Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

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 Samuel R. Williamson's Notebook on James B. Hunt's Senate Campaign #5448-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Samuel R. Williamson of Sewanee, Tenn., in December 2009 (Acc. 101223).

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: Kiley Orchard, May 2010

Encoded by: Kiley Orchard, May 2010

This collection was processed with support from Elizabeth Moore Ruffin.

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.

• Governors--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Helms, Jesse.
• Hunt, James B., 1937-
• North Carolina--Politics and government--1951-
• Political campaigns--North Carolina.
• Politicians--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Senatorial elections.
• Williamson, Samuel R.

James Baxter Hunt Jr. served as Democratic governor of North Carolina from 1977 to 1985 and from 1993 to 2001. In 1984, he ran as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate but lost to Republican incumbent Jesse Helms. The North Carolina Senate race was characterized as one of the most important in the country at the time, and was one of the most brutal and personal of Hunt's career. Samuel R. Williamson served as Hunt's unpaid campaign director for defense and foreign policy issues during the senatorial run.

Hunt graduated from North Carolina State College (now University) in Raleigh, N.C., in 1959 with a Bachelor's degree in agricultural education and again in 1962 with a Master's degree in agricultural economics. In 1964, he graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law. After his career as an elected official, Hunt practiced law with Womble Carlyle Sandridge and Rice, a law firm based in Winston-Salem, N.C., and was practicing as of 2010. Hunt and his wife Carolyn Joyce Leonard Hunt have four children: Rebecca, Rachel, Elizabeth, and James Baxter III.

The collection consists of one notebook kept in 1983-1984 by Samuel R. Williamson. The notebook includes lists of contacts; correspondence; drafts of speeches and letters; memoranda; press releases; schedules and agendas; notes; reports; and information regarding defense and foreign policy issues. Included in the notebook are letters from Robin H. Dorff, William J. Taylor Jr., Geitner Simmons, John Sylvester Jr., Stanley Hoffman, and others who advised Hunt on foreign affairs.