Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4549
REED SARRATT PAPERS
Initial Inventory
Abstract: Correspondence, writings, notes, and other items
of North Carolina journalist Reed Sarratt, whose
career took him from editorial posts at the Charlotte
News and the Winston-Salem Journal and Twin City
Sentinel to directorships of the Southern Education
Reporting Service and the Southern Newspaper
Publishers' Association. Sarratt's chief editorial
interest was civil rights, and he was particularly
involved in monitoring the desegregation of public
schools.
Online Catalog Terms:
American newspapers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Charlotte news (Charlotte, N.C.).
Civil rights--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Journalism--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Journalists--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Sarratt, Reed.
School integration--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Segregation in education--North Carolina--History--
20th century.
Southern Education Reporting Service.
Southern Newspaper Publishers' Association.
Winston-Salem journal and Twin City sentinel (Winston-Salem,
N.C.).
Size: About 11,200 items (22.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from the estate of Reed Sarratt in March
1990.
Access: To be used only with special assistance from
Technical Services staff.
Processing Note: Not fully processed.
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. Subject files
Series 2. The Ordeal of Desegregation
Series 3. Books and journals
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
Alexander Reed Sarratt, Jr., was born in Charlotte, N.C., in
1917. He was graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of
North Carolina in 1937 with a bachelor's degree in economics.
During his senior year at UNC, he served as managing editor of
the Daily Tar Heel. After graduation, he worked as a reporter
and later city editor for the Charlotte News.
From 1946 to 1952, Sarratt was an editorial writer for the
Baltimore Evening Sun. In 1952, he returned to North Carolina to
begin an eight-year stint with the Winston-Salem Journal and Twin
City Sentinel. At these papers, he served as editorial page
editor, executive editor, and assistant to the publisher.
In 1960, Sarratt was appointed executive director of the
Southern Education Reporting Service (SERS), a Ford Foundation-
supported group that collected and published information on
school desegregation throughout the South. From 1965 to 1968, he
directed the journalism project of the Southern Regional
Education Board (SREB) in Atlanta. During this period, he
published The Ordeal of Desegregation: The First Decade (Harper &
Row, 1966).
Sarratt became executive director of the 442-member Southern
Newspaper Publishers' Association (SNPA) in 1973, after serving
four years as the head of the Southern Newspaper Publishers'
Association Foundation. It was at the 1986 mid-winter meeting of
the Association board that Sarratt collapsed and died. Sarratt
was inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame in
1985.
Sarratt was married to Elva Ann Sarratt, also a Charlotte
native. The Sarratts had three children: Alexander Reed III,
John L., and Ann.
(Adapted from articles in The News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.),
16 March 1986; the Charlotte Observer, 17 March 1986; and the UNC
Journalist, April-May 1986.)
Collection Overview
This collection contains a mixture of professional and
personal papers. It is difficult to separate materials generated
by Sarratt in the course of his journalism career from those that
deal with more private matters, although little of the latter is
included. There is also little material relating to either the
Southern Education Reporting Service or the Southern Newspaper
Publishers' Association. Because these papers are not fully
processed, researchers will discover that there is great overlap
in subjects, date spans, etc., among these files. While these
redundancies will be ameliorated when the papers are fully
processed, researchers using them in their present state should
search broadly rather than narrowly for papers relating to
specific topics. Many original folders have been replaced
because of mildew damage; the papers, however, are generally in
good condition.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
Series 1. Subject Files
1930s-1960s. About 9,500 items.
An alphabetical run arranged by file folder names chiefly
assigned by Sarratt. There is great overlap in subjects, date
spans, etc., among these files, and researchers should search
broadly rather than narrowly for papers relating to specific
topics.
Box 1
Allied Military Government, 1944
American Press Institute, 1950s
American Society of Newspaper Editors, 1950s
Articles and editorials [by Sarratt], 1950s (8 folders)
Associated Press
Biographical material [about Sarratt]
The Blowing Rocket (newspaper: Blowing Rock, N.C.), 1937
The Bulletin (newsletter: Myers Park Presbyterian Church,
Charlotte, N.C.)
Charlotte (N.C.)--Miscellaneous
The Charlotte News
Miscellaneous
Policies
Civil rights
Miscellaneous
Freedom of the press/censorship
Correspondence--Congratulatory, 1959-1960
Correspondence--General, 1930s-1960s (8 folders)
(continued Box 2)
Box 2
Correspondence--General, 1930s-1960s (4 folders)
Correspondence--Personal [Sarratt's designation], 1930-1960s
(4 folders)
Desegregation
Columbians, Inc.
