Restrictions to Access

This collection contains additional materials that are not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact Research and Instructional Service staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options for consulting these materials.

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 Blackwood Family Papers #4789, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from the estate of Mattie E. Blackwood in July 1978 (Acc. 95155).

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: Roslyn Holdzkom, with assistance from Melanie Bissette January 1996

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.

• Blackwood family.
• Blackwood, Mattie E., 1889-1977.
• Chapel Hill (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Craig family.
• Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• North Carolina State Normal and Industrial College--Students--History--20th century.
• Orange County (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Railroad engineers--North Carolina--History.
• Seaboard (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Soldiers--United States--Correspondence.
• Teachers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro--History.

The Blackwood family of Orange County, N.C., included Robert P. Blackwood, an engineer for the Southern Railway Company who married Alice M. Craig around 1896. The couple's children included Mattie E. (1889- 1977), Annie, Florence, Vernon, Samuel, and Carl. While the family home appears to have been in Chapel Hill, family members made frequent visits to friends and relatives in Hillsborough and Reidsville, including the Rev. D. Irvin Craig, who was clerk of the Synod of the North Carolina and Orange Presbytery.

Early letters largely relate to Craig family activities; there is no mention of the Civil War. In 1872, there is a subscription list in support of D. Irvin Craig's education at the D. Hughes Academy.

Around 1896, Alice M. Craig married Robert P. Blackwood. In the late 1890s, there are many letters from Alice, in Chapel Hill or other locations in Orange County, to Robert, traveling as an engineer with the Southern Railway Company. Also included during this period are a few letters from Robert to Alice or their children. These letters chiefly discuss family matters; there is little mention of Robert's work.

In the early 1900s, letters are chiefly to Robert and Alice's daughters Mattie and Alice, at school in Chapel Hill, from relatives and friends. Few letters mention school activities. Letters are occasionally addressed to Mattie, visiting her Craig relatives in Reidsville.

In 1911, there are several letters relating to Mattie's desire to attend the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial College (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), including several about financing her education and offering advise about entering the teaching profession. From 1913 to 1917, Mattie received letters at Bear Creek, where she lived while attending college, but none of these letters discuss her studies or student activities.

During World War I, there are a few non-substantive letters from brother Vernon, serving with the United States Navy. After the war, Mattie apparently began teaching in Seaboard, N.C., where she remained until 1929. Most letters to Mattie discuss family matters; some are from her sister Florence, who was employed by the Jefferson Standard Insurance Company in Greensboro. Several letters discuss brother Carl, who, according to his siblings, was having difficulty finding his niche in life. In 1929, letters show that Mattie returned to Chapel Hill, where she secured a teaching job at the Murphy School and gave music lessons. The last few letters, dated 1932, are from Carl, who had found a home in the United States Army.

• Images (IB-4789/1)