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 Holt McPherson Papers #4222, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Elsie McPherson of High Point, N.C., in February 1980 (Acc. 80025) and February 1981 (Acc. 81017), with a subsequent addition received from Maury York of Greenville, N.C., in May 2001 (Acc. 98925).

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.

Processed by: Noah Huffman, September 2007

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, September 2007

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.

• Civic leaders--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Daniels, Josephus, 1862-1948.
• Duke, James Buchanan, 1856-1925.
• Graham, Frank Porter, 1886-1972.
• High Point (N.C.)--History.
• High Point (N.C.)--Newspapers.
• High Point (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• High Point College.
• High Point enterprise.
• Journalists--Florida--History--20th century.
• Journalists--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• McPherson, Holt, 1906-
• Methodists--North Carolina.
• Newspaper editors--History--20th century.
• Pope, Liston, 1909-1974.
• Sarsfield, Dix R.
• Shelby (N.C.)--Newspapers.
• Triad United Methodist Home (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962). School of Journalism.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. School of Journalism.
• Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church (High Point, N.C.)

• Holt McPherson Interview (B-0008), in the Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Holt McPherson, editor of the High Point Enterprise, was born in High Point, N.C., on 1 December 1906. McPherson worked as a newspaper carrier in his youth and later graduated from the University of North Carolina with a degree in journalism in 1928. When he became editor of the High Point Enterprise in 1930 at age 24, McPherson was the youngest editor of a daily newspaper in North Carolina. He continued as editor of the Enterprise until 1937 when doctors recommended that he and his wife Elsie relocate to Florida to help her recover from chronic "rheumatic fever." In Florida, McPherson took a position in the editorial department at the Fort Lauderdale bureau of the Miami Herald. Four years later in 1941, the McPhersons returned to North Carolina where Holt became managing editor of the Shelby Daily Star. McPherson served as the Star's editor for eleven years until 1952 when he returned to High Point and resumed the editorship of the Enterprise, a position he held until his retirement in 1972. As one of the most prominent journalists in North Carolina, McPherson served in leadership positions in a number of professional organizations including the American Council on Education for Journalism (ACEJ), the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association (SNPA), and the North Carolina Press Association (NCPA).

In addition to his professional involvement, McPherson was also a civic leader. He served as chair of the Board of High Point College, president of the Journalism Foundation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and chair of the North Carolina Medical Care Commission. He was a national leader in the United Methodist Church, a member of Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church of High Point, and a board member of the Triad United Methodist Home in Winston-Salem, N.C. In 1969, McPherson donated some 2,000 books and other items to the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill forming the McPherson Journalism Collection, and in 1974 he contributed $1 million to the endowment of High Point College.

Holt McPherson died on 10 August 1979 at age 72.

The collection contains correspondence, subject files, text of speeches and editorials, and photographs of journalist and civic leader Holt McPherson of High Point, N.C. Correspondence with journalists, politicians, and community leaders document McPherson's professional career as editor of the High Point Enterprise, the Shelby Daily Star, and the Fort Lauderdale bureau of the Miami Herald, as well as his involvement in a variety of civic causes. In particular, materials document McPherson's involvement as an advisor and fundraiser for High Point College and for the Journalism Foundation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Other materials concern McPherson's efforts on behalf of religious causes and institutions such as the Triad United Methodist Home in Winston-Salem, N.C., the Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church of High Point, and the United Methodist Church in general. Important correpondents include Frank Porter Graham, Josephus Daniels, Liston Pope, Dix Sarsfield (correspondence relating to Buck Duke), and other newspaper editors and journalists.

• Photographs (P-4222/1-4)