Restrictions to Access

This collection contains additional materials that are not processed and are currently not available to researchers. For information about access to these materials, contact Research and Instructional Services staff. Please be advised that preparing unprocessed materials for access can be a lengthy process.

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 Sweeney and Johnson Company Records #5345, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Sean Sweeney in October 2005 (Acc. 100250); transferred from the Rare Book Collection in April 2006 (Acc. 100385); transferred from William Ferris in May 2006 (Acc. 100424); and received from Sean Sweeney in May 2007 (Acc. 100658).

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.

• Chicago (Ill.)--Commerce.
• Cincinnati (Ohio)--Commerce.
• Dry-goods--United States.
• Families--Ohio--Social life and customs.
• Merchants--Illinois.
• Merchants--New York.
• Merchants--Ohio.
• New York (N.Y.)--Commerce.
• Sweeney and Johnson Company.
• Sweeney family.
• Sweeney, Patrick M.
• Traveling sales personnel--United States.

The Sweeney and Johnson Company, merchandisers of low-price laces, rugs, and other goods, began as the Brice and Johnson Company in the 19th century. Between 1939 and 1940, the Company filed for dissolution and reincorporated, consolidating the partnership in Patrick M. Sweeney's immediate family. Sweeney and Johnson Company primarily supplied traveling sales personnel and had offices in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Chicago, Ill., with a headquarters office in New York City, N.Y. Patrick M. Sweeney was the head of the company, but relied heavily on his son James Johnson Sweeney and his nephew P. J. Sweeney to run the Cincinnati office.

The records of Sweeney and Johnson Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, Chicago, Ill., and New York, N.Y., merchandisers of lace, rugs, and other goods, contain materials about the Company's origin and re-incorporation, correspondence among the partners and employees, financial materials, legal materials, materials relating to customers, and promotional materials. There are also materials relating to the Sweeney family, including letters and financial materials.