Papers (ca. 1890s-2003) of Nina Belle Redditt (1923-2005) and family of Greenville, Pitt County, N.C. Nina Belle Redditt, who served as a DKC officer in the U.S. Navy for 31 years, was the daughter of George Edward Harris, Sr., and Isabella "Belle" Augusta Hearne Harris. Included are scattered correspondence (1905-1907, 1930s-1950s, 1975), photographs and photocopies of photographs (1890s-1978), clippings (1950s-2003), and genealogical notes related to the Harris, Hearne and Moore families of Pitt County and the Redditt family of Beaufort County, N.C. Also included are two books: Old Southern Songs of the Period of the Confederacy, and Southern Sidelights by Rev. William E. Cox. Additional material relates to Nina Belle Redditt's Navy career and includes a photograph album (1947-1955) of service in Malta, Bainbridge, Maryland, and the Portrex war exercise in Puerto Rico; and photographs (1953) and documents (1956, 1963) related to the Korean War Military Armistice Agreement and the United Nations Command's involvement.
George Edward Harris was born in Pitt County, NC, in 1866 to Joseph John Harris and Emily Langley Harris. He was married to Isabella "Belle" Augusta Hearne on 11 March 1891. The couple had two children, Nina Belle Harris (born 1 January 1892) and George Edward Harris Jr. (born 23 January 1902). George Harris passed away in 1922.
Nina Belle Harris married Leonidas (Leon) Bryan Redditt (1896-1968) of Beaufort County, N.C., on 1 September 1920. The couple had two daughters, Cora Redditt, and Nina Belle Redditt. They were later divorced. Nina Belle Harris Redditt passed away on 28 December 1979.
Nina Belle Redditt was born on 4 April 1923 in Lenoir County, NC. She attended Greenville city schools and Blackstone school for girls, East Carolina University and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a B.A. She enlisted in the Navy and served in Boston, MA, Washington D.C., Raleigh, NC, Jacksonville, FL, Norfolk, VA, San Diego, CA, and Pearl Harbor, HI. She served for 31 years attaining the rank of Chief Petty Officer. After retirement from the Navy, she returned to Greenville and managed Rampage Inc., served on Pitt County Women's Commission, American Business Women's Association, and was a member of Christian Science Church of Greenville. She lived in the George Edward Harris, Sr., house formerly standing on Cotanche Street adjacent to East Carolina University campus in Greenville, Pitt County, N.C. Nina Belle Redditt passed away on 14 July 2005 and she is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.
Cora Redditt Streeper was born in Pitt County. She attended Greenville city schools and Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, VA. After graduating, she began working as an airline stewardess with Pan-American Airlines. She worked there for eight years. Cora Redditt married Harold P. Streeper, a Navy carrier pilot. Due to his job as Naval aviator, they were stationed in multiple naval facilities. She was a member of the American Business Women's Association, Pirate Chapter, for 20 years. She also served as Chair for the Pitt County Women's commission and worked for the Coalition of Women's Leaders. Cora Redditt Streeper passed away on 16 July 2003.
Sources: North Carolina Death Records; Greenville, N.C., Daily Reflector obituaries; and Family Tree Maker.com.
The collection contains materials related to the Harris and Redditt families of Pitt County, North Carolina. Family history research on these families includes letters between family members, postcards, written records of the lineage of the Harris family dating back to 1676, newspaper articles on different members of the family, a marriage invitation, obituaries and photographs of family members. One postcard is a 1920s panoramic image of Evans (misspelled Evens) Street and Dickinson Avenue from Five Points in Greenville, N.C.
The section on the Harris-Redditt house contains photographs (1920) of the house (formerly located at 635 Cotanche Street before being demolished in 1983 to make way for college student housing such as the Campus Towers) and of furniture inside the house which was donated to the State. Other documents include descriptions of the furniture, a newsletter from the Greenville Area Preservation Association mentioning an open house held in the Harris-Redditt house in an unsuccessful attempt to find someone to buy and move it, preservation reports, and an article on the Harris-Redditt house and the family's relation to Nathaniel Greene.
The next few sections include correspondence (1987) related to establishing a Vietnam War Memorial in California, passes and identification cards from Nina Belle Harris's time in the Navy, photographs of the Harris and Redditt family members, and pictures of Cora Streeper as a Pan-American Airline stewardess and of her wedding to Harold P. Streeper. Other photographs pertain to the signing of the Armistice in Korea on July 27, 1953.
This collection also contains copies of Southern Sidelights written by Reverend William Cox in 1942, autographed, and including a letter her wrote to Edward Harris in 1943, and Old Southern Songs of the Period of the Confederacy: The Dixie Trophy Collection: Compiled by Kate E. Staton of Tarboro, NC and published by Henry Staton in 1926.
There is a photograph album which probably was compiled by Nina Belle Redditt during her travels while serving in the Navy. Many of the photographs are not identified, but some were taken in Malta (1948), Bainbridge, Maryland (1947), and of the Portrex War Exercise held in Puerto Rico (February-March 1950). Other images are of the USS Mount McKinley, the USS Taconic and unidentified ships.
The final section includes reports and minutes of meetings between The United Nations Command (UNC) and the Korean People's Army/Chinese People's Volunteers (KPA/CPV) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 1954-1963 over possible violations to the Armistice (ending the Korean War), and returning of prisoners from both sides; a publication describing the United Nations Command component of the Military Armistice Commission; and a soldier's booklet containing a compilation of farcical meetings of the Joint Duty Officer representing the United Nation Command and the Korean People's Army.
The oversize folder includes a photograph of Co. 4555, U.S. Naval Training Station, Bainbridge, Maryland (February 4, 1944) and a photograph of Ship's Service Dance at Palm Garden (July 25, 1944).
Gift of Alison Hearne Atkins
Gift of William B. Kittrell
Processing completed by Ryan Miranda and Martha Elmore on September 27, 2019.
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.