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Collection Number: 04883

Collection Title: Bart F. Smallwood Papers 1910s-1998

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.


expand/collapse Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size 9.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 5600 items)
Abstract Bart Fearing Smallwood was an African-American community organizer in the Windsor and Indian Woods communities of Bertie County, N.C., in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. This collection documents Smallwood's personal and family life and his organizing work in Bertie County, including materials relating to African-American families, African-American education, and involvement in community activities and civic organizations. The collection also contains items relating to Bart Smallwood's children, especially about their education, including Angelia Smallwood's attendance at East Carolina University and Anthony Smallwood's courses at North Carolina A & T State University. Materials relating to Smallwood's son Arwin include his dissertation and research materials on Indian Woods, N.C.
Creator Smallwood, Bart F. (Bart Fearing), d. 1985.
Curatorial Unit Southern Historical Collection
Language English.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Access to streaming audio or moving image materials may be restricted to researchers who can authenticate with an ONYEN or who are physically present on campus. For further information about access to streaming audiovisual materials, contact Research and Instructional Services staff at Wilsonlibrary@unc.edu
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 Bart F. Smallwood Papers #04883, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Provenance
Received from Arwin D. Smallwood of Peoria, Ill., in July 1997 (Acc. 97096), with additions in October 1998 (Acc. 98208), June 1999 (Acc. 98379), March 2000 (Acc. 98624), July 2000 (Acc. 98679), November 2001 (Acc. 99134), and January 2006 (Acc. 100294).
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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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

Bart Fearing Smallwood was an African American community organizer in the Windsor and Indian Woods communities of Bertie County, N.C., in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He was responsible for establishing the Blue Jay Recreation Center, the Blue Jay Baseball team, and the Blue Jay Volunteer Fire Department to serve the recreational and fire protection needs of his isolated rural neighborhood. Smallwood was also active in a number of other organizations, including advisory boards for the Bertie County schools and for his employer, Lea Lumber and Plywood Company, and he served on the Bertie County Involvement Council.

Bart F. Smallwood was married to Lois Marie Cherry Smallwood, and had five children: Angelia, Anthony, Arwin, Brady, and Tanya Smallwood. Bart Smallwood died in December 1985.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

This collection documents Bart Smallwood's life as an African American community organizer. It also contains materials relating to African American families and to African American education, both at school and in higher education institutions.

Materials document the organizations with which Smallwood was involved in the Windsor and Indian Woods communities of Bertie County, N.C.. His personal and family life is also documented. Letters, photographs, and other materials in Series 1 document Smallwood's efforts on behalf of community organizations. Series 2 documents organizational activities through minutes, baseball scorebooks and photographs, programs for special events, and organizational memos and correspondence. Series 3 contains published material, tourist brochures, catalogs, and clippings.

Series 4 contains materials relating to the dissertation written by Smallwood's son Arwin Smallwood. These include drafts and a bound copy of the dissertation, "A History of Three Cultures: Indian Woods, North Carolina, 1585 to 1995," submitted for the Ph.D. in history at the Ohio State University in 1997. Also included is material collected in the course of Arwin Smallwood's research on Indian Woods, N.C., including photocopies of published information about North Carolina, photographs of people, buildings, and scenes in and around Indian Woods, and audiotaped oral history interviews with residents of Indian Woods and Bertie County, N.C.

Series 5 contains materials relating to the Smallwood family. Most of the material relates to the children's education, especially Angelia Smallwood's attendance at East Carolina University and Anthony Smallwood's courses at North Carolina A & T State University.

Note the additions of October 1998 through January 2006 follow the organization scheme of the original deposit.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Letters, Financial, and Other General Material, 1960-1986.

About 500 items.

Arrangement: by type of material.

General materials generated in the course of Bart Smallwood's life, including family letters and letters relating to his activities as a community organizer, various kinds of financial material, including bills, receipts, tax and insurance information, and Medicaid and Food Stamp information. There are many programs from church services attended, especially at Indian Woods Baptist Church, and from funerals in the community. Anthony Smallwood, one of Bart Smallwood's sons, was a Marine recruit and received the Marine publication, The Tarheel Gazette, and wrote two letters to his parents from the Marine base at Parris Island in July 1985. Many of the undated letters are drafts and copies of letters Bart Smallwood wrote on behalf of the organizations with which he was involved, often to request donations.

