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The Charles S. Sydnor Papers roughly span the period 1729-1978, the bulk dated 1923 to 1954. They include correspondence, research notes, writings, printed materials, and clippings, chiefly relating to Sydnor's teaching career at Duke University, as well as at Harvard and Queen's College, Oxford. The collection also includes information about his involvement with various historical associations and committees, including the American Historical Association, Southern Historical Association, North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, and the Advisory Committee of the Office of the Chief of Military History for the United States Army. There is background information pertaining to his various writings, including The Development of Southern Sectionalism (Volume V of the work A History of the South) (Baton Rouge, La., 1948), Gentleman Freeholders: Political Practices in Washington's Virginia (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1952), A Gentleman of the Old Natchez Region: Benjamin L. C. Wailes (Durham, N.C., 1938), Mississippi History (New York, N.Y., 1930), and Slavery in Mississippi (New York, N.Y., 1933). The papers contain notes and examinations for various history courses taught by Sydnor, student roll books, grade books, and papers. Additionally, there are a few notebooks and papers of Sydnor's while he was a student.

The Walter Lee Sutton Papers span the period 1811 to 1947 with the bulk dating from 1883 to 1939. Three generations of the interrelated Anderson, Danforth, Sutton, and Wynn families are represented in the collection. While the collection primarily focuses on Sutton, many of the earlier papers relate to his wife's family, the Wynns and Danforths, her paternal and maternal relatives respectively.

The Stirewalt Family Papers, 1828-1993 (bulk 1850-1947), are comprised of the personal papers of individuals from four successive generations of the Stirewalt family. The correspondence, writings, diaries, legal/financial documents, photographs, and other miscellaneous papers found in this collection document the Stirewalt Family's personal lives and involvement in the Lutheran Church as ministers, educators and missionaries. The collection is divided into four primary series which reflect the individuals whose papers make up this collection: Jacob Stirewalt, Jerome Paul Stirewalt, Martin Luther Stirewalt, and Catherine A. Stirewalt. The arrangement of the collection is primarily chronological, following the lineage of the Stirewalt family. Subsections within each major series are determined by the type of materials found within the collection and are arranged either chronologically, as in the case of the Diaries and Correspondence Subseries, or alphabetically and thereunder chronologically, as in the case of the Writings Subseries.

The papers of Wendell Holmes Stephenson span the years 1820-1968, but the bulk of the materials date from 1922 to 1968. They consist of correspondence, writings and speeches, research and teaching material, and subject files. The collection primarily concerns Stephenson's career as a university professor, historian and author, and editor of historical journals. His field was Southern history but included American history, and his interests spanned the colonial period to the 20th century.

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.