Inventory of the Charles Walter Tillett Papers, 1853-1954

Collection Number 4438

Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Processed by

John Beam

Date Processed

March 1986

Encoded by

Laura Knodel

Date Encoded

November 2002

Descriptive Summary

Repository

Southern Historical Collection

Creator

Tillett, Charles Walter, 1888-1952.

Title

Charles Walter Tillett Papers, 1853-1954

Call Number

4438

Extent

About 2,000 items (11.0 linear feet)

Abstract

Charles Walter Tillett (1888-1952) was a prominent Charlotte, N.C., lawyer, supporter of the United Nations, and University of North Carolina trustee. The collection includes correspondence, speeches, writings, and research materials of Tillett. Over half of the materials are documents Tillett used in researching his speeches and articles. Many items relate to the United Nations and international law. Most of Tillett's speeches and articles deal with international concerns, although some pertain to local Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, state, and national Democratic Party politics; legal matters; and civic organizations. Correspondence, which dates from 1907 to 1952, largely concerns legal matters; fund-raising campaigns for various organizations; Tillett's work for the American Bar Association's section on International and Comparative Law; and his involvement in various activities at the University of North Carolina, including his service on the Board of Trustees. There are also materials relating to various aspects of his legal career and a few relating to his personal life. Among Tillett's correspondents were Josephus Daniels, John C. B. Ehringhaus, Edward Kidder Graham, Frank Porter Graham, and Tillett's wife Gladys Avery Tillett. Also included are some materials relating to Tillett's parents.

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

No restrictions.

Provenance

Received from the children of Charles W. Tillett (Sara Tillett Thomas, Gladys Tillett Coddington, and Charles W. Tillett III), in 1984 and 1985, with an addition from Sara Tillett Thomas in 2001 (Acc. 98860).

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Charles Walter Tillett Papers #4438, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

American Bar Association.

Charlotte (N.C.)--Politics and government.

Daniels, Josephus, 1862-1948.

Democratic Party (N.C.).

Democratic Party (U.S.).

Education, Higher--North Carolina--20th century.

Ehringhaus, John Christoph Blucher, 1882-1949.

Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.

Graham, Edward Kidder, 1876-1918.

Graham, Frank Porter, 1886- .

International agencies.

International law.

Lawyers--North Carolina--History--20th century.

Mecklenburg County (N.C.)--Politics and government.

North Carolina--Politics and government--1865-1950.

Tillett, Charles Walter, 1888-1952.

Tillett, Gladys Avery, 1891-1984.

Tillett family.

United Nations--History.

University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Trustees.

Biographical Note

Charles Walter Tillett (1888-1952) was born in Mangum, N.C., 6 February 1888, the son of Charles Walter and Carrie Patterson Tillett. He was educated at the Webb School, Bell Buckle, Tenn.; earned an A.B. degree from the University of North Carolina in 1909; and studied law at the University of North Carolina in 1909 and 1910. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Order of the Golden Fleece, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Tillett, like his father, chose to enter the legal profession and was admitted to the Bar in 1910. After a short period as a company commander during World War I (he never saw combat), he practiced law in Charlotte, N.C., and, at the time of his death, was senior partner in the law firm of Tillett, Campbell, Craighill, and Randleman. Tillett became prominent in his profession, serving as chair of the American Bar Association's Section on International and Comparative Law (two terms), president of the North Carolina Bar Association (1935-1936), and member of the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners (1933-1943), which he helped to establish.

A major proponent of the United Nations and international law, Tillett wrote and spoke frequently on the United Nations and served as an unofficial correspondent for the Charlotte News at the San Francisco Conference in 1945. His advocacy of international law led him to testify before a United States Senate subcommittee in 1952, urging acceptance by the United States of compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.

Tillett served on the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina from 1932 to 1937. He also served as president of the General Alumni Association and of the Horace Williams Philosophical Society.

Tillett engaged in civic work as well, serving on the Charlotte School Board from 1919 to 1923 and as attorney for the city modernists during the evolution controversy in North Carolina in the 1920s. Tillett was active in the Democratic Party, serving as a delegate to the 1944 Democratic National Convention. Charles Tillett's wife, Gladys Avery Tillett (1891-1984), whom he married in 1917, was even more active in the Party, and the two collaborated in their speech writing and probably on other efforts as well.

Tillett, who had suffered from clinical depression, committed suicide by plunging to his death from his Charlotte office building on 23 December 1952.

Collection Overview

The collection includes correspondence, speeches, writings, and research materials of Charles Walter Tillett. Over half of the materials are documents Tillett used in researching his speeches and articles. Many items relate to the United Nations and international law. Most of Tillett's speeches and articles deal with international concerns, although some pertain to local Charlotte, N.C., and Mecklenburg County, N.C., state, and national Democratic Party politics; legal matters; and civic organizations. Correspondence, which dates from 1907 to 1952, largely concerns legal matters; fund-raising campaigns for various organizations; Tillett's work for the American Bar Association's section on International and Comparative Law; and his involvement in various activities at the University of North Carolina, including his service on the Board of Trustees. There are also materials relating to various aspects of his legal career and a few relating to his personal life. Among Tillett's correspondents were Josephus Daniels; John C. B. Ehringhaus; Edward Kidder Graham; Frank Porter Graham; and Tillett's wife, Gladys Avery Tillett.

Also included are biographical materials on Tillett and correspondence and legal papers of Tillett's parents, Charles W. Tillet (1857-1936) and Carrie P. Tillett.

Materials in the Addition of February 2001 have been arranged according to the organization scheme of the original deposit. Please see the Alphonso Calhoun Avery Papers (#3456) for legal materials and correspondence regarding Tillett's legal work for the estate of William Holland Thomas, Gladys Avery Tillett's grandfather.

Organization of Collection

1. United Nations/International Law
2. Subject and Research Files
3. General Speeches and Writings
4. General Correspondence
Addition of February 2001

Detailed Description of the Collection

Related Collections

Gladys Avery Tillett Papers (#4305)
Alphonso Calhoun Avery Papers (#3456)
Josephus Daniels Papers (#203)
Edward Kidder Graham Papers (#282)
Frank Porter Graham Papers (#1819)