; letters, 1918-1922, exchanged with R. H. Claytor, Orange County, N.C., superintendent of public instruction, about a reading circle conducted by Knight for Orange County teachers; correspondence, 1945-1949, related to his Documentary History of Education in the South Before 1860; extracts of letters, 1945-1953, from scholars about proposed publishing projects; speeches, 1920s and 1930-1945, given by Knight at professional meetings, college commencements, and other events; articles written by Knight; and miscellaneous other items.
Creator Knight, Edgar Wallace, 1885-1953.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
Some unprocessed materials.
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 Edgar Wallace Knight papers #3904, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from William Kornegay of Sunderland, Mass., in 1970, 1989 (Acc. 90089), 1992 (Acc. 92190), 1995 (Acc. 95014), and 1997 (Acc. 97128); transferred from the North Carolina Collection in 1976; transferred from the Louis Round Wilson Papers (#3274) in 1976; and transferred from Edgar Wallace Knight Collection of materials relating to education in the South before 1860 (#1662) in 1992.
Received from William Kornegay of Sunderland, Mass., in May 1989.
Received from William Kornegay of Sunderland, Mass., in December 1992.
Received from William Kornegay of Sunderland, Mass., in January 1995.
Received from William Kornegay of Sunderland, Mass., in September 1997.
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: SHC Staff, 1970-1997

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Not processed. May require staff assistance.

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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

9 April 1886 Born in Woodland, Northampton County, N.C. Parents: John Washington and Margaret Davis Knight, small farmers whose chief crop was tobacco.

1909 Graduated from Trinity College.

1911 Masters degree from Trinity College.

1913 Ph.D., Teachers College, Columbia University

1913-1917 Assistant professor of education, Trinity College

28 June 1916 Married Annie Mozelle Turner

1917 Superintendent of Wake County Schools

1918 Assistant educational director for the southeastern states of the Committee on Education and Special Training for the War Plans Division of the General Staff

1919 Joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill

1920s Assistant superintendent without pay for Orange County schools.

1922-1952 Member of Chapel Hill School Board.

1925 Observed rural and folk schools in Denmark, with grant from Social Science Research Council

1929 Published Education in the United States, revised editions appeared in 1934, 1940, 1951

1934 Appointed Kenan professor

1949-1953 Published Documentary History of Education in the South Before 1860

1952 Doctor of literature, Duke University

7 August 1953 Died.

For additional biographical information, see Dictionary of North Carolina Biography.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Chiefly speeches and other writings by Edgar W. Knight. Most items relate to his work on the history of education in the South.

Lecture and class notes for various education classes.

Typed carbon copies of "The Tasks of Teachers and Teaching (abstract of address by Edgar W. Knight of the University of North Carolina before the Maryland State Teachers' Association, October 22, 1932)" and "Educational Progress Through Teaching" (undated).

Three photographs of early 20th-century schools.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Correspondence, 1915-1926.

Family correspondence, 1915, and almost daily letters, 1925-1926, from E. W. Knight to his wife and daughters while he was in Copenhagen, Denmark, with letters also written from Paris, London, and New York, en route.

Professional correspondence and related papers includes two mimeographed letters, 1915, from S. P. Lockhart, Orange County Superintendent of Public Instruction; lists of names, addresses, and assignments of white teachers in Orange County, excluding Chapel Hill, 1918-1919 and 1921-1921; statistics on population, enrollment, and attendance in white and nonwhite schools in Orange County, 1908-1918. Also included are letters, 1918-1922, between Edgar W. Knight, Department of Rural Education, University of North Carolina and after 1921 assistant superintendent of education for Orange County, N.C., and R. H. Claytor, Orange County superintendent of public instruction, about a reading circle and other workshops conducted by Knight for the teachers of Orange County and related work done by Knight for the county, including the conduct of a demonstration school funded by the University. Mimeographed letters from Claytor to the county teachers about administration of their schools, materials available, and educational opportunities available to them.

Folder 1-6

Folder 1

Folder 2

Folder 3

Folder 4

Folder 5

Folder 6

Correspondence, 1915-1926

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Correspondence, 1945-1949.

This correspondence, arranged alphabetically by author, is related primarily to the collection of materials for and preparation of A Documentary History of Education in the South Before 1860. Correspondents include historians, librarians, educators, and archivists all over the South and major repositories elsewhere.

Folder 7-20

Folder 7

Folder 8

Folder 9

Folder 10

Folder 11

Folder 12

Folder 13

Folder 14

Folder 15

Folder 16

Folder 17

Folder 18

Folder 19

Folder 20

Correspondence, 1945-1949

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Correspondence, 1947-1953.

This correspondence includes typed carbon copies of extracts from about 90 letters, 1947-1948, from college teachers of education and other scholars all over the United States commenting favorably on Knight's plan to publish a multi-volume documentary history of education in the South. Also included are two letters, 1948, to Porter Cowles, University of North Carolina Press, discussing financial arrangements for publication of the volumes, including a detailed outline of volume I.

Also included are typed carbon copies of extracts from about 60 letters, 1953, from college teachers of education all over the United States commenting on Knight's plan to publish a book of readings in the history of secondary education.

Folder 21-23

Folder 21

Folder 22

Folder 23

Correspondence, 1947-1953

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Writings and Speeches, 1920-1945 and undated.

Writings on education and typed copies of speeches, 1920-1945 and undated, made by Knight at meetings of professional and civic organizations, college commencements, and other events.

Folder 24-31

Folder 24

Folder 25

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

Folder 29

Folder 30

Folder 31

Writings and speeches, 1920-1945

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Denmark articles, November 1925-April 1926.

Articles written by Knight about his experiences traveling and studying the education system in Denmark. These articles appeared in seven North Carolina dailies and in 1927, they were published in a slightly revised form by University of North Carolina Press. Here are found slight scattered correspondence with Knight's newspaper publisher while Knight was in Denmark; his introduction to the book; typed copies of the articles, arranged by date, many revised for publication; and miscellaneous materials collected by Knight in Denmark.

Folder 32-39

Folder 32

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Folder 36

Folder 37

Folder 38

Folder 39

Denmark articles, November 1925-April 1926

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Miscellaneous Papers

Typed drafts which may be speeches or articles, near-print articles by Knight, and clippings about Knight.

Folder 40

Miscellaneous papers

Image Folder 1

Photograph of early 20th-century school

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse ADDITION OF MAY 1989 (Acc. 90089)

Folder 41-60

Folder 41

Folder 42

Folder 43

Folder 44

Folder 45

Folder 46

Folder 47

Folder 48

Folder 49

Folder 50

Folder 51

Folder 52

Folder 53

Folder 54

Folder 55

Folder 56

Folder 57

Folder 58

Folder 59

Folder 60

Addition of May 1989

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse ADDITION OF DECEMBER 1992 (Acc.92190)

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse ADDITION OF JANUARY 1995 (Acc.95014)

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse ADDITION OF SEPTEMBER 1997 (Acc.97128)

Filed in P-3409.

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