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Collection Number: 04100

Collection Title: John Alexander Livingstone Papers, 1927-1937.

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 processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

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Size 3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1500 items)
Abstract John Alexander Livingstone, lawyer, librarian and marshal of the North Carolina State Supreme Court, and long-time correspondent for the News and Observer of Raleigh, N.C. Correspondence, writings, and miscellaneous other papers of John Alexander Livingstone. Correspondence includes letters on political matters during Livingstone's tenure as the News and Observer's Washington correspondent, 1927-1930. Included are letters from Josephus Daniels, J. C. B. Ehringhaus, and George Francis Cochran
Creator Livingstone, John A. (John Alexander), 1885 or 6-1937.
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.
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 John Alexander Livingstone Papers #4100, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Anne Leach Turner of Raleigh, N.C., July-November 1976.
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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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Lee Dirks, March 1990; Revised by: Suzanne Ruffing, March 1996

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Laura Hart, May 2021

This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

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

John Alexander Livingstone (1885 or 1886-1937) was born in Anson County, North Carolina, son of Walter Woodberry and Lydia Vick Livingstone. He graduated from the Pee Dee Institute in Wadesboro, North Carolina, and Trinity College (Duke University), and studied at both the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the Raleigh School of Law. After teaching for several years, Livingstone took a position as associate editor of The Gaston Press (Gastonia, N.C.), then worked with The Wilmington Star (Wilmington, N.C.) as a reporter and city editor before moving to the News and Observer (Raleigh) in 1919.

Livingstone served as the News and Observer's special correspondent in Washington, D.C., from 1927 to 1930. Upon his return to Raleigh, Livingstone started a law practice and continued to serve as an editor and legal correspondent for the News and Observer In 1931, he was appointed librarian of the North Carolina Supreme Court, and in 1935 was named marshal of that court.

Livingstone was an enthusiastic Democrat and was active in both the Masons and the Shriners, among many other organizations and affiliations. He married Rosalie Preston Turner in 1935. Livingstone died unexpectedly in May 1937, victim of an attack of angina.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Correspondence, writings and miscellaneous papers of John A. Livingstone.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1927-1937.

About 1200 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Personal and professional correspondence of John Livingstone dating from his three-year stay (1927-1930) in Washington, D.C. as a correspondent for the Raleigh News and Observer, until his death in 1937, at which time he was serving as both librarian and marshal of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Correspondence for this decade is arranged in three subseries.

Folder 1-4

Folder 1

Folder 2

Folder 3

Folder 4

Washington Correspondent, 1927-1930

Largely letters from journalists and politicians during John Livingstone's time in Washington, D.C., as a special correspondent for the News and Observer. There are a number of letters from Josephus Daniels concerning various assignments and ideas for possible stories. A small number of personal letters and other non-professional correspondence is also included.

Folder 5-19

Folder 5

Folder 6

Folder 7

Folder 8

Folder 9

Folder 10

Folder 11

Folder 12

Folder 13

Folder 14

Folder 15

Folder 16

Folder 17

Folder 18

Folder 19

Lawyer, News Writer, and Supreme Court Librarian, 1930-1934

Chiefly correspondence concerning local and regional matters. Though he continued to write for the News and Observer, Livingstone resumed his practice of law, was associate editor of the Commercial Law Journal, and on November 15, 1920, was elected librarian of the N. C. Supreme Court.

Notable correspondence from this period includes letters from Josephus Daniels from Mexico, where he was ambassador, and interesting letters from George Francis Cochran, Livingstone's long-time newspaper colleague.

Folder 20-29

Folder 20

Folder 21

Folder 22

Folder 23

Folder 24

Folder 25

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

Folder 29

Marriage, Appointment as Marshal of Supreme Court, and Unexpected Death., 1935-1937 and undated

Mostly professional correspondence. Despite the fact that Livingstone married Rosalie Preston Turner on April 30, 1935, there is no correspondence between the two before or after the marriage. (Correspondence of Rosalie Preston Turner Livingstone --unrelated to this collection--is in the Turner Family Papers, 04548). Of note are several letters from North Carolina Governor John C. B. Ehringhaus, including one, May 29, 1935 in which the Governor described his Masonic affiliations in some detail.

