Loula White Fleming Papers

1884-1967, undated
Manuscript Collection #414
Creator(s)
Fleming, Loula White, 1878-1967
Physical description
1.3 Cubic Feet, 350 items , 1.3 cubic feet consisting of correspondence, organizational publications, photographs, newspaper clippings and typescripts of other materials, bank books, a notebook, and genealogical files.
Preferred Citation
Loula White Fleming Papers (#414), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions

Papers (1884-1967) including correspondence, organizational publication, photographs, newspaper clippings, typescripts, Civil War events, Women's club, songs, jewelry, bank books and notebook.


Biographical/historical information

Loula Victoria White Fleming (1878-1967) was the daughter of Captain Charles Alexander White and Louisa Amanda Cory of Greenville, N.C. She studied music at Hollins College in Virginia and was a volunteer organist and choir director at The Memorial Baptist Church in Greenville for thirty years. In 1899, she married James Lawson Fleming, a prominent Greenville lawyer and member of the state legislature. The Flemings lived at Third and Greene Streets, Greenville, where they raised three children, Louise Elizabeth, Margaret, and James Lawson, Jr. Mrs. Fleming was widowed in 1909 when her husband was killed in an auto accident. She was a member of the Colonial Dames, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Eastern Star, the End of the Century Book Club, the Greenville Women's Club, the Greenville Music Club, and the East Carolina Art Society.


Scope and arrangement

The collection mainly consists of correspondence and printed material relating to Mrs. Fleming's club-related and Arts Council activities.

Mrs. Fleming was involved with the Works Progress Administration sponsored Federal Art Council. Material dealing with the Federal Art Council Gallery includes correspondence concerning rental renovation of the building used for the gallery in Greenville (1939-1940) and the purchase of a building for a community art center (1960). Other items relating to the arts include publications by the General Federation of Women's Clubs, the W.P.A., and the East Carolina Art Society; materials concerning art exhibits and galleries; and items documenting the finances and programs of the Art Society and Community Art Center.

The majority of the material in the collection relates to Mrs. Fleming's many club-related activities, especially her work with the United Daughters of the Confederacy (1921-1957). In addition to membership information, programs (1921-1957), and magazine clippings, U.D.C. material contains correspondence dealing with the War Relief Committee (1919), the Soldier's Home Committee (1922), and the Stone Mountain Memorial in Georgia (1924, 1925). Among Stone Mountain Memorial items are booklets, magazines, and articles on the memorial and its construction. Additional materials related to the U.D.C. are publications and instructional handbooks on the Civil War and Confederate Flags; information on U.D.C. rituals, songs, emblematic jewelry, and medals; and photographs (c. 1945) of the Bentonville Memorial. Also included is the genealogy information compiled by Mrs. Fleming and her daughters for admission into the U.D.C., the Colonial Dames, and the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Mrs. Fleming was involved in a number of clubs in Greenville including the Greenville Women's Club, the Greenville Garden Club, the Greenville Music Club, the End of the Century Book Club, and the East Carolina Faculty Wives. Materials concerning the Greenville Women's Club include the club's accomplishments (1942), finances (1943-1944), dues (1917-1919), programs, meetings, and constitution. Publications (1922, 1926) relating to Women's Club activities are also found in the collection. Another substantial group of items concerns Mrs. Fleming's work with the End of the Century Book Club. The material pertains to the group's constitution and bylaws, programs (1901-1965), and a presidential address to the club (1949).

Additional materials in the collection consist largely of programs, clippings, and publications for a variety of clubs including the Order of the Eastern Star (1947, 1963-1966), the Wednesday Club of Richmond, Virginia (1914 Music Festival), the East Carolina Faculty Wives Club (1950-1962), and the Greenville Music Club (1934-1963).

Material found on The Memorial Baptist Church reflects Mrs. Fleming's life-long affiliation with that institution. Included in this folder are bulletins from services, histories of the church, and material from the Women's Missionary Union.

Another sub-group consists of material belonging to Mrs. Fleming's daughter Louise. Included in these materials is correspondence (1920-1935) from Louise's brother James and Robert Lee Humber while in Europe; a report card (1913-1914); and genealogical files on the White, Grady and Whitfield Families.

Oversize materials consist of publications and newspaper clippings.

Correspondence, found in folders a and b of box 1, between Mrs. Fleming and her daughter and correspondence dating from 1884 were removed from Collection No. 437 as well as materials from folders a and b in box 6. For related material see Collection No. 437, James L. Fleming Papers.


Administrative information
Custodial History

June 5, 1980, ca. 250 items, 0.650 cubic feet; Papers (1902-1967) including correspondence, organizational publication, photographs, newspaper clippings, typescripts, songs, jewelry, bank books and notebook pertaining to Civil War events, Greenville Women's Club, End of the Century Book Club, Greenville Arts Council, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Stone Mountain Association, and other activities. Gift of Miss Louise Fleming, Raleigh, N.C., and Mr. James L. Fleming, Greenville, N.C.

January 26, 1995, (addition 1) 100 items, 0.650 cubic feet; Correspondence and genealogical files of Miss Louise Fleming. Gift of Mr. James L. Fleming, Greenville, N.C.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Ms. Louise Fleming

Gift of Mr. James L. Fleming

Processing information

Processed by H. Smith, June 1985

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.


Key terms
Personal Names
Fleming, Loula White, 1878-1967
Corporate Names
End of the Century Book Club (Greenville, N.C.)
Federal Art Project
Greenville Museum of Art (Greenville, N.C.)
Greenville Women's Club (Greenville, N.C.)
Memorial Baptist Church (Greenville, N.C.)
United Daughters of the Confederacy
Topical
Arts--North Carolina--Greenville
Women--North Carolina--Greenville--Societies and clubs
Places
North Carolina--Genealogy
North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Monuments--Photographs

Container list
Box 1 Folder a Correspondence 1884-1927
Box 1 Folder c United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1921-1958
Box 1 Folder d United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1921-1958
Box 2 Folder a United Daughters of the Confederacy and Civil War newspaper clippings 1921-1945, undated
Box 2 Folder b Stone Mountain Memorial, 1923-1927
Box 2 Folder c Garden Club, 1939-1959
Box 2 Folder d Greenville Women's Club, 1917-1950
Box 3 Folder a Greenville Women's Club, 1917-1960
Box 3 Folder b End of the Century Book Club, 1902-1910
Box 3 Folder c End of the Century Book Club, 1911-1920
Box 4 Folder a End of the Century Book Club, 1929-1950
Box 4 Folder b End of the Century Book Club, 1951- 1967
Box 4 Folder c Federal Art Council, W.P.A., and Greenville Art Society, 1931-1963
Box 5 Folder a Greenville Music Club, 1934-1963
Box 5 Folder b Colonial Dames of America, 1935-1946
Box 5 Folder c Miscellaneous Clubs, 1914-1966
Box 5 Folder d Memorial Baptist Church
Box 6 Folder a Newspaper Clippings
Box 6 Folder b Miscellaneous
Box 6 Folder c Genealogy
Box 6 Folder d Genealogy
Box 6 Folder e Correspondence, Speech and Grade Report, 1913-1935
Folder os1 Publications (1924, 1926),and newspaper and magazine clippings (1923-1925) concerning Stone Mountain Memorial; newspaper clippings concerning the Civil War and The U.D.C. (1916-1954, undated)