Files (1933-1990) include administrative and operational records for the Lenoir and Wayne Counties, NC Schools; speeches; policy and procedures; reports; recommendations; correspondence; subject files; term papers; Lenoir County board of education minute excerpts; school consolidation and accreditation records; school statistical data; a photograph; a map; charts and forms; clippings and notes; and certificates and other acknowledgments.
John Kelly Wooten, Jr. was born in Lenoir County, North Carolina on March 5, 1920. He was the son of John Kelly Wooten, Sr., and Lutie Jones Wooten (both from Lenoir County) and the brother of Kathleen Elizabeth Wooten Dail who was born in 1923. He attended Contentnea High School, Kinston, N.C. and went on to earn his bachelor's degree in 1941 from Atlantic Christian College in Wilson, N.C. and his master's degree from Greenville, N.C.'s East Carolina Teachers College in 1950. Mr. Wooten would later graduate with a PhD in Education in 1974.
He started his career as a teacher and taught school from 1941 to 1948. It was in 1948 that he became the principal of Southwood High School in Kinston, N.C. and would continue in that position until 1963 when he was hired as the Assistant Superintendent for the Lenoir County Schools. John Wooten, Jr. went on to become the Superintendent for the Duplin County Schools and the Wayne County Schools.
John K. Wooten, Jr. married Seni Alma Jones from Onslow County, N.C. and they went on to have a daughter named Kelly and one son, Samuel Thomas Wooten, who died in infancy in 1951. John K. Wooten, Jr. died on November 11, 1998.
Sources:
John K. Wooten, Jr. Papers (#0610), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA. (https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/0610?q=Wooten)
Find a Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87045476/john-kelly-wooten
John Kelly Wooten, Jr. kept records throughout his college years and throughout his years as a superintendent for both the Lenoir and Wayne County schools. His papers consist of these records along with records of other North Carolina school systems. The papers are divided into four series: series one is the Lenoir County school papers; series two is the Wayne County school papers; series three consists of the N.C. school systems papers and series four are the personal files of John K. Wooten, Jr.
The John K. Wooten, Jr. papers have a variety of material, generally dealing with school administration and school operations. These materials include official correspondence; employment records of school personnel; recommendations of school personnel; financial records; minutes of the Lenoir County Board of Education; school policies and procedures; reports; subject files; school consolidation and accreditation records; charts and forms; notes; speeches; school statistical data; and testing data. The bulk of the papers are John K. Wooten, Jr.'s personal files. These files include his personal correspondence and notes, his certificates and other acknowledgements; his subject files and speeches along with the thesis and term papers he did during his academic years. The most notable items in these personal files are a photograph and a invitation. The photograph is of a group of people who attended a teachers' meeting on August 18, 1983 and the invitation is to the James "Jim" B. Hunt, Jr. inauguration ceremonies held on January 10, 1981 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Gift of Dr. John K. Wooten, Jr.
Encoded by Apex Data Services and Processed by Nanette Hardison, October 2022
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