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 John Summerell Diary #5296-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Julia Summerell Atwell of Charlotte, N.C., in October 2006 (Acc. 100510)

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.

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.

• Diaries.
• Physicians--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Summerell, Joseph John, 1819-1893.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Students--Diaries.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Students--History--19th century.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Students--Social life and customs.

Joseph John Summerell (1819-1893) was a student at the University of North Carolina. He married Ellen Mitchell, daughter of Elisha Mitchell, a professor of geology and chemistry and bursar at UNC. Summerell received his bachelor's degree from UNC in 1842, his master's degree in 1845, and his doctor of medicine from the University of Pennsylvania. He was a physician and served as president of the North Carolina Medical Society.

The diary of University of North Carolina student Joseph John Summerell contains entries dated from 1840 to 1843. The diary contains several quotes from and passages about Lord Byron and remarks regarding "the prejudices of the North and South," social life, weather, political matters, societies such as the American Bible Society, financial affairs, recipes, a trip to Raleigh, and daily life at UNC. Also included are lengthy lecture notes on topics such as the Texan Revolution (1835-1836), ancient Greece, jaundice, fevers, the North Carolina Constitution, municipal law, the human heart, public education, the duties of educated men, and medicinal uses of opium.