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Papers of Walker Percy (1954-1997 [1975-1987]) documenting the life and literary career of the noted Birmingham, Alabama-born American novelist of the New South, consisting of three copies of a proof entitled Walker Percy: A Bibliography: 1930-1984, compiled by Stuart Wright (1985); also loose manuscript items transferred from works by Walker Percy in the Stuart Wright Book Collection, including from: Lancelot: A Novel (1977-1982), Lost in the Cosmos (1978-1997), The Message in the Bottle (1975-1983), The Movie-Goer: A Novel (1961, 1982), The Thanatos Syndrome (1987-1997), The Correspondence of Shelby Foote Walker Percy (1979-1987), The Message of Auschwitz (1987), and Walker Percy: A Bibliography, by Stuart Wright (1986) ; also including a pamphlet by Walker Percy, entitled Symbol and Need (1954).

The Nathaniel Pettit Joy Collection (1913-1919 [Bulk: 1918-1919], undated) consists primarily of letters he and his wife Mary received from two New Jersey soldiers and two New Jersey sailors written to Nathaniel Pettit Joy and his wife Mary of Groveville, New Jersey. The soldiers, Raymond "Bud" Danley and William "Bill" Inman were privates in the Headquarters Company of the 309th Infantry Infantry, 78th Division of the American Expeditionary Force; they wrote from England, France and Fort Dix (New Jersey); the sailors were A. C. Griffiths sailor aboard the battleship USS ARIZONA in 1918-1919; and Cousin Edwin, who served aboard the USS SIBONEY, a hospital ship, 1918-1919; the collection also includes several miscellaneous items, including French postcards, photographs of unidentified soldiers and sailors, and a letter written from a Cpl. Walter P. Rogers, who was a guard at a Russian prisoner of war camp in Chemnitz, Germany early in 1919.

Papers include account books, booklet, and receipts for services rendered.

Material documenting the life of WWII U.S. Navy Captain Victor Delano including accounts (1941-1986) of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and duty in the USS West Virginia, by Victor Delano, Pearl Harbor artifacts, correspondence, Familygrams, ships logs, research studies, photograph albums, loose photographs, certificates, diplomas, medals and ribbons, clippings, programs, and publications. Also includes two packets of drawings of Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship, H.M.S. VICTORY, 1970; and an article, entitled "TOP SECRET COMPHIBPAC OPERATIONS PLAN A11-45: The Story of the Invasion of Japan" by James Martin, ca. 1986.

Collection contains mainly material related to the African American Navy Band members who served at the Great Lakes Naval Base during World War II (1942-1945). This material includes programs and related material from the February 28-March 2, 2003, salute to these African American band members that was held in Chicago, Illinois, and from former band member Carl Foster's participation in a symposium sponsored by the North Carolina Museum of History in 2003. Other material includes programs (1987) for concerts by the North Carolina Jazz Ensemble and a 1945 USO Hawaii booklet. A second focus of this collection is on the lives of Alex Albright's family members including uncles on his mother's side and their involvement with the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and World War II service and death.

Papers (1891-1918) including correspondence, legal materials, financial records, ledgers, estate papers, real estate records, political material, letters and miscellaneous concerning Jesse W. Grainger of Kinston, North Carolina, a very successful truck farmer, owner of the first tobacco warehouse in Kinston, and very active in civic affairs.

Papers (1923-1966, undated) including literary manuscripts, including plays, shorts, stories, novel, essays, book reviews, reports, typescripts of poems, programs from plays "Spare the Old Homestead or Life at the Red Gulch Saloon. A Mellerdrammer of the Old West and The Gay '90's Review.

Photocopies of papers (1942-1946) of Vice Admiral Robert W. Hayler mainly relating to when he commanded the USS HONOLULU (1942-1944) during World War II including correspondence, diaries, citations, awards, photographs, and a summary of important events.

Autobiography of Joseph Greene Boyette's life from his childhood (born 1929) upbringing in eastern North Carolina until 1952 when he got out of the U.S. Navy and headed to Duke University to take classes. Boyette actually starts his memoir with some information on the extremely hard upbringing his mother (born 1903) had and also includes a section of notes that his mother wrote about the childhood experiences of her 3 boys.

Letters and ephemera (1926-1929) related to the life of Agnes Wadlington [Barrett], who was born in Trigg County, Kentucky in 1902, before she took a job at East Carolina Teachers College (now East Carolina University) as secretary to the president of the college. Also found with these papers are many photographs of members of the Putnam family of Murray, Kentucky. The only connection between Mrs. Barrett and the Putnam family appears to be that both she and Louise Vey Putnam Carter's husband Herbert Leland Carter both worked at East Carolina University. An 1982 engagement calendar kept by Mrs. Barrett documents her life during retirement in Greenville, North Carolina.

Papers (1897-1972, undated) of a U. S. Naval officer, a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, 1905, who commanded the destroyer USS JARVIS during World War I, and as ordnance inspector at the U. S. Naval Ammunition Depot during World War II, consisting of correspondence, a war diary, orders, proceedings, reports, thesis, albums, photographs, postal cards, financial records, citations, certificates, biographies and miscellaneous.

Collection (1945-circa 1980s, undated) of clippings, photographs, Christmas cards, World War II ration books, relating to the Parker family, "Pitch a Boogie Woogie" a film with an all-black cast, the Corner Stone Baptist Church, and Mt. Calvary Free Will Baptist Church of Greenville, North Carolina.

Collection (1950 - 2011), including correspondence, photographic prints, ephemera, subject files and published materials, relating to Democratic Party politics in North Carolina and Washington, DC, especially Leggett's activities as chief of staff for Robert B. Morgan, who was Attorney General of North Carolina and U. S. Senator, 1970-1980.

Collection (1883–1910) consisting of correspondence, eight Civil War pension application ledgers, 2 account books and church record book. The majority of the collection consists of claims for pensions by blacks who served in the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy during the Civil War. The claims request compensation for wounds and injuries received or diseases contracted by the applicants. Claims were submitted either by the veterans themselves or by their survivors. While the majority of claimants appear to have lived in the vicinity of New Bern and James City, North Carolina, many resided throughout the central portion of eastern North Carolina. The ledgers were once the property of Frederick Douglass, a black lawyer, minister, and teacher of New Bern who handled the claims.

The Mattamuskeet Lodge was originally built as a pumphouse to drain Lake Mattamuskeet in Hyde County, North Carolina, and was later converted to a hunting lodge. The collection spans 1915 to 2007 and includes photographs (1910s-1940s,undated) of the town of New Holland which was built in the drained lake bed, the New Holland Inn, and Lake Mattamuskeet. Scenes also include anglers at Lake Landing Canal, the Mattamuskeet Causeway, and carp barricades installed in the water control gates. A series of photographs from the 1990s show interior renovations being done on Mattamuskeet Lodge and gatherings by ECU student groups for retreats and public gatherings for special occasions. Two publications (2001, 2007) are from the period after the lodge was closed due to structural issues.