Image Folder PF-4883/1-3

PF-4883/1

PF-4883/2

PF-4883/3

Photographs of the Smallwood family and friends, 1960s-1970s (mostly in color)

Folder 1

Letters, 1963-1979

Folder 2

Letters, 1980-1986

Folder 3

Letters, undated

Folder 4

Financial

Folder 5

Financial: Bank account books (Bank of Windsor and St. Luke Credit Union)

Folder 6

Financial: Bank statements

Folder 7

Financial: Check and payment books

Folder 8

Financial: Insurance information

Folder 9

Financial: Bertie County Department of Social Services Medicaid eligibility notices, etc.

Folder 10

Financial: Food stamp information

Folder 11

Financial: Tax forms, etc.

Folder 12

Financial: Bills and receipts and payment stubs

Folder 13-14

Folder 13

Folder 14

Financial: Bills and receipts

Folder 15

Hospitalization

Folder 16

Bertie County Schools parent information

Folder 17

Bertie County Schools: A Handbook for Principals and Teachers

Folder 18

Church service programs

Folder 19

Wedding and funeral service programs

Folder 20

Church annual reports

Folder 21

Miscellaneous church and religious material

Folder 22

U.S. Marine Corps: The Tarheel Gazette and related material

Folder 23

Membership cards, licenses, certificates, etc.

Folder 24

Address books and notebooks

Folder 25-26

Folder 25

Folder 26

Miscellaneous

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse 2. Organizations and Activities, 1959-1986.

About 1000 items.

Arrangement: alphabetical by organization.

Materials relating to Bart Smallwood's many activities as a community organizer in the African-American community of Indian Woods in Bertie County, N.C. Smallwood was the originator and president of the Blue Jay Recreation Center, the founder of the Blue Jay Baseball Team, and the organizer and president of the Blue Jay Volunteer Fire Department. Smallwood played a central role in these three organizations, but there is also material from a number of other organizations in which Smallwood was active. These include the West Bertie Elementary and the District-Wide Advisory Councils; the Prince Hall Masons; and the Safety Committee and Advisory Board of Lea Lumber and Plywood Company, Smallwood's employer. Also included are memos and other material received by Smallwood as an employee of Lea Lumber.

The documentation from the three Blue Jay organizations includes meeting minutes and other administrative records, baseball score books, raffle tickets, bills and receipts, and programs from special events, such as the Blue Jay Recreation Center Mortgage Burning ceremony. Note that many of the letters in Series 1 relate to Smallwood's activities with these organizations.

Folder 27

Bertie County Involvement Council

Folder 28

Bertie County Little League Football

Folder 29

Blue Jay Baseball

Folder 30

Blue Jay Baseball: Account book and enclosures, 1976-1985

Folder 31

Blue Jay Baseball: Account book in Simplified Farm Record Book

Folder 32

Blue Jay Baseball: Bills and receipts

Folder 33

Blue Jay Baseball: Notebooks

Folder 34

Blue Jay Baseball: Scorebooks

Folder 35

Blue Jay Baseball: Playing records, rule books, etc.

Folder 36

Blue Jay Recreation Center

Folder 37

Blue Jay Recreation Center: Bank statements

Folder 38

Blue Jay Recreation Center: Bills and receipts

Folder 39

Blue Jay Recreation Center: Minutes

Folder 40

Blue Jay Volunteer Fire Department

Folder 41

Blue Jay Volunteer Fire Department: Bills and receipts

Folder 42

CETA Summer Youth Program

Folder 43

District-Wide Parent Advisory Council (Bertie County Schools)

Folder 44

Lea Lumber and Plywood Company/Lea Industries

Folder 45

Lea Lumber and Plywood Company: Advisory Board and Safety Committee

Folder 46

Masons

Folder 47

Other community activities

Folder 48

West Bertie Elementary School Advisory Council

Folder 49

Volunteer material

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Other Material, 1975-1994.

About 100 items.

Arrangement: alphabetical by subject.

