Emeline K. Leinbach Armstrong papers, 1936

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Summary

Creator:
Armstrong, Emeline K. Leinbach, 1916-2010
Abstract:
Emeline K. Leinbach Armstrong graduated from Duke University in 1937. In March of 1936, she participated in a sociology field trip touring Carolina Lowcountry. The collection includes an itinerary and roster, notes, and photographs from the trip.
Extent:
0.1 Linear Feet
Language:
Materials in English.
Collection ID:
UA.30.01.0096
University Archives Record Group:
30 -- Student and Alumni Papers and Materials
30 -- Student and Alumni Papers and Materials > 01 -- Individuals

Background

Scope and content:

Consists of materials relating to the 1936 sociology field trip. This includes an annotated itinerary and roster, loose pages of handwritten notes, photographs, and a newspaper clipping. Itinerary and notes list tours of plantations and gardens in South Carolina, Penn School, North Carolina State Normal School for Negroes at Fayetteville, and discussions with plantation owners, speakers, and faculty about southern agriculture. The itinerary focuses on plantations, and the notes and clipping appear to emphasize a romantic view of the antebellum South and plantation culture. In the notes, Armstrong writes, "Negroes picking radishes in fields. Very picturesque. Negroes descendants freed slaves on same plantation sang spirituals for us on the porch. Lovely old-fashioned home." In the newsclipping, the writer describes, "In spite of the encroachments of modernity, unmistakable signs of the old south were everywhere evident- ... groups of negroes working in the fields, colorfully dressed in bright aprons with brilliant bandanas about their heads, white washed slave quarters, deserted rice fields...." Photographs contain images of African American agricultural laborers, Cypress Gardens, Magnolia Gardens, St. Helena Island, and plantations. Also contains a Penn School, St. Helena Island greeting card.

Biographical / historical:

Born March 9, 1916, Emeline K. Leinbach (Armstrong) was a white graduate of Duke University. She received a bachelor's degree from Duke in 1937. As an undergraduate, Leinbach was a member of the Glee Club, choir, and Pegram's Chemistry Club. In the spring of 1936, she participated in a student field research tour of Carolina's Lowcountry. She later received a Master of Nursing degree from Yale University. Emeline Leinbach Armstrong died in 2010 at the age of 93.

Duke sociology professor, Dr. Edgar T. Thompson, organized a sociological tour of the lowlands in South Carolina and North Carolina for March 26 through 29 of 1936. On the trip, the participants, consisting of faculty and students, discussed southern agriculture with speakers, toured plantations and gardens in South Carolina, and visited St. Helena Island. The group toured sites like Penn School; Magnolia Garden; Cypress Garden; Beech Hill, Newport, and Brewton plantations; and North Carolina State Normal School for Negroes at Fayetteville.

Acquisition information:
The Emeline K. Leinbach Armstrong papers were received by the Duke University Archives as a gift from Anne Armstrong Griffin in 2018.
Processing information:

Processed by April Blevins, July 2022

Accession described in this collection guide: UA2018-0053.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyright for official university records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Emeline K. Leinbach Armstrong papers, Duke University Archives, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.