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The papers of William Mahone span the period 1853 to 1895, with the bulk of the material dating from 1876 to 1892. The collection consists of copies of letters written by Mahone to others, incoming letters to Mahone, subject files on a variety of topics, clippings, and scrapbooks, but primarily focuses on Mahone's railroad and political interests. There is a great deal of overlap of topics between the different series in the collection; thus information concerning Mahone's political and railroad interests is repeated in the different series.

The Daniel C. Roper Papers, 1860-1958 (bulk 1933-1938), consist chiefly of professional and political correspondence, including telegrams and memoranda, but also include speeches, financial papers, clippings, invitations, legal papers, printed material, and pictures. The collection primarily documents Roper's term as Secretary of Commerce during the first administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In general the papers provide an inside look at this Democratic administration during the early depression years, as well as the relationships among business, government, and politics. In particular, Roper had close ties to people in the business community and was sympathetic to their concerns. In addition, the collection tracks the course of the New Deal in the Department of Commerce and the career of Roper not only as a United States government official in Roosevelt's cabinet but also as a progressive Democrat. However, there are some gaps in these professional files in that there is very little material pertaining to Roper's career prior to his appointment to the cabinet post. Also, files for 1931 are almost entirely missing, and cross-reference sheets in the collection prepared by Roper's staff appear to refer to a separate set of files missing from this collection. There is relatively little in the papers concerning Roper's personal life, except for financial papers.

The collection includes clippings, press releases, statistics, rosters, programs and press brochures/media guides about the volleyball team at Duke University. The material ranges in date from 1973-ongoing.

The papers of John Hobart Davis span the years 1832-1920, but the bulk of the collection is the Civil War correspondence, 1862-1865. Davis chiefly wrote the letters to his sister, Elisa E. Davis, with a few letters to other family members, such as his brother Frank. Private Davis was stationed at Camp Beaufort, Me. (1861, Dec. - 1862, Feb.); Ship Island, Miss. (1862, Mar. - 1863, Feb.); Fort Jackson, La. (1863, Feb. - Aug.); Pass Manchoc, La. (1863, Aug. -Sept.); Fort Stephens, La. (1863, Oct. - 1864, July); and Washington, D.C. (1864, Aug. - 1865, Apr.).

The collection chiefly documents DeLapp's long-term involvement with the North Carolina Republican Party at the state and local level. While correspondence comprises the bulk of the collection, there are also some legal and financial papers, writings and speeches, printed material, and clippings. Being Chair of the North Carolina Republican Party (1942-1950) and legal counsel to the party (1950-1964), provided DeLapp access to state party leaders, which is reflected by the correspondents that include J. E. Broyhill, Wilmer D. Mizell, William E. Cobb, and Jesse Helms.

The diaries of William James Carlton span the years 1862 to 1877; the biography dates to about 1964. There are transcripts of the diaries and a draft manuscript of a biography, A Portrait of William James Carlton, 1838-1902, by Frankie McKee Robins. The transcripts are slightly annotated. For the years from 1862 to November 1864 the diaries chronicle William James Carlton's participation in the United States Civil War. From 1864 to 1877, the diaries primarily describe family events and church-related activities. A December 1873 entry indicates that no diaries were kept for the years 1865 to 1872. The bulk of the biography describes the years from 1861 to 1862.

Primarily letters to Mann from his family and the family of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Correspondents include Sophia Hawthorne, Rose Hawthorne, Una Hawthorne, brother George Mann, mother Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, and Elizabeth Peabody. Topics include family activities and travels, especially comments on Mann's descriptions of San Francisco and the Sandwich Islands [now the Hawaiian Islands]; Nathaniel Hawthorne's death and burial; Abraham Lincoln's death and burial; and opinions about Civil War events, battles, and personalities. Includes a letter from Elizabeth Peabody (undated) describing her two visits to President Lincoln and mentioning General Hitchcock's opinions about Lincoln and the Civil War. In addition, there is a carte-de-visite of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Acquired as part of the Alfred and Elizabeth Brand Collection of Rare Books and Manuscripts.

The Williams Papers span the period 1836 to 1947 with the bulk dating from 1904 to 1942. The collection contains the following series: Diaries and Reminiscences; Correspondence; Subject Files; Legal Papers; Financial Papers; Writings and Speeches; Miscellaneous; Clippings; Printed Material; and Pictures. Correspondence comprises the majority of the collection and particularly focuses on Williams's professional career during the period from 1910 to 1925 when he was editor of the Tucson Citizen and the Boston Evening Transcript. While the collection documents aspects of Williams's personal and professional life from his college days through the early 1940s, the last twenty years of his life are not included. There is as well very little information about the Teapot Dome Affair in the correspondence, which occurred during the period covered by the collection.

The papers of John William Firor span the years 1860-1985, but the bulk of the papers falls between 1900 and the 1950s. Included are correspondence, articles, a diary, postcards, printed material, clippings, notes, and pictures. This collection primarily consists of his personal and family correspondence, although there are papers relating to his work as a university professor, author, and farmer.

Collection contains diaries, correspondence, reports, minutes, journals, articles, legal papers, pamphlets, obituaries, and other papers. Main interests center on the material reflecting Cannon's part in the presidential campaign of 1928; his activities in various state, national, world, and religious temperance associations, the General Conference and the Virginia quarterly conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and Methodist missionary enterprises. Other papers pertain to his leadership in the effort to unify the northern and southern branches of the Methodist Church. Correspondents include Harry F. Byrd, Carter Glass, Josephus Daniels, Cordell Hull, Herbert Hoover, Frank Knox, William G. McAdoo, H.L. Mencken, Collins Denny, Gerald P. Nye, Warren A. Candler, Charles Evans Hughes, John R. Mott, Edwin D. Mouzon, Claude A. Swanson, Woodrow Wilson, Charles C. Carlin, Charles Curtis, Walter F. George, Andrew Mellon, Robert F. Wagner, William Hodges Mann, and G.W. Ochs-Oakes.

The George Augustus Lofton Papers span the years 1874-1941, although the bulk of the material dates from 1875-1900. They consist of correspondence, writings and sermons, clippings, book reviews, and printed materials. The collection principally relates to Lofton's career as a Baptist minister serving churches in Dalton, Gal; Memphis, Tenn. (First Church); St. Louis, Mo. (Third Church); Talladega, Ala.; and Nashville, Tenn. (Central Church). The collection mostly contains handwritten sermons and sermon notes, and includes little family or personal material, although a few family letters are in the Correspondence Series. The Correspondence Series, however, primarily contains letters critiquing Lofton's works, Review of the Question and Bible Thoughts and Themes. The Writings and Speeches Series documents Lofton's intellectual growth throughout his career as author and minister. This series also contains Lofton's published text, Character Sketches (1890), and a manuscript draft of his autobiography titled, "My Family Garden." Lofton's sermons and sermon notes track both his spiritual development and writing skills throughout the years of his ministry. The sermon notes reveal his views on slavery, capital punishment, and foreign mission work. The Printed Materials Series includes published brochures and sermons written by Lofton and others, 1881-1914. The Miscellaneous Series contains an assortment of items from 1873-1940 including Lofton family photographs and other materials. Included are items pertaining to Baptist minister George Law Stewart and Dr. Adiel Sherwood.