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Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, and John Penn signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776. All three men were delegates of North Carolina at varying times between 1774-1777. The collection spans 1925-1926 and includes two photographic prints and two letter correspondence. The strength of the collection are the photographic prints of two of the three North Carolina Declaration of Independence Signers and biographical notes.

This collection contains fifty-seven ca. 1920 photographs of Greenville, North Carolina, and of East Carolina Teachers Training School (now East Carolina University). Pictured are churches, businesses, tobacco warehouses, municipal buildings, schools, residences and Training School buildings. Many buildings in these images no longer exist. The photographer is unknown.

Papers of Maurice Sendak (1982-1986) documenting the life and literary career the famed Brooklyn, New York-born American artist, illustrator and writer of children's books; consisting of partial, non-consecutive, uncorrected bound proofs of Nutcracker (1984) the fantasy by E. T. A. [Ernst Theodor Amadeus] Hoffmann (1776-1822) that became the basis of the ballet of the same name by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893); translated by Ralph [Frederick] Manheim (1907-1992); pictures by Maurice Sendak; also including loose manuscript items transferred from the Stuart Wright Book Collection volume entitled The Art of Maurice Sendak (1982-1985), by Selma G. Lanes, including letters by and about Maurice Sendak to Stuart Wright.

The bulk of the Raymond J. Kragness Papers (1943-1946, 2000, 2004) pertains to Mr. Kragness's service in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Theatre in World War II aboard the USS Escambia. Personal items include rites of passage membership cards (such as crossing the Equator), draft board notification, photographs, post cards of San Francisco Bay, course certificates, separation from service records and a brief family history. The remaining items pertain to his service on the USS Escambia, a fleet oiler. Included are the ship's history and directory, newsletter "Eighty Times," a list of ships fuled by the USS Escambia, plans of the day, congratulatory messages from Admiral Halsey, and invitations and tickets for commissioning and decommissioning ceremonies.

Collection consists of a two volumes titled "Journal of a Cruise from Norfolk, Virginia to the Pacific Ocean in the United States Frigate United States, Isaac Hull, Esq'r, Commander" kept by Philadelphian midshipman Lawrence Penington from 4 December 1823, through 22 April 1827. United States was one of six frigates authorized to be constructed by the Naval Act of 1794 and it served as the flagship for Commodore Hull who was head of the American naval squadron on the Pacific Coast of South America. Penington documents navigation statistics, weather reports and daily ship life, along with the larger issues of interaction between the American naval squadron and British, Spanish, Chilean, Colombian and Peruvian naval and military counterparts.

Documents pertaining to World War II activities of a squadron designated at various times as Bombing Squadron 106 (1943-1944), Patrol Bombing Squadron 106 (1944-1945), and Patrol Squadron 106 (1945-1946), including historical summaries, action reports, war diaries, interviews operational orders, articles, rosters, etc.

Collection (1904-1909) of grade reports, tuition bills, and academic progress letters relating to the education of Mattie Archbell Anderson at Dortch Academy, Rocky Mount, NC; Littleton Female College, Littleton, NC; Louisburg College, Louisburg, NC; and Louisburg Female College, Louisburg, NC. Also included are items (2008-2010, undated) related to Mrs. Anderson's daughter Mattie Archbell Anderson Bishop of Enfield, NC.

Papers (1894-1914) consisting of letters press book of correspondence and another of financial papers.

Collection (2001–2002) of materials concerning the American destroyer USS Emmons (DD-457/DMS-22), which was the last American naval fighting ship to be commissioned prior to U.S. entry in World War II, and which sank on 5 April 1945, after being badly damaged by Japanese kamikaze attacks to the north of Okinawa. Compiled by a veterans' association, the collection includes a membership roster, historical clippings, photocopies of the association's newsletters, videotape cassettes, including 1 documenting the rediscovery of the ship's resting place, on 19 February 2001, and 2 videotapes by Japanese television network, NNN, broadcast on 1 July 2001.

The bulk of the collection (1841-1979) contains genealogical information about the Hollinger, Greenawalt, Little, and Iseminger families of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Other items include a journal (1855-1959) kept by three generations of the Little family, two very descriptive large paper broadsides announcing public sales of estates in Lemaster, Franklin Co., Pennsylvania (1907), and Upton, Pennsylvania (1904), World War I military Selective Service registration cards, correspondence, clippings, copies of recipe books, and financial records.

Collection (1862-1994) containing correspondence, service records, photographic prints, newspapers, newsletters and clippings, scrapbook, publications, pamphlets and other miscellaneous papers relating to the American Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I and World War II; also relating to the U.S. Navy, its ships, stations, and personnel; donated by various individuals to the U. S. Naval Memorial Foundation and transferred to its collection at various times; arranged in original order.

These records (1894-2000) pertain to the Salisbury-Rowan Lodge No. 100 of the Knights of Pythias in North Carolina, the Salisbury Lodge No. 24 and the Rowan Lodge No. 100. Included are Minute books, Membership Roll books, semi-annual reports, correspondence, financial papers, applications for membership, withdrawal and transfer cards, dismissal and suspension certificates, rosters, directories, photographs and publications that contain procedures for ranks and rituals. Two documents (1898, undated) relate to the Zeb Vance Lodge No. 65 of North Carolina.

Collection (1848-1931) of Johnston County (NC) family including journal, will, deeds, letter, certificates, etc.

Papers (1943-1956) including correspondence, reports programs, professional in Social Security, minutes, membership records, clippings, pamphlets etc.

Papers (1961-2007) of the Halifax County Historical Association (N.C.) including correspondence of general nature concerned with group tours, bibliography sketch, financial records, membership rolls, itineraries etc. Various historical documents, photographs, ephemera and clippings relate to the history of Halifax County including Rosenwald schools and Brick School among many other topics (1816-2011). Other items (1972-2011) such as manuscripts, printed materials, digital materials, and a video recording concern the work of Maxville Burt Williams, a social studies teacher, principal, author and playwright and his works relating to the history of Halifax County, North Carolina, including First For Freedom a play about the Halifax Resolves of 1776; The Struggle, a play about Halifax County during the American Revolution; and The Schroonchers, a play about Eastern North Carolina in the summer of 1948.