Search Collection Guides

This finding aid pertains to the transcript of an oral history conducted by Dean Albertson in the years of 1952-1953. The original audio format of this material is owned by Columbia University and is housed at the Oral History Research Office, Columbia University.

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.

Collection (1916-1918) includes 14 silver gelatin photographs and 4 printed postcards that belonged to Emil Görling, a German soldier in the 3rd Landwehr Division during World War I. The majority of the images document the 1918 German Spring Offensive in Northern France, specifically the Noyon campaign (April-August 1918). Included are images of the devastation in the area, the battlefields between the towns of Noyon and Lassigny in France, and the unit at work, at leisure and in retreat in the Lorraine area. Many of the photographs and postcards have comments written with pencil or ink in German.

Photograph album compiled by Ethel May Burt (ca. 1900) consisting primarily of photographic prints documenting Edenton, Chowan County, N.C., but also including views of various towns including Belhaven and Louisburg, N.C., and Claremont, Corbin Point, James River, and Portsmouth, Va., focusing on street scenes. Also includes also photos of families and friends; White and African American residents; the sitting rooms of Mrs. C. B. Elliott and Mrs. R. L. Temple; and images of notable sites, including Chowan County Courthouse, Dr. Richard Dillard and his front yard, Sailboat ELIZABETH, Norfolk & Southern Railway Stations and Depots, Edenton Bay, U.S. "Fish Pond" and Fish Hatchery, Bank of Edenton, Edenton Cotton Mill interior and exterior views, Methodist church, C. B. Elliott residence, Magnolia Street, "Dr. Capehart's Fishery", Steamer WAGNER of the Norfolk & Southern Railway Line, Ship BOUTWELL and Captain W. S. Howland, Cherry's Point, Holley's Wharf, Tar River, and "Lover's Leap."

Papers (1864) from William R. Lane to W. T. Dortch relating to tax collections during the Civil War. 1 item.

Papers (1911-1967) consisting of correspondence, magazine, scrapbooks, pamphlets, clippings and miscellaneous.

Papers (1926-2003) covering the schooling and naval service of U. S. naval officer, USNA class of 1931, Captain James H. Brown, including correspondence, reports, publications, clippings, and photographs. Extensive material pertains to his service during World War II aboard the USS SHAW (1940-1942), USS ABNER READ (1942-1944), and the USS AMMEN (1944-1945), as well as his service before and after World War II.

Papers (1937-1962) including correspondence, journals, maps, dispatches, orders, educational material, flight log, pilot names, etc.

William and Harry Whittaker were brothers who both served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. William mainly served in West Germany while Harry was sent to Vietnam in 1967. Their letters to each other cover the years 1964 to 1968 and discuss both basic training in Fort Dix, New Jersey, and Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and their service in West Germany and Vietnam. Also included are numerous photographs taken by Harry while he was stationed in Vietnam.

Photograph album documents missionaries from Cass Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church of Detroit (Michigan) in China (ca. 1900-1917). Photographs depicting local life and scenery such as street scenes, a Peng (tent cart), street vendors, Chinese Theatre scene, temples, Boxer ruins used as a boarding school and teachers and their students, are accompanied by ephemera such as programs, memorials and prospectuses.

Papers (1920-1973) consisting of correspondence, newsletters, letters, Congolese Civil War, biographical notes, pamphlets, magazine articles, travel narratives, etc.

Papers of D. R. Fosso (1977-1978) documenting the life and career of the Minnesota-born American poet and educator at Wake Forest University, 1964-; consisting of an octavo brochure including a poem entitled Arranging, by D. R. Fosso, published by Press For Privacy, Winston-Salem, NC (1978); also a small portfolio of poetry broadsides entitled Two Poems Two, including Storm, a poem by D. R. Fosso & For I Have Spoken Too Often, a poem by Doug Abrams, published by Press For Privacy, Winston-Salem, NC (1977). Note: On verso of Arranging printed: "Twenty copies have been printed. This is No. 13"; On verso of Two Poems Two: Autographed "D. R. Fosso 8-25-77"; & printed: "Copy No. 8 of 50 copies printed."

Material (1862-2017) including correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, narrative reminiscences, and a muster roll (1862) and other original documents related to Dr. William N. Still, Jr.'s career as a well-known and respected maritime historian and author. His research topics included shipbuilding in North Carolina, maritime history, and Naval history in the American Civil War through World War II.