Correspondence, photographs, postcards and printed material documenting North Carolina history. Locations include Fayetteville, Elizabeth City, High Point, Wilmington, Atlantic Beach, Morehead City, Belhaven, Edenton, Pitt County, Camp Lejeune, Reidsville, Rocky Mount, St. Pauls Washington and New Bern. Subjects include the Askew Family of Hertford County, Greensboro College, Fayetteville flood of 1908, the Confederate Ram Albemarle and the tobacco industry.
Roger E. Kammerer, Jr., is a freelance artist and local historian living in Greenville, N.C. He was born in 1956 in Nebraska, but spent most of his early life in Swansboro, N.C. Under the mentorship of noted N.C. historian, Tucker Reed Littleton, Kammerer obtained a love for North Carolina history. After receiving a scholarship, Kammerer enrolled in the School of Art at East Carolina University in Greenville in 1974. To date, he has designed numerous book covers, has worked on television commercials and produced artwork for homes and businesses. Kammerer is also known for his oil portraits, historical paintings and numerous mural projects.
In 1984, Kammerer was among the charter members who organized the Pitt County Family Researchers, Inc., a local genealogical group. Currently, he is president of the group, and editor of its quarterly journal. In 2004 the Pitt County Genealogical Quarterly received the award from the North Carolina Genealogical Society for the best genealogical publication of the year. Since 1985 Kammerer has also written a column on Pitt County and Greenville history for the Greenville Times. He is a lifetime member of the Pitt County Historical Society, and in recent years has served on the board of the Village of Yesteryear, a complex of twenty-one historic buildings and extensive collection of farm life artifacts. In addition, Kammerer has led several walking tours of the historic downtown area of Greenville, and has authored, or co-authored, twenty-one books and booklets on local history and genealogy. The collection of materials this finding aid represents was donated in honor of Kammerer's parents.
Correspondence includes thirty-four letters written between 1863 and 1948 to Lillian Askew from family members and acquaintances. Subjects discussed in the letters include family and general topics of interest. The remaining correspondence consists of two letters written in 1847 and 1849 to Samuel Haines, one of which describes poor social conditions in Trenton, N.J. Also included are two letters written in 1913 and 1914 to C.Y. (Chris) Smith. Both letters are from friend Berend Behrends who was serving in the military in The Philippines and Manila. (See container list for further details)
Photographs include many images of various people, including portraits. Surnames of the individuals include Cotton, Hardee, Smith, Jordan, Vinerette, Joyner, Stancil and Tucker. Also included are images of the 1927 Elm City High School graduating class, a Coxville School group photograph, the 1908 flood in Fayetteville and a Pitt County, N.C. school bus and drivers. (See container list for further details)
Legal Documents consist of two land deeds. The first one is for 1480 acres in Hertford County, N.C. for fifteen cents an acre to Daniel Valentine dated February 20, 1871. The other land deed is for twenty-five acres in Ashe County, N.C. to John Dick dated August 20, 1839. Also included is a document related to Hertford County, N.C. land involving William A. Holloman, administrator of R.H. Shield and Daniel Valentine. (See container list for further details)
Printed Materials consist of a Greensboro College commencement address from 1872. The collection also contains some historical and genealogical information about Peter Evans Smith and indications that he was the possible builder of the Confederate ram Albemarle. Also included is a recipe book from 1897, a handwritten music book from 1812, an accounting journal from the Oakridge Institute of Business College, Oakridge N.C. 1882, an October 4, 1917 edition of The Union Herald and an undated edition of Brunswick Evening Banner. (See container list for further details)
Oversized Materials consist of a few items from the collection that were moved to oversized drawers due to their large size. This change in location is noted in the container list. (See container list for further details)
Postcards represent various places in North Carolina. Locations documented include Fayetteville, Elizabeth City, High Point, Wilmington, Atlantic Beach, Morehead City, Belhaven, Edenton, Pitt County, Camp Lejeune, Reidsville, Rocky Mount, St. Pauls Washington and New Bern. A small percentage of the postcards document various scenes of the South, possibly North Carolina. (See container list for further details)
Gift of Roger E. Kammerer, Jr.
Processed by Elizabeth Betz, April 29, 2004
Processed by Amy Leuchtmann, 2008
Processed by Dale Sauter, 2008
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.