Charles McKinney papers, 1952-1993 and undated

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Summary

Creator:
McKinney, Charles C., 1931-2007
Abstract:
Charles C. Chick McKinney founded and headed the McKinney & Silver (M&S) advertising agency for 22 years, where he held positions of President and Chief Executive Officer. The agency, originally based in Raleigh, N.C., and presently headquartered in Durham, N.C., is one of the largest advertising agencies in the Southeastern U.S. The Charles McKinney Papers cover the years 1952-1993, with the bulk of materials dating from 1968-1990, the period during which McKinney served as President and CEO of the McKinney & Silver (M&S) advertising agency. The collection primarily consists of correspondence, memoranda, clippings, M&S presentations to clients, proofs, speeches, reports, McKinney's handwritten drafts of advertising campaigns, and numerous brochures from graphic artists and design companies. The collection also includes films of advertising spots, slides for new business presentations, and many periodicals related to advertising and graphic design. Companies represented in the collection include American Drew; Bacardi Corporation; Bahamas; Barnett Banks; Benihana; Beatrice Foods Company; Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company; Black & Decker Corporation; Braniff Airways; Brown & Forman Inc.; Brown & Williamson; Colours; Del Monte Corporation; Drackett; Dunlop Sport, GoodMark Foods, Inc.; Gravely; Homelite; Kingsdown; Mars, Inc.; North Carolina National Bank; North Carolina Travel and Tourism; Norweigan Cruise Line; PET Dairy; Piedmont Airlines, Inc.; Pillsbury Company; Pine State; Quincy's; Royal Caribbean Cruise Line; Tile Council of America; Travelmation; and USAir Group, Inc.
Extent:
42 Linear Feet
31500 Items
Language:
Material in English and German.
Collection ID:
RL.00878

Background

Scope and content:

The Charles McKinney Papers cover the years 1952-1993, with the bulk of materials dating from 1968-1990, the period during which McKinney served as President and CEO of the McKinney & Silver (M&S) advertising agency. The collection primarily consists of correspondence; memoranda; clippings; presentations to clients; proofs; speeches; reports; McKinney's handwritten drafts of advertising campaigns; and brochures from graphic artists and design companies. The collection also includes films and videocassettes of advertising spots, slides for new business presentations, and periodicals related to advertising and graphic design. Companies represented in the collection include American Drew; Bacardi Corporation; Bahamas Tourism; Barnett Banks; Benihana; Beatrice Foods Company; Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company; Black & Decker Corporation; Braniff Airways; Brown & Forman Inc.; Brown & Williamson; Colours; Del Monte Corporation; Drackett; Dunlop Sport; GoodMark Foods, Inc.; Gravely; Homelite; Kingsdown; Mars, Inc.; North Carolina National Bank; North Carolina Travel and Tourism; Norweigan Cruise Line; PET Dairy; Piedmont Airlines, Inc.; Pillsbury Company; Pine State Dairy; Quincy's; Royal Caribbean Cruise Line; Tile Council of America; Travelmation; and USAir Group, Inc.; among others.

Many of the clippings and presentation drafts and fragments arrived unfoldered and interspersed throughout the collection. Complete presentation drafts were foldered by presentation title; presentation fragments and clippings were foldered as miscellaneous. Many of McKinney's drafts of advertising campaigns appeared in ruled notepads, often with clippings and additional sketched interleaved. Items attached to a particular notepad were foldered together and titled by subject and detached from cardboard backing. Legal sized notes were photocopied and reduced to letter size.

Biographical / historical:

Charles C. "Chick" McKinney was born in 1931 in Newdale, N.C., and raised in Spruce Pine, N.C. Between 1950-1952, he attended the University of Tennessee, where he majored in Industrial Management. He received a degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina's School of Business in 1957. McKinney began his career in 1957 at the J.T. Howard advertising agency in Raleigh, N.C.. There, he served as Creative Director and member of the board. In 1968, McKinney founded the McKinney & Silver advertising agency, and he served as President and Chief Executive Officer until 1990. The agency grew to one of the largest advertising agencies in the Southeastern U.S.

McKinney received over 500 major awards from creative and advertising competitions, and some of his work appeared in The One Show exhibit in New York City, the New York Advertising Club Show, the American Television Commercials Festival, and the Communication Arts Show. In 1973, an Ad Daily poll named one of the top creative people in America.

In addition, McKinney also served as a judge in many advertising competitions around the U.S., including for the Communication Arts competition in California. He was frequently asked to speak at business and industry group meetings, including for the Magazine Publishers Association. He also served as a trustee of the North Carolina Symphony, and was a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Sphinx Club, the Carolina Country Club and the Figure Eight Yacht Club, among others.

McKinney died Sept. 12, 2007 in Raleigh, N.C.

Acquisition information:
The Charles McKinney Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2008.
Processing information:

Processed by Jessica Wood, February 2009

Encoded by Jessica Wood, February 2009

Accessions 2008-0023 and 2008-150 were merged into one collection and described in this finding aid.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into eight series: General Files; Account Files; Competitive Files; New Business; Printed Materials; Writings and Speeches; Audiovisual Materials; and Oversize Materials. The General Files series contains files related to the running of the M&S office and files related to McKinney's personal and business affairs. The Account Files series contains files related to M&S's active accounts, as well as some general files and presentations containing sales reports for multiple accounts, market research, and miscellaneous clippings relating to M&S accounts. The Competitive Files series contains correspondence, printed materials, proofs and clippings related to competitive advertising agencies. The New Business series contains materials related to M&S's attempts to acquire new accounts. The Printed Materials series includes newsletters, promotional materials, periodicals, reports, and typographic manuals. The Writings and Speeches series contains speeches given by McKinney and other advertising executives at various events and also includes reports prepared by outside agencies on general advertising and business-related topics which McKinney used as reference material. The Audiovisual Materials series contains various formats of film, video and audiotape primarily of M&S advertising spots, as well as promotional films and presentation reels prepared by competitive agencies. The Oversize Materials series contains large format items removed from previous series of the collection, including charts, clippings, periodicals, brochures, newspapers and proofs.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:
Advertising agencies -- United States -- North Carolina -- History -- 20th century
Advertising agencies -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Advertising campaigns -- United States -- North Carolina -- History -- 20th century
Advertising campaigns -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Advertising campaigns -- United States -- North Carolina -- Periodicals
Advertising campaigns -- United States -- Periodicals
Advertising executives -- United States
New business enterprises -- United States
Graphic design -- 1960-1980
Television advertising -- United States
Advertising executives -- United States -- North Carolina
Graphic arts -- United States -- Periodicals
Graphic arts -- United States
Advertising agencies -- United States
Advertising agencies -- United States -- North Carolina
Advertising -- Periodicals
Advertising agencies -- Management
Format:
Videocassettes
Proofs (printed matter)
Speeches
Photographs
Clippings (information artifacts)
Slides (photographs)
Motion pictures (visual works)
Names:
Barnett Banks
Bahamas. Ministry of Tourism
Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company
Beatrice Foods Company
Braniff Airways
Black and Decker Corporation (Towson, Md.)
Del Monte Corporation
Brown & Williamson
USAir (Firm)
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line
Tile Council of America
Piedmont Airlines
Pillsbury Company
North Carolina National Bank
North Carolina. Travel and Tourism Division
John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History
McKinney & Silver
Drackett Company
Homelite Corporation
McKinney, Charles C., 1931-2007

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

However, original audiovisual materials are closed to researchers until use copies can be obtained.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Charles McKinney Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.