Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4439
BEN LACY ROSE PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Ben Lacy Rose was born in 1914 in Fayetteville,
N.C., the son of attorney and state senator Charles
Rose and Irene Lacy Rose. He attended Davidson
College and Union Theological Seminary. He served as
a chaplain during World War II with the 113th Cavalry
(Mechanized Group), composed of the 113th Calvary
Squadron and the 125th Calvary Squadron. A
Presbyterian minister, he joined the faculty of Union
Theological Seminary in 1956. His wife, Anne
Claiborne Thompson Rose, is the daughter of Dr. W. T.
Thompson of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia.
Letters, 1931-1936, to Ben Lacy Rose (1914- )
while he was a student at Davidson College in
Davidson, N.C., and at Union Theological Seminary in
Richmond, Va., and correspondence, 1942-1945, between
him and his family while he was a Presbyterian
chaplain with the 113th Cavalry (Mechanized Group) of
the U.S. Army during World War II. The letters to
Rose when he was a student are mainly from his
parents, Charles Grandison Rose and Irene Lacy Rose of
Fayetteville, N.C. In addition to giving family news,
letters from his father report on the elder Rose's
business as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in
the U.S., as an officer of the North Carolina Bar
Association, and as attorney for the Presbyterian
Church in the U.S. and for the Atlantic Coast Line
Railroad Company. The World War II correspondence
includes mostly letters written to Ben Rose by his
father and by his wife, Anne Thompson Rose (1918- ),
while Ben was serving with the 113th Cavalry
(Mechanized Group) in Camp Blanding, Fla. and Camp
Bowie, Tex., and while he attended the Army Chaplain's
School at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Also
included are Ben's letters to his wife while he was at
the Army Chaplain's School and his letters from Europe
about the daily lives of soldiers and about his duties
as chaplain. Letters from Ann Thompson Rose include
reports on her daily life with her parents in
Richmond, Va., and the growth of their new baby, Anne
Claiborne Rose (1941- ). Correspondence dating from 1990
through 2001 concerns Rose's activities with the Presbyterian
Church, including teaching, writing, and lecturing, as well
as personal and family affairs.
Online Catalog Terms:
Army Chaplain's School, Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.).
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company.
Bar associations--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Chaplains, Military--United States--History--World War, 1939-1945.
Clergy--Virginia--History--20th century.
College students--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Davidson College--Students--History--20th century.
Family--Southern States--Social life and customs--20th century.
Fayetteville (N.C.)--Social life and customs--20th century.
Lawyers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Presbyterian Church in the U.S.--Clergy.
Presbyterians--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Rose, Anne Claiborne, 1941- .
Rose, Anne Thompson, 1918- .
Rose, Ben Lacy, 1914- .
Rose, Charles G.
Rose family.
Rose, Irene Lacy.
Seminarians--Virginia.
Union Theological Seminary in Virginia
United States. Army. Cavalry Group, 113th.
United States. Army--Chaplains--History--World War, 1939-1945.
United States. Army--Military life--History.
World War, 1939-1945--Chaplains.
Size: About 2,400 items (3.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Ben L. Rose of Richmond, Va., in March 1986
(Acc. 86033), August 1987 (Acc. 87061), May 1996 (Acc. 96073),
March 1999 (Acc. 98313), and February 2004 (Acc. 99716).
Access: No restrictions.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
Series Descriptions
Series 1. Letters to Anne Thompson Rose and Letters Reproduced in
Letters Home
Series 2. Letters Reproduced in Letters From Home
Series 3. Volumes
Additions after 1987
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
Ben Lacy Rose was born in 1914 in Fayetteville, N.C., the son
of attorney and state senator Charles Rose and Irene Lacy Rose.
He attended Davidson College and Union Theological Seminary in
Virginia. He served as a chaplain during World War II with the
113th Cavalry (Mechanized Group), composed of the 113th Calvary
Squadron and the 125th Calvary Squadron. A Presbyterian
minister, he joined the faculty of Union Theological Seminary in
1956. His wife, Anne Thompson Rose, is the daughter of
Dr. W. T. Thompson of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia.
Collection Overview
This collection consists primarily of correspondence between
Ben Lacy Rose and his wife, Anne Thompson Rose, and father, Charles G.
Rose, while Ben Rose was serving as a chaplain with the United
States Army in Europe during World War II. Also included are
letters to and from Rose while he was stationed at various army
bases in the United States, letters from other family members and
friends to his wife or parents that were then enclosed in their
letters to Rose, and letters to Rose from friends. Rose wrote
about the daily life of a soldier and about his duties as
chaplain. His family's letters focus on the activities of his
children, other family members, and friends of the family.