Primarily published material related to Smallwood's activities in Bertie County, N.C. Included are supply catalogs for playground equipment, Boy Scout gear, baseball uniforms, and other items. Brochures mainly relate to tourist attractions from Bertie County and Windsor, N.C., but also from as far afield as the Six Nations of Ontario, Canada. Publications include a 1978 copy of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's magazine, SCLC, featuring a story called "April 4, 1978: Memory March for the Right to Live"; information on North Carolina's volunteer programs; a newsletter put out by the Roanoke Electric Membership Corporation called Roanoke Electric Flashes; and maps of Bertie County, N.C., and Indian Woods township. Clippings document the achievements and deaths in the Smallwood family and among their friends, as well as community activities.

Folder 50

Bertie County information

Folder 51

Brochures and fliers

Folder 52

Clippings

Folder 53

Elections and referenda

Folder 54

Published material

Folder 55

Supply catalogs

Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-4883/1

Maps

Bertie County, N.C., and survey of Kingwood Park Spruill Farms Inc, Indian Woods township.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Arwin D. Smallwood's Dissertation, 1989-1997.

About 400 items.

Arrangement: by type of material.

Material produced or collected by Arwin D. Smallwood, Bart Smallwood's son, while researching his 1997 history dissertation for the Ohio State University, "A History of Three Cultures: Indian Woods, North Carolina, 1585 to 1995." Included are drafts of several dissertation chapters and many photocopies of articles and maps relating to North Carolina history. Arwin Smallwood took many photographs of buildings, gravestones, and roadside scenes in and around Indian Woods, N.C. to illustrate his dissertation, and these photographs are also in this series. Also included are cassette tapes containing oral history interviews conducted by Arwin Smallwood with various members of the Indian Woods community in December 1989.

Image Folder PF-4883/4

Photographs of buildings (mostly black and white)

Image Folder PF-4883/5

Photographs of gravestones (black and white)

Image Folder PF-4883/6

Photographs of signs and roadside scenes (mostly black and white)

Image Folder PF-4883/7

Photographs of Native American people, objects, and miscellaneous photographs.

Image Folder PF-4883/8

Negatives

Audiocassette C-4883/1

Interviews with Cornwallis Cherry and Rosetta Bond

Audiocassette C-4883/2

Interviews with Andrew Jackson Cherry andPolloy Outlaw

Audiocassette C-4883/3

Interview with the Reverend Aran Bazemore

Audiocassette C-4883/4

Interviews with the Reverend Aran Bazemore, the Reverend Creecy, and Rosetta Etheridge

Audiocassette C-4883/5

Interviews with Alice Ballance, Rosetta Bond, and Mrs. Pugh

Audiocassette C-4883/6

Interviews with Mrs. Pugh and Mrs. Hill

Audiocassette C-4883/7

Interview with Althea Jones

Audiocassette C-4883/8

Audiotape (technical problems; no information available)

Folder 56

Drafts of dissertation chapters

Folder 57

North Carolina history: Photocopied articles

Folder 58

North Carolina information: Photocopies

Folder 59-61

Folder 59

Folder 60

Folder 61

Photocopied maps

Folder 62

Telephone book, 1989, for Columbia, Plymouth, Williamston, Windsor, and other towns

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Additions of October 1998 (Acc. 98208) and June 1999 (Acc. 98379)

About 4000 items (6.0 linear feet).

Full processing of this collection has been deferred pending expected additions.

This addition contains personal papers of Bart Smallwood's children, as well as material similar to that received in the original accession that document the organizations with which Bart Smallwood was involved and his personal life. The additional material has not been integrated into the collection, but has been roughly sorted and organized into the same series, with the addition of a series of Smallwood family papers, containing personal papers of Angelia Smallwood, Anthony Smallwood, Arwin Smallwood, Brady Smallwood, and Tanya Smallwood.

As in the original accession, letters and other materials in Series 1 document Bart Smallwood's personal life and efforts in behalf of community organizations. Series 2 documents organizational activities through minutes, programs for special events, and organizational memos and correspondence. Series 3 contains published material, tourist brochures, catalogs, clippings, and newspapers. Series 4 contains material about Arwin Smallwood's dissertation about the history of Indian Woods, N.C. Series 5 contains personal papers of Bart Smallwood's children, mostly about their education, especially Angelia's attendance at East Carolina University and Anthony's courses at North Carolina A & T State University.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1A. Letters, Financial, and Other General Materials, 1970s-1998.

About 400 items.

Arrangement: by type of material.