Well documented is John Livingstone's untimely death on May 26, 1937. Numerous telegrams and letters of condolence to Mrs. Livingstone immediately following this event testify to the great number of close friends and associates Livingstone acquired during his lifetime.

Copies of letters from George Francis Cochran. The photocopies are filed chronologically.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Other Papers, 1932-1937.

About 300 items.

Writings by, and miscellaneous collected papers of, John A. Livingstone. The writings include numerous newspaper articles, law journal articles, book reviews, texts of radio addresses, and other public addresses. The collection of miscellaneous items includes materials relating to the many organizational affiliations and memberships Livingstone held, some financial records, papers from events attended, and a number of newspaper clippings following Livingstone's death in 1937.

Folder 30-65

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Folder 36

Folder 37

Folder 38

Folder 39

Folder 40

Folder 41

Folder 42

Folder 43

Folder 44

Folder 45

Folder 46

Folder 47

Folder 48

Folder 49

Folder 50

Folder 51

Folder 52

Folder 53

Folder 54

Folder 55

Folder 56

Folder 57

Folder 58

Folder 59

Folder 60

Folder 61

Folder 62

Folder 63

Folder 64

Folder 65

Various Writings, 1932-1937

Writings representing the broad spectrum of topics Livingstone was interested in and addressed during his career as both a lawyer and a newspaper writer. His articles and speeches range from very specific subjects in law, politics, and history to rather diverse biographies and book reviews in areas outside his fields of expertise. Some materials contained in this collection are Livingstone's original drafts or reading copies, while other examples are published versions.

  • "Administrative Law"
  • "The Anniversary of the Signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence"
  • "Risden Tyler Bennett"--22 November 1933
  • "Bonds"
  • "Senator Borah"
  • "Challenges Ahead of North Carolina"
  • "A Famous Commercial Lawyer"
  • "Frederick the Great, King of Prussia" (By Livingstone?)
  • "Free Discussion: Democracy's Hope"
  • "The Future of the National Recovery Act (NRA)" --25 November 1934
  • "History of St. John's Lodge, A.F. & A.M., Wilmington, NC"
  • "Mr. Justice Holmes, 8 March 1841"--6 March 1935
  • "Hoover"
  • "The Hope of Democracy"
  • "Implied Warranty in Sales of Foodstuffs"
  • "The Law and Its Ideals"
  • "The Making of a Nation"
  • "Masonry and Modern Society"
  • "Oaths"
  • "Pioneering in a New World"--Falcon High School Commencement, 22 May 1936
  • Book Review of Jean-Jacques Rousseauby Matthew Josephson
  • "Senator Furnifold Simmons"
  • "Sketch of Associate Justice Schenck of Supreme Court," 1936
  • "Some Challenges of Today"--5 July 1935
  • "The Supreme Court of North Carolina"
  • "Roger Brooke Taney--1777-1864"
  • "Today's Challenge"--30 April 1935
  • "Unemployment, Co-operation and Democacy"
  • "Stacey W. Wade"
  • "What Price Economy?"
  • "Why Join the American Legion?"--20 February 1935
  • "Why Join the Y.M.C.A.?"--24 September 1935
  • "The Women of the Confederacy"

Folder 66-73

Folder 66

Folder 67

Folder 68

Folder 69

Folder 70

Folder 71

Folder 72

Folder 73

Miscellaneous Items, 1919-1937

Materials including papers from a committee on which Livingstone served relating to justices of the peace in North Carolina; materials relating to the dedication of the North Carolina memorial at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1929; programs and other press items from presidential inaugurations in 1925 and 1929. Also included are scattered financial records and newspaper clippings after Livingstone's death on 26 May 1937. Livingstone's memberships and affiliations are also documented.

Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-4100/1

Extra oversize papers, circa 1930s and undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Pictures Undated, 1930s.

5 items.

Four photographs and one half-tone picture of John A. Livingstone, likely made to be used in publications.

Image Folder PF-4100/1

Pictures, circa 1930s and undated

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