Previously Restricted Materials, 1916-1987 and undated, bulk 1950s-1987

Extent:

8 boxes

Scope and content:

Files contain various correspondence, business, legal, personal, and financial papers that had been restricted by F. Duval Craven for his lifetime. Material is now open to use. Materials relate to and were collected by F. Duval Craven, but many family members are represented, especially in the correspondence. The correspondence spans five decades and is divided into two groups: personal letters exchanged between F. Duval Craven and many family members, and business correspondence, much of it having to do with the Craven Company's contracts with the State of NC Highway Commission. Most of the correspondence is incoming, addressed to F. Duval Craven. Legal and financial papers include wills, legal contracts, legal suits and other disputes or issues, and memos and correspondence about the family business. The personal papers, a small group, include newspaper clippings, a few photographs, some memorabilia, post cards, grade school report cards, receipts from business/vacation trips, and campaign and political papers (electoral ballots)

The final group of folders contain aptitude tests carried out by a national testing firm on Craven Company employees during the fifties and sixties. These folders offer a detailed record of testing methods in the corporate world of the fifties and sixties. Some of the test reports are annotated by Craven after many years as to the outcome of the employee's performance, and note his assessment of this type of psychological and character testing.

The materials were sealed in envelopes. During processing they were kept in original order as found in envelopes (each folder or group of folders represents the contents of an envelope), then arranged by series in rough chronological order, with resulting date overlap between folders. Aptitude test folders are closed to research until 2016.

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