Braxton Craven (1822-1882) served as an administrator and educator during the nineteenth century evolution of Trinity College (Randolph County, N.C.). Craven was Principal of Union Institute (1842-1851), President of Normal College (1851-1859), and President of Trinity College (1859-1863, 1866-1882). In addition, Craven actively participated in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the Order of the Masons in North Carolina. Collection includes correspondence, sermons and addresses, diaries, legal and financial papers, teaching materials, subject files, and photographs and portraits of Braxton Craven. Correspondents include John Wesley Alspaugh, Charles Force Deems, David Lowry Swain, David Settle Reid, Henry Toole Clark, and Calvin H. Wiley. Subjects include the Methodist Episcopal Church, college financial affairs, and the activities of the Trinity Guard, a unit of student-soldiers that Craven formed during the Civil War. English.

Correspondence, student and financial records, reports, and other materials relating to the administration and academic program of Trinity College (Randolph Co., N.C.) as well as its predecessors, Union Institute and Normal College. Of particular interest are Braxton Craven's reports to the Board of Trustees, as well as minutes and resolutions of the trustees of Normal College, the constitution of Union Institute (1839), and Craven's correspondence with elected officials in North Carolina as well as Methodist clergymen. Individuals figuring prominently within the correspondence include trustee John Wesley Alspaugh; Charles Force Deems, a Methodist minister; David Lowry Swain, President of the University of North Carolina; North Carolina Governors David Settle Reid and Henry Toole Clark; and educator, Calvin H. Wiley. Subjects within the correspondence include the Methodist Episcopal Church, college financial affairs, and the activities of the Trinity Guard, a unit of student-soldiers that Craven formed during the Civil War. Some letters describe conditions and public sentiment in and around Randolph County during the Civil War. Also included are Craven's sermons and addresses, lecture notes, and diaries, as well as photographs of Craven.

Included are account books accounts of student tuition, bible, book, boarding fees, paper, and ink purchases. Several volumes include the signatures of students. Roll books contain students' names, courses, attendance, assignments, and grades. One volume contains accounting of women and children, and their amounts of bacon, meal, beef, and salt, that was possibly recorded during the Civil War.