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Collection Number: 01804-z

Collection Title: B. L. Blackford Letters and Drawings, 1853-1868.

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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Size 5 items
Abstract B. L. (Benjamin Lewis) Blackford, who was white, worked for a time at an insurance company in Washington, D.C. The collection includes family correspondence of B. L. Blackford, his mother, and his brothers, Charles Minor and Launcelot Minor Blackford, including an 1853 letter from Charles Minor Blackford, a student at the University of Virginia, describing student life and including two diagrams of his room. There are also 4 cartoon drawings about the insurance industry by Blackford.
Creator Blackford, B. L. (Benjamin Lewis)
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Restrictions to Use
No usage restrictions.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the B. L. Blackford Letters and Drawings, #1804-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Mrs. Walter L. Reed of Washington, D.C., December 1950. An addition was received in July 2013 (Acc. 101827).
Additional Descriptive Resources
A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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Processed by: SHC Staff; Meaghan Alston and Nancy Kaiser, August 2021

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, May 2010

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Benjamin Lewis Blackford worked for a time at an insurance company in Washington, D.C. His brothers were Charles Minor Blackford (1833-1903) and Launcelot Minor Blackford (1837-1914).

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes family correspondence of B. L. Blackford, his mother, and his brothers, Charles Minor and Launcelot Minor Blackford, including an 1853 letter from Charles Minor Blackford, a student at the University of Virginia, describing student life and including two diagrams of his room. There are also 4 cartoon drawings by B.L. Blackfordabout the insurance industry.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse B. L. Blackford Letters and Drawings, 1853-1871.

Folder 1

Letters, 1853-1868 (original collection finding aid included)

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-1804/1

Drawings

Acquisitions information: Accession 101827

4 pen and ink cartoons by B.L. Blackford, Washington, January 20, 1871:

No. 1 "Squire Jones, of Jones Co. Georgia, having sold his cotton, sets off for County Court -- on the road he falls in with friendls Stranger (late Colonel, C.S.C.) who at once introduces himself, and the subject of life insurance"

No. 2 "Arrived at the village, he meets various acquaintances, who refer to the same subject -- among others, the General, Manager of the celebrated Nephews & Granddaughters Life Insurance Co. of N.Y."

No. 3 "A general desire to 'treat' him prevails among the Agents (Rev'd Howler excepted, who meanwhile 'works up a case' outside) -- The Colonel, and the Manager seem to be particularly assiduous.

No. 4 "A 'free fight' in the street having opportunely drawn off the others, The 'Manager' perfidiously locks them out and prosecutes his 'case' with so much vigor that the betrayed ones scowling through the window see the Medical Examiner of the N & G Co. make his examination -- (pulse reported as temporarily quickened by excitement) -- The application has been written up the money paid, and the 'Manager' quietly fills in the 'friends statement."

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