Correspondence--General
Courts
Hate literature and hate organizations
Important statements
Interposition
Law
Miscegenation
Miscellaneous (9 folders)
Box 3
Desegregation (continued)
Public schools
Arkansas--Little Rock
Kentucky--Louisville
Maryland--Baltimore
North Carolina
Courts
Miscellaneous
Pearsall Plan
Speeches (2 folders)
Winston-Salem
Tennessee--Clinton
Virginia
Washington, D.C.
White citizens councils
Disadvantaged citizens
Epson Chapel Nursery School and Kindergarten, Inc.
Eye bank
Finances, personal
Accidents, 1962-1964
Books sold
Budget
Expenses
House
Notes
Ford Foundation
Graham, Frank Porter, 1949-1950
Box 4
Gray, James, 1960
Heard, Alexander, 1953-1956
Hodges, Luther, 1955-1960
Hoyt, W. K., 1952-1961
Job applications
Job changes, 1952-1960 (10 folders)
Journalism
Bibliography
General
Library
Miscellaneous, 1930s-1960s (7 folders)
Box 5
Newspaper writing and editing classnotes
Newspapers, functions of (3 folders)
National Conference of Editorial Writers
Nieman Fellowship (2 folders)
Nine-column page
North Carolina Editorial Writers Conference
North Carolina Press Association
Office of War Information, 1943-1944
Old Oak Club/Nashville Torch Club, 1960s
Peabody College, Center for Southern Education Studies, 1961
Press
Courts and the press
Education
Freedom of information
General (8 folders)
North Carolina
Photography
Influence of
Juveniles
Law
Libel
Medical news
Box 6
Press (continued)
Miscellaneous (8 folders)
Politics
Privacy
Rebel yell
Religion
Rotary Club
Singer, C. Gregg
Southern Education Reporting Service
Directorship, 1965
Library, 1964
"Southern Education Report," 1965
"Southern School News," 1964
Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, 1959
Southern Regional Education Board, 1948-1953
Southern weekly newsmagazine (proposal), 1945-1946
Speeches
Clippings
Correspondence (2 folders)
Miscellaneous [includes some correspondence and texts)
(4 folders)
Box 7
Speeches (continued)
Texts (4 folders)
Textbooks
United States Navy, 1944
University of North Carolina
Class of 1937
Urban studies program
Wake Forest College--Management seminar, 1959
Winston-Salem (N.C.)
Annexation issue, 1960
Miscellaneous
Winston-Salem Arts Council, 1952-1960 (2 folders)
Winston-Salem Journal and Twin City Sentinel
Desegregation editorials
Editorial policy
Editorial handbook
Editorial staff
Editorials on the 1952 presidential campaign (2 folders)
Miscellaneous (2 folders)
News handbook
Open house, 1959-1960
Box 8
Winston-Salem Journal and Twin City Sentinel (continued)
Opinion-attitude survey, 1959 (4 folders)
Policy
Prizes
Saturday Sentinel
Staff memos
Winston-Salem Symphony, 1955-1956
Young Civic Society (Charlotte, N.C.), 1938
Series 2. The Ordeal of Desegregation: The First Decade
1960s. About 1500 items.
Materials relating to Sarratt's book The Ordeal of
Desegregation: The First Decade (Harper & Row, 1966).
Box 9
The Ordeal of Desegregation: The First Decade
First draft (4 folders)
Final draft (3 folders)
Final draft with revisions (3 folders)
Galleys (2 folders)
Acknowledgments
Advisory committee
Chapters (material related to and comments about)
Businessmen (2 folders)
Clergy (3 folders)
Colleges (2 folders)
Editors (2 folders)
Governors (1 folder)
(continued Box 10)
Box 10
Governors 1 folder)
Judges (2 folders)
Lawyers (2 folders)
Legislators (2 folders)
Negro Protest (2 folders)
Organized Whites (2 folders)
Pace of Change
Police (2 folders)
Preface
Presidents (2 folders)
Schoolmen (2 folders)
Summary and Conclusions
Contents
Correspondence (2 folders)
Davis, Chester
Index
Miscellaneous (4 folders)
Muse, Benjamin
Southern Education Reporting Service
University of North Carolina Press
Boxes 11-13
Notes relating to The Ordeal of Desegregation: The First
Decade
Series 3. Books and Journals
About 200 items.
Books and journals, chiefly by others, collected by
Sarratt and dealing with civil rights.
Boxes 14-18