P51: Lyman Atkinson Cotten Jr. Collection

Extent: approximately 2,902 items, including about 911 prints, 1,985 slides, and 6 rolls of 8mm movie film.

Biographical Sketch: Lyman Atkinson Cotten Jr. (1909-1990), the son of Lyman Atkinson Cotten Sr. and Elizabeth Brownrigg Henderson Cotten, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1936, and from Yale University in 1941. He taught English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for thirty-four years, retiring in 1974. Cotten was a trustee of the Order of the Gimghouls, a secret society at the University, from 1952 until his death. He was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Society of the Cincinnati, and the Modern Language Association.

Provenance: The Lyman Atkinson Cotten, Jr. Photographic Collection is a gift from his widow, Patsy White Cotten.

Related Material: Lyman A. Cotten (1909-1991) Papers (collection #4944-z), Cotten Family Papers, (collection #3589), Bruce Cotten Papers (collection #181), Lyman Atkinson Cotten Papers, (collection #182), Elizabeth Henderson Cotten Papers (collection #1650), all in the Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Collection Description: The collection documents Cotten's family including his parents, Lyman Atkinson Cotten Sr. and Elizabeth Brownrigg Henderson Cotten; his grandparents, Robert Randolph Cotten and Sallie Southall Cotten; his brother, John Henderson Cotten; and his uncle, Bruce Cotten.

Persons represented in the collection include:

• Anderson, Edwin A.
• Bailey, Precilla Elizabeth Brownrigg
• Bailey, Thomas Braxton (1849-1916)
• Baker, Nannie Johnson
• Boyden, Jane
• Bristoe, Mark L.
• Bristol, Helen
• Bristol, Mark
• Brownrigg, John
• Brownrigg, Sarah
• Bynum, Suzanne
• Cain, Sarah Jane Bailey "Mudsie"
• Cain, William
• Cotten, Bruce
• Cotten, Edyth Johns Tyson
• Cotten, Elizabeth "Bessie" Henderson
• Cotten, John Henderson
• Cotten, Lyman Atkinson Sr.
• Cotten, Lyman Atkinson Jr.
• Cotten, Preston S.
• Cotten, Robert Randolph
• Cotten, Sallie Swepson Sims Southall
• Cotton, Sir Robert Bruce
• Craige, Burton
• Dalles, Clove
• Davis, Jefferson
• Etting, Claudia Mock
• Freer, Carrie
• Greene, Cunningham
• Hale, James
• Henderson, Archibald (1768-1822)
• Henderson, Archibald (Law Office)
• Henderson, Archibald (1877-1963)
• Henderson, Elizabeth Brownrigg Cain
• Henderson, John Steele
• Henderson, John Steele Jr.
• Henderson, Leonard (1772-1833)
• Henderson, Leonard A. (1843-1864)
• Henderson, Mary Curtis
• Henderson, Mary F.
• Henderson, Richard
• Hewes, Joseph
• Hill, John Sprunt
• Hill, Thomas Ruffin
• Johnson, Sarah A.
• Johnston, Frances Benjamin
• Johnston, Thomas D.
• Lyndon, Dennis C.
• Mack, Corinn
• McCullouch, Benjamin
• McNeely, Joe
• Meares, Katharine deRosset
• Mercer, Winnie
• Pankin, Ginnie Mitchel
• Pratt, Robert A.
• Stecher, L. J.
• Steele, Anne Nessfield
• Steele, Elizabeth Maxwell
• Steele, John
• Tiernan, Frances Fisher (Christian Reid)
• Timberlake, Julian B.
• Trantham, Henry
• Trantham, Mary Ferrand Henderson
• Wallenberg, Karin (sister of Raul)
• Wesson, Douglas B.
• Wesson, Elba Cotten
• Wesson, Joe
• Wesson, Richard
• Wesson, Sallie Sauthall
• Wiggin, Sallie D. Cotten

Biographical sketches of persons represented significantly in the collection in addition to Lyman A. Cotten Jr.

• Robert Randolph Cotten (1839-1928) was born on a farm in Edgecombe County, N.C. Prior to the Civil War, he was a prosperous cotton broker in Baltimore. When the conflict erupted, Cotten dissolved his enterprise and returned to North Carolina. After the war, he operated several successful businesses in the state. In 1866, Cotten married Sallie Swepson Sims Southall. He owned two plantations in Pitt County, one of which (Cottendale), was their permanent family residence. A respected member of his community, Cotten served as state representative in both houses of Congress as well as occupying several state and local offices.


