The Southgate-Jones family papers, 1794-1990s (bulk 1912-1933), are largely comprised of both business and personal correspondence, but also include printed material; photographs; genealogical information; business records in the form of volumes, reports, and minutes of meetings; clippings; and legal and financial papers. Several generations of Southgate and Jones family members are represented, including James Southgate, James H. Southgate, Mattie Logan Southgate Jones and James Southgate ("South") Jones. These individuals were involved in business, educational, political, civic, social and cultural activities in Durham and North Carolina during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Areas include insurance, real estate and tobacco businesses, banking, the administration of Trinity College, the women's suffrage movement, the Durham Civic Association, and Durham Masonic Lodge No. 352. The collection is useful for studying the history of Durham and North Carolina, the regional application of national policy toward farmers during the 1920s and 1930s, and the family history of prominent citizens.
The Southeast Women's Employment Coalition Records (SWEC) span the period 1868 to 1991 with the bulk dating from 1981 to 1990. The multiracial, regional organization was founded chiefly to expand employment opportunities for women in the rural South. Correspondence, financial records, reports, printed material, personnel files, photographs, audiovisual material, writings, meeting minutes, and conference papers comprise the majority of the collection. Well documented are the Southeast Women's Employment Coalition's efforts: to provide leadership training for women; to encourage women to apply for nontraditional jobs, for example through its Women's Opportunity in Road Construction (WORC) Project; to promote women's employment in the tourism industry; to evaluate economic, social and political trends affecting women in the South such as child care, comparable worth, and nontraditional jobs for women; and to establish ties with other organizations seeking to improve women's economic status. Administrative concerns relating to the Southeast Women's Employment Coalition, including personnel, financial, and organizational issues are also well described. Represented extensively are their efforts to raise money from private foundations and businesses. Organizations highlighted in the collection include Public Affairs Research and Communications, Inc. and the Women's Technical Assistance Project. In general, information concerning these topics and organizations is scattered throughout the collection.
This collection (20,700 items, 35.5 linear feet, 1937-1984, bulk 1970-1984) includes office files and correspondence, and records from various organizations, such as the Young Social Democrats and the Youth Institute for Peace in the Middle East. Of note are some materials on prominent socialists, including Eugene Debs, Norman Thomas, and Carl Gershman. There are also important periodicals and special publications from 1937-1968 documenting American labor history, the Jim Crow Era, and civil rights issues in the 1960s. (96-104)