Image Folder PF-4883/9

Smallwood family photographs

Folder 63

Letters, 1970s, 1980-1983

Folder 64

Letters, 1984

Folder 65

Letters, 1985

Folder 66

Letters, 1986-1988

Folder 67

Letters, 1989

Folder 68

Letters, 1990

Folder 69

Letters, 1991-1993, 1998

Folder 70

Letters, undated

Folder 71-72

Folder 71

Folder 72

Financial

Folder 73

West Bertie Elementary School Parent Information

Folder 74

Churches

Folder 75

Bart Smallwood's funeral

Folder 76

Membership cards and certificates

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2A. Organizations and Activities.

About 800 items.

Arrangement: alphabetical.

Folder 77

Bertie County Involvement Council

Folder 78

Bertie County Little League Football

Folder 79-81

Folder 79

Folder 80

Folder 81

Blue Jay Ball Club

Image Folder PF-4883/10

Blue Jay Little League team

Folder 82-84

Folder 82

Folder 83

Folder 84

Blue Jay Fire Department

Folder 85-90

Folder 85

Folder 86

Folder 87

Folder 88

Folder 89

Folder 90

Blue Jay Recreation Center

Folder 91-92

Folder 91

Folder 92

Community organizations

Folder 93

Democratic Party

Folder 94

Education

Folder 95

Lea Lumber and Plywood Company

Folder 96

Roanoke Electric Membership Corporation

Folder 97

Schools

Folder 98

Volunteer material

Folder 99

West Bertie Elementary School Advisory Council

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 3A. Other Papers.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 4A. Arwin D. Smallwood's Dissertation.

About 100 items.

Arrangement: alphabetical.

Papers produced or collected in the course of Arwin Smallwood's research and writing of his dissertation on the history of the Indian Woods, N.C., community. See Series 5.3A for personal papers, including clippings and articles about Arwin Smallwood, and materials about awards he received, his marriage, and his education.

Folder 117

Deeds (photocopies)

Folder 118

Illustrations (photocopies)

Folder 119

Index to land records

Folder 120

Interview questions and list

Folder 121

Tuscarora

Folder 122-123

Folder 122

Folder 123

Bound copy of dissertation

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 5A. Smallwood Family Papers.

Angelia Smallwood.

About 800 items.

Arrangement: alphabetical.

Personal papers of Angelia Smallwood, daughter of Bart Smallwood. Most of the papers relate to Angelia's attendance at East Carolina University. Included are appointment books, letters, class notes, and papers relating to her participation in Upward Bound. Also included is a scrapbook containing material from Angelia's high school and college years.

Folder 124

Certificates

Folder 125

Cofield, James (husband)

Folder 126-128

Folder 126

Folder 127

Folder 128

Correspondence

Folder 129-130

Folder 129

Folder 130

East Carolina University

Folder 131-135

Folder 131

Folder 132

Folder 133

Folder 134

Folder 135

East Carolina University courses

Folder 136

Employment

Folder 137

High school

Oversize Volume SV-4883/1

Scrapbook

Folder 138

Other papers

Folder 139

Upward Bound

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Anthony Smallwood.

About 800 items.

Arrangement: alphabetical.

Personal papers of Anthony Smallwood, son of Bart Smallwood. Nearly all of these papers are class notes from courses taken at North Carolina A & T State University, where Anthony studied technology education.

Folder 140

Correspondence

Folder 141

High school

Folder 142

North Carolina A & T State University

Folder 143

Work

Folder 144-164

Folder 144

Folder 145

Folder 146

Folder 147

Folder 148

Folder 149

Folder 150

Folder 151

Folder 152

Folder 153

Folder 154

Folder 155

Folder 156

Folder 157

Folder 158

Folder 159

Folder 160

Folder 161

Folder 162

Folder 163

Folder 164

Class notes

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Arwin Smallwood.

About 400 items.

Arrangement: alphabetical.

Personal papers of Arwin Smallwood, son of Bart Smallwood. Arwin Smallwood has taught history at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill, and at the University of Memphis. He received B.A. and M.A. degrees in history from North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C., and a Ph.D. in history from the Ohio State University. The papers filed here are personal papers, including clippings and articles about him, materials about awards he received, his marriage, and his education. See Series 4 for papers produced or collected in the course of Arwin Smallwood's research and writing of his dissertation on the history of the Indian Woods community.

