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 Milton Carothers papers #5341, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from the Presbyterian Historical Society of Montreat, N.C., in 2007 (Acc. 100703).

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: Joyce Chapman, October 2007

Encoded by: Joyce Chapman, October 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.

• Carothers family.
• Carothers, Milton Stover.
• Chapel Hill (N.C.)--History.
• Chapel Hill (N.C.)--Religious life and customs.
• Clergy--Florida--History--20th century.
• Clergy--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Clergy--Virginia--History--20th century.
• Covington (Va.)--History.
• Covington (Va.)--Religious life and customs.
• Family--Florida--Social life and customs.
• Florida State University--Religion.
• Florida State University--Students.
• Florida--Religion.
• North Carolina--Religion.
• Poor People's Campaign.
• Presbyterian Church--Clergy.
• Presbyterian Church--Florida--History--20th century.
• Presbyterian Church--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Presbyterian Church--Sermons.
• Presbyterian Church--Virginia--History--20th century.
• Presbyterians--Florida.
• Presbyterians--North Carolina.
• Presbyterians--Virginia.
• Sermons.
• Sigma Chi (Florida State University)
• Southern States--Race relations--History--20th century.
• Tallahassee (Fla.)--Social life and customs.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--Religion.
• Virginia--Religion.

Milton Stover Carothers (1932-2004) of Tallahassee, Fla., was a progressive southern Presbyterian minister who worked for significant periods of time in Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. He graduated from Florida State University, where he was president of the student body, and was subsequently elected permanent class president of the Class of 1954. He received his master’s of divinity at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. Over the course of his life, Carothers held pastorates in Salisbury, N.C., 1958-1963, and Covington, Va., 1963-1969; he was also a University Chaplain at Duke University and University Minister at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Eventually, he returned to Florida, where he served as Presbyterian campus minister at Florida State University for 17 years.

Milton Carothers was married to Sally Carothers, with whom he had two children, Milton Washington Carothers and Sarah Jane Carothers. Later, Carothers divorced Sally Carothers and married Mary Lou Carothers, whose son and daughter, James Higginbotham and Lea Carothers Crusberg, became his step-children.

The collection contains copies of sermons preached by Presbyterian minister Milton Stover Carothers of Tallahassee, Fla., the bulk of which are from the First Presbyterian Church of Covington, Va., 1964-1969; a speech Carothers made to the Covington Council on Human Relations regarding racial injustice; and materials related to Martin Luther King's Poor People's Campaign and the Presbyterian Church's official response to it. Also included are Carothers's weekly preaching schedules, 1958-1965; surveys about sermons preached, 1958-1961; official mailings to congregation members; correspondence with church groups; subject files on church-related topics; publications; newspaper clippings relating to the church and to members of Carothers's family; personal correspondence; Carothers's resume and his call from the Synod of North Carolina; materials relating to the Florida State University Alumni Association, where Carothers sat on the board of directors and served as the permanent president of the Class of 1954; clippings and publications from Carothers's college fraternity, Sigma Chi, 1950s; several 1970 issues of the Florida State University student newspaper relating to student elections and Florida State University Black Student Union grievances; and other items.