• Sallie Swepson Sims Southall Cotten (1846-1929) is best known for her role as a civic leader and work on behalf of the women's suffrage movement in North Carolina. She graduated from Greensboro College in 1863, and then worked as a schoolteacher. In 1866, she married Robert Randolph Cotten and settled into the life of a housewife and mother at their plantation, Cottendale, in Pitt County. The couple had nine children. In 1893, she was appointed as a manager of the Chicago World's Fair. Through her research and travels, Cotten met women from many parts of the country. She became active in the women's movement and was a leader in the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs for twenty-five years. The organization designated her an honorary president for life. She authored several works including The History of the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs, 1901-1925 (1925), and The White Doe (1901).


• Bruce Cotten (1873-1954) was the son of Robert and Sallie Southall Cotten of Pitt County, North Carolina. He participated in the Alaskan Gold Rush of 1897, and afterwards served in the U.S. Army. In 1910, he married Edyth Johns Tyson, a wealthy widow and Boston socialite. Cotten became interested in collecting printed materials on the history of North Carolina and he eventually accumulated the largest collection of such materials in private hands. Upon his death, he willed this collection to the University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill. It is now located in the North Carolina Collection at the University. Bruce Cotten published a number of memoirs.


• Lyman Atkinson Cotten (1874-1926), a diplomat and naval officer, was born in Pitt County, N.C., the son of Robert Randolph Cotten and Sallie Southall Cotten. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1898, and served in the Spanish-American War and in World War I. In 1908, he married Elizabeth Brownrigg "Bessie" Henderson. Cotten's commands included the U.S.S. Columbia, the U.S.S. Zafiro, the U.S.S. Nebraska, the U.S.S. Chattanooga, and the U.S.S. Richmond. His naval and/or diplomatic assignments took him to Cuba, Puerto Rico, South America, the Philippines, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, England, and the eastern Mediterranean. He was fond of naval history and wrote extensively. He died on January 14, 1926, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. A naval destroyer was named in his honor.


• Elizabeth "Bessie" Brownrigg Henderson Cotten (1875-1975), a librarian and advocate of women's rights, was born in Salisbury, N.C. She graduated with honors from St. Mary's School in Raleigh. As a young woman she was an active member of both the Daughters of the Confederacy and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Cotten successfully lobbied for increased pensions for Confederate veterans and may have been the first woman to speak before the N.C. General Assembly. In 1908, she married naval officer Lyman Atkinson Cotten Sr. The couple had two sons, Lyman Atkinson Cotten Jr. and John Henderson Cotten. Both abroad and in the U.S., Elizabeth Cotten involved herself in community service and earned respect as a quintessential hostess. She helped establish the Women's Club of Tokyo and served as its first president. After her husband's death in 1926, she settled in Chapel Hill, N.C. and became a leader on behalf of women's rights. She belonged to the North Carolina Suffrage League and the League of Women Voters. Cotten worked with Dr. J. G. deRoulhac Hamilton to establish and organize the Southern Historical Collection (manuscripts) at the University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill. She promoted the UNC-Chapel Hill Friends of the Library and served as its first secretary. Cotten authored and edited several publications.


• John Henderson Cotten (1913-1975) was the son of Lyman Atkinson Cotten Sr. and Elizabeth Brownrigg Henderson Cotten. He graduated in 1935 from the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1945, he was given command of the U.S.S. Badger. He was decorated for services in the Pacific during World War Two that included a bronze star for action in the Kurile Islands. He briefly served as a Naval Liaison officer to the U.S. Army in Korea. In 1964 he worked for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs working on Multilateral Force.

Series List

Series 1: Bruce Cotten

Box 1: Bruce and Edyth Johns Tyson Cotten

Box 2: Bruce Cotten

Box 3: Cylburn (Bruce Cotten home in Baltimore, Maryland)

Series 2: John Henderson Cotten

Box 1: Album 1 (Naval Photographs)

Box 2: Album 2 (Naval Photographs)

Box 3: Album 3 (Naval Photographs)

Box 4: (Naval Photographs on U.S.S. Galveston)

Box 5: Miscellaneous Photographs and Print Material

Box 6: Color Slides of Japan 1950s (Trays 1-18)

Box 7: Color Slides 1950s (Trays 19-37)

Box 8: Miscellaneous Dated and Identified Color Slides

Box 9: Miscellaneous Undated and Unidentified Color Slides

Series 3: Cotten Family Miscellaneous

Box 1: Sir Robert Bruce Cotten

Box 2: Cottendale

Box 3: Robert Randolph Cotten and Sallie Southall Cotten

Box 4: Robert Randolph Cotten and Sallie Southall Cotten

Box 5: Lyman Atkinson Cotten Sr.

Box 6: Lyman Atkinson Cotten Sr.

Box 7: Cotten Family Miscellaneous

Series 4: Miscellaneous Photographs and Print Material

Box 1: Miscellaneous Photographs and Print Material

Box 2: Miscellaneous Photographs and Print Material

Box 3: Miscellaneous Photographs and Print Material

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