Folder 165

About Arwin Smallwood

Folder 166

Awards

Folder 167

Bertie Senior High School

Folder 168

Events

Folder 169

History graduate programs

Folder 170

Letters

Folder 171

North Carolina Central University

Folder 172

Ohio State University

Folder 173

Resumes, 1983-1992

Folder 174

School

Folder 175

Speech on the history of Indian Woods, N.C.

Folder 176

Upward Bound

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Brady Smallwood.

Folder 177

Brady Smallwood

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Tanya Smallwood.

Folder 178

Tanya Smallwood

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Additions of March 2000 (Acc. 98624), July 2000 (Acc. 98679), November 2001 (Acc. 99134), and January 2006 (Acc. 100294)

About 100 items.

As in the original accession, materials in Series 1 document Bart Smallwood's personal life and efforts in behalf of community organizations. Series 2 documents organizational activities. Series 3 contains published material. Series 4 contains material about Arwin Smallwood's dissertation about the history of Indian Woods, N.C. Series 5 contains personal papers of Bart Smallwood's children, mostly about their education.

This additions consists of materials added to series 1: photographs of the Smallwood family; to series 2: Boyd's National Baptist Sunday School Minute, Roll and Record Book, 1978-1979; and to Series 4: informal portraits of Indian Woods men, women, and children, including soldiers in uniform, circa 1940s, Bertie County: An Eastern Carolina History, and Sources for Bertie Countie: An Eastern North Carolina History (2002) by Arwin Smallwood.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1A. Letters, Financial, and Other General Materials, 1910s, 1930s, 1960s-1970s.

About 50 items.

Includes family and unidentified portraits, circa 1910s and 1930s, and snapshots of a wedding and other social gatherings, circa 1960s-1970s.

Oversize Image Folder OP-PF-4883/1

Portrait of father-in-law of Marjorie Manning, Indian Woods, circa 1930s

Acquisitions information: Addition of January 2001 (Acc. 99134).

Oversize Image Folder OP-PF-4883/2

Portrait of two unidentified men, circa 1910s

Acquisitions information: Addition of July 2000 (Acc. 98679).

Image Folder PF-4883/13_1

Smallwood family

Acquisitions information: Addition of March 2000 (Acc. 98624).

Image Folder PF-4883/13_2

Smallwood family

Acquisitions information: Addition of March 2000 (Acc. 98624).

Image Folder PF-4883/13_3

Smallwood family

Acquisitions information: Addition of March 2000 (Acc. 98624).

Image Folder PF-4883/13_4

Smallwood family (negatives

Acquisitions information: Addition of March 2000 (Acc. 98624).

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2A. Organizations and Activities, 1978-1979.

1 item.
Folder 179

Boyd's National Baptist Sunday School Minute, Roll and Record Book, 2 April 1978-5 August 1979

Acquisitions information: Addition of January 2001 (Acc. 99134).

Spring Hill Baptist Sunday School

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 4A. Arwin D. Smallwood's Dissertation, 1940s, 2002.

About 50 items.

Informal portraits of Indian Woods men, women, and children, individual and in small groupings, and including soldiers in uniform, circa 1940s, and Bertie County: An Eastern Carolina History and Sources for Bertie Countie: An Eastern North Carolina History (2002) by Arwin Smallwood. Includes a cover letter from the author.

Image Folder PF-4883/12_1

Indian Woods, Bertie County, N.C., circa 1940s

Acquisitions information: Addition of March 2000 (Acc. 98624).

Image Folder PF-4883/12_2

Indian Woods, Bertie County, N.C., circa 1940s (negatives)

Acquisitions information: Addition of March 2000 (Acc. 98624).

Folder 180

Bertie County: An Eastern Carolina History, 2002

Acquisitions Information: Addition of January 2006 (Acc. 100294)

Folder 181

Sources for Bertie County: An Eastern Carolina History, 2002

Acquisitions Information: Addition of January 2006 (Acc. 100294)

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

Items separated include: photographs (P-4883/1-13_4 and OP-PF-4883/1-2), audiocassettes (C-4883/1-8), oversize papers (XOPF-4883/1), and an oversize volume (SV-4883/1).

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