Photocopies of these letters were bound as Letters Home (1986)
and Letters From Home (1987), and a limited number of copies were
distributed to family members and libraries. Copies of both
volumes are included in the collection.
The addition received in March 1999 consist of letters written by
Ben Lacy Rose to Anne Thompson Rose, 1941-1943, during his period of
domestic Army training. They are filed in folders 1a through 2b.
The addition of February 2004 contains correspondence, 1990-2001,
which concerns the work and personal activities of Ben Lacy Rose. Most
concerns activities in the Presbyterian Church, including teaching, writing,
and lecturing.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Letters to Anne Thompson Rose and Letters Reproduced in Letters Home
About 600 items. 1941-1945
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters from Ben L. Rose to his wife and father.
Folder 1a-1b 1941
2a-2b 1942-1943
3a-3b 1944
4 1945
Series 2. Letters Reproduced in Letters From Home
About 325 items. 1941-1945
Arrangement: by correspondent, then chronological.
Subseries 2.1. Letters from Anne Thompson Rose to Ben Rose
About 225 items.
Folder 4 1942-1943
5 January-February 1944
6 March 1944
7 April 1944
8 May 1944-October 1945
Subseries 2.2. Letters from Ben Rose's Father and Brother
About 75 items.
Folder 9 June-December 1943
10 January-Fabruary 1944
11 March 1944-1945 (includes copy of letter from Ben
L. Rose to Eleanor Roosevelt from the German
front, 4 September 1945, concerning her "attack
on Pastor Martin Niemoller in your column 'My
Day' of August 8, 1945.")
Subseries 2.3. Letters from Friends and Other Items
About 7 items.
Folder 12 Letters
13 Other items
Series 3. Volumes
Folder 14 Letters Home
15 Letters from Home
ADDITIONS AFTER 1987
Addition of May 1996 (Acc. 96073)
Size: 1,200 items (1.5 linear feet).
Dates: 1931-1945.
Provenance: Received from Ben L. Rose of Richmond, Va., in May
1996.
Access: No restrictions.
Description:
Letters to Ben Lacy Rose, mainly from his parents, Charles
Grandison Rose and Irene Lacy Rose of Fayetteville, N.C., while
Ben was a student at Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., and then
from his father when Ben was a student at Union Theological
Seminary in Richmond, Va. These letters cover the years 1931-
1936. Another batch of letters covering the years 1942 and 1943
includes mostly letters written to Ben Rose by his father and by
his wife, Anne Thompson Rose (1918- ), while Ben was serving as
an Army Chaplain with the 113th Cavalry (Mechanized Group) in
Camp Blanding, Fla. and Camp Bowie, Tex., and while he attended
the Army Chaplain's School at Harvard University, Cambridge,
Mass. The collection includes Ben's letters back to his wife
while he was at the Army Chaplain's School, but few other letters
written by Ben himself.
Letters from his father while he was in school deal mostly
with money, trips home, family and Fayetteville news, and
fatherly advice about finding a calling, joining a fraternity,
and religion. Letters from his father also report on the elder
Rose's business as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in the
U.S., as an officer of the North Carolina Bar Association, and on
his law practice. He describes legal work he did for the
Presbyterian Church and for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Company.
Letters from his wife include reports on her daily life with
her parents in Richmond, Va., and the growth of their new baby,
Anne Claiborne Rose (1941- ).
Folders 16-19 1931
20-24 1932
25-30 1933
31-35 1934
36-41 1935
42-45 1936
46-52 1942
53 January 1943 and undated
Addition of February 2004 (Acc. 99916)
Size: About 600 items (1.0 linear feet).
Dates: 1990-2001.
Provenance: Received from Ben L. Rose of Richmond, Va., in February
2004.
Access: No restrictions.
Description:
Correspondence relating to the work and personal activities of Ben
Lacy Rose, 1990-2001, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1999
through 2001. Most of the correspondence concerns Rose's work with the
Presbyterian Church. Rose led and participated in worship services, lectured,
taught classes, wrote on religious subjects, and conducted other types of
ministry. Rose corresponded with members of the churches in which he was
involved, including the Union Theological Seminary, concerning daily church
activities. He also maintained correspondence with Presbyterian churches
throughout the southeast, most notably in Virginia and North Carolina,
concerning Presbyterian Church activities. Correspondence with family and
friends concerns personal and family affairs.
Folder 54 1990-1998
55-66 1999
67-73 2000
74-81 2001