Loula White Fleming Papers, 1884-1973, undated

(Manuscript Collection #414)

Accessions Information

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.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions

Copyright Notice

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

Preferred Citation

Loula White Fleming Papers (#414), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Acquisition Information

• Gift of Ms. Louise Fleming
• Gift of Mr. James L. Fleming

Processing Information

• Processed by H. Smith, June 1985

• Encoded by Apex Data Services

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.

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. 437as well as materials from folders a and b in box 6. For related material see Collection No. 437, James L. Fleming Papers.

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Reading Room's card catalog. This system is no longer maintained, but it is left in place to help on-site researchers locate particular topics in the collection.

Geographic Entries :

• North Carolina, Greenville

Autograph Entries :

• [Humber], Robert [Lee] (7) 1926-1927, 1929-1930

Subject Entries :

• ART AND ARTISTS— Greenville, N.C.— Federal Art Council— 1931-1963
• EDUCATION— COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES— East Carolina University— Faculty Wives Club— 1950-1962
• GREENVILLE, N.C.— Organizations— 1902-1967
• HOTELS, INNS AND TAVERNS— Seven Springs, N.C.
• MEMORIALS— Bentonville, N.C.
• MEMORIALS— Georgia— Stone Mountain— 1923-1927
• ORGANIZATIONS— Colonial Dames of America— 1935-1946
• ORGANIZATIONS— Daughters of the American Revolution— Greenville, N.C.— 1940-1941, 1958-1961
• ORGANIZATIONS— East Carolina Art Society— Greenville, N.C— .1931-1963
• ORGANIZATIONS— East Carolina Faculty Wives Club— Greenville,N.C— 1950-1962
• ORGANIZATIONS— End of the Century Book Club— Greenville, N.C.— 1902-1967
• ORGANIZATIONS— Greenville Garden Club— Greenville, N.C.— 1939-1962
• ORGANIZATIONS— Greenville Music Club— Greenville, N.C.— 1948-1959
• ORGANIZATIONS— Order of the Eastern Star— Greenville, N.C.— 1947, 1963-1966
• ORGANIZATIONS— United Daughters of The Confederacy— Greenville, N.C.— 1921-1958
• ORGANIZATIONS— The Wednesday Club— Virginia— Richmond— 1914
• PLANTATIONS— Pitt Co., N.C.
• PUBLICATIONS— Periodicals
• RELIGION— Churches— Greenville, N.C.— 1923-1973
• SOCIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS— Women's Club Activities— Greenville N.C.— 1902-1967
• U.S.— DEPARTMENTS, COMMISSIONS, AGENCIES— Works Progress Administration— Federal Art Council— Greenville, N.C.
• WAR— CIVIL— Addresses, Essays, Lectures

Genealogy Entries :

• GRADY FAMILY— North Carolina
• WHITE FAMILY— North Carolina
• WHITFIELD FAMILY— North Carolina

Date Entries :

• 1900-1909
• 1910-1919
• 1920-1929
• 1930-1939
• 1940-1949