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 Thomas Edward Ratcliffe papers #4525, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from the estate of Thomas Edward Ratcliffe in November 1988.

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: Lisa Tolbert, April 1989

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

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.

• Baird, James R.
• Banks and banking--New York (State)--New York--History--20th century.
• Europe--Description and travel.
• Hill, Ruth Dean White.
• Leisure--United States.
• Nash, Georgia Couch.
• National City Bank of New York.
• Ratcliffe, Thomas Edward, 1911-1988?
• Reference librarians--Illinois--History--20th century.
• Smith, Lucille.
• Stephens, Mary.
• United States--Race relations--20th century.
• University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign campus). Library.

1911 Born, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina

1929-1934 AB, American History, University of North Carolina

1933 Personnel Survey, TVA, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

1934-1939 Credit Investigator and Branch Department Head Personal Loan Department, National City Bank, New York City

1939-1940 University of Illinois, Urbana

1940-1941 Assistant Agricultural Librarian, University of Illinois, Urbana

1942-1946 U.S. Army - retired with stomach ulcer as major of field artillery

1946-1948 University of Illinois Library (Urbana), Assistant, Acquisitions Department

1949 BS in Library Science, MS

1949-1952 University of Illinois Library (Urbana), Undergraduate librarian

1952 Reference librarian and assistant professor of Library Science

1955 Associate professor

1965 Professor

1971 Retired to Winston-Salem, North Carolina

1988? Died (will was admitted to probate in September 1988)

(Source: Who's Who in Library Science, 1966)

This collection chiefly contains letters written by Thomas Ratcliffe to his friends and colleagues. Ratcliffe's letters compose diary-like accounts of his experiences: his life in New York City as a young man fresh from college life working at his first job; life as a World War II captain; traveling in Europe after the War; and a career as a University of Illinois reference librarian. The letters contain copious references to activities of leisure and amusement, including the theater, literature, television, movies, and cocktail parties enjoyed by Ratcliffe and his friends. Many of the letters reflect the racial attitudes of the post-war period.

Ratcliffe apparently retrieved his letters from each of his corespondents. He arranged the letters by correspondent, and this scheme has been maintained.

• Pictures (P-4525/1-16)