Julian Shakespeare Carr Papers, 1892-1923

Collection Number: 00141

Collection Title: Julian Shakespeare Carr Papers, 1892-1923

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.

Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size	6.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 500 items)
Abstract	The papers of white businessman and public figure Julian Shakespeare Carr (1845-1924) of Chapel Hill and Durham, N.C., document his financial interests in tobacco, textiles, and banking; affiliations with the Methodist Church, the Democratic Party in North Carolina, and organizations commemorating the Confederacy; and philanthropic support of institutions of higher education, particularly the University of North Carolina (UNC). Papers include letters, printed items, business records, legal documents, diaries, photographs, lessons for Sunday school, and addresses written and delivered by Carr. The rhetoric in many addresses reflects Carr’s positions on what he and his contemporaries called "the race problem." In keeping with white supremacy movements in North Carolina at the turn of the twentieth century, Carr defended the institution of slavery, claiming it had been beneficial to the enslaved, and argued for denying full citizenship rights to African Americans. Included are Carr's 1899 speech supporting an amendment to the North Carolina constitution that disenfranchised African Americans and his address at the 1913 dedication of the Confederate monument later known as "Silent Sam" on the UNC campus.
Creator	Carr, Julian Shakespeare.
Curatorial Unit	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language	English

Expand/collapse Information For Users

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 Julian Shakespeare Carr Papers #141, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information: Gift of Claiborn and Will Carr before 1940 and Joseph Julian Carr in 1992.

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.

Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: David Weber, January 1988

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Kathryn Michaelis, June 2010

Updated by: Laura Hart, December 2018

Expand/collapse Subject Headings

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.

Expand/collapse Related Collections

Mena F. Webb, Material Collected in the Course of Writing Jule Carr: General Without an Army (#4507).
Julian Shakespeare Carr Papers, 1880-1982, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Expand/collapse Biographical Information

1845	Born 12 October in Chapel Hill, N.C., to John Wesley Carr and Eliza Bullock Carr.
1862	Matriculated at the University of North Carolina (UNC).
1864	Enlisted in the Confederate States of America Army. Served with the 3rd North Carolina Cavalry, C.S.A.
1865	Present at Appomattox where Lee surrendered to Grant.
1865-1866	Enrolled at UNC.
1868-1870	Resided in Little Rock, Ark.
1870s	Returned to North Carolina and purchased interest in tobacco manufacturing with W.T. Blackwell and Company in Durham, N.C.
1873	Married Nannie Graham Parrish.
1883	Elected as a trustee at Trinity College, later Duke University.
1898	Sold his tobacco interests to the American Tobacco Company.
1900	Nominated for Vice President of the United States by North Carolina delegates at the Democratic National Convention.
1909	Purchased the Alberta Textile Mill in the town later named for him, Carrboro, N.C.
1913	Delivered dedication address at the "Unveiling of Confederate Monument" later known as "Silent Sam" on UNC's campus.
1924	Died on 29 April.

The following is the original biographical note compiled by staff in the Southern Historical Collection in 1988.

The third son of John Wesley and Eliza Bullock Carr, Julian Shakespeare Carr was born in Chapel Hill, N.C., on 12 October 1845. John Carr was a prosperous shopkeeper on Franklin Street, the main artery adjacent to the University of North Carolina. With a childhood spent near the University, among whose faculty his father was well-respected, it seemed natural that "Jule," as his father referred to him, should matriculate there in 1862.

In 1864, Julian Shakespeare Carr enlisted in the Confederate army, where he served with the Third North Carolina Cavalry. After witnessing the surrender at Appomattox, he returned to Chapel Hill, where he enrolled for the 1865-1866 term at UNC.

Carr spent 1868 to 1870 in Little Rock, Ark., where he had entered into business with an uncle. Returning to North Carolina, he received four thousand dollars from his father to purchase a one-third interest in the tobacco manufacturing firm of W. T. Blackwell and Company in Durham, N.C. Business boomed, primarily as a result of the pioneering advertising campaign that promoted the company's product under its trademark, Bull Durham, which soon became a household word. Carr bought out his partners, only to sell the business in 1898 to the American Tobacco Company. With this capital, Carr engaged in a wide range of business interests: banking, hosiery mills, the Durham-Roxboro Railroad, electric and telephone companies, and a Durham newspaper.

Successful in most of his endeavors, Carr was also said to have given away a fortune during his lifetime. To the Methodist church, the Confederate veterans, and the University of North Carolina, he was quite generous. A trustee of the University and of Greensboro College, he was also a benefactor of Davidson, Wake Forest, St. Mary's, Elon and Trinity colleges. As Commander of the United Confederate Veterans in North Carolina, Carr had the honorary rank of major general, and was often referred to as "General." An active Democrat, he supported the party financially and served as a delegate to its conventions, though he was never elected to office.

Carr married Nannie Graham Parrish in 1873. He died on 29 April 1924.

CHART I

Julian S. Carr - Nancy Graham (Parrish) Carr
Eliza Morehead (b. 1874) - Henry Corwin Flower
Henry C., Jr. (b. 189?)
Lallah Ruth (b. 1876) - William Foley Patton
Ruth (b. 1902) - Leonard C. Kline
L. Patton Kline
Nancy (b. 1907)
Julian S., Jr. (SEE CHART II)
Albert Marvin (SEE CHART II)
Claiborn McDowell (SEE CHART III)
Austin Henton (SEE CHART III)

CHART II

Julian S., Jr. (b. 1878) - Margaret Cannon
Nancy (Whitney)
J. Carr Dorman (?)
Mary Ann (b. 1913) - Paul Weldon Sander
Ann (English)
Frances (Dicks)
Margaret Leavings (b. 1903)
Junial S., III
Beauchamp Carr
Albert Marvin - Aurlia Fitzpatrick
Albert Marvin Jr. (b. 1914) - Mary Evelyn Quisenberry (b.1913)

CHART III

Claiborn McDowell (1884-1956) - Margaret Jordan Boylan
Claiborn M., Jr.
Rufus
Boylan
Austin Hinton - Laura Williamson Noell (later Mrs. R. H. Chapman)
Austin H., Jr.
Noell

Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The papers of white businessman and public figure Julian Shakespeare Carr (1845-1924) of Chapel Hill and Durham, N.C., document his financial interests in tobacco, textiles, and banking; affiliations with the Methodist Church, the Democratic Party in North Carolina, and organizations commemorating the Confederacy; and philanthropic support of institutions of higher education, particularly the University of North Carolina (UNC). Papers include letters, printed items, business records, legal documents, diaries, photographs, lessons for Sunday school, and addresses written and delivered by Carr. The rhetoric in many addresses reflects Carr’s positions on what he and his contemporaries called "the race problem." In keeping with white supremacy movements in North Carolina at the turn of the twentieth century, Carr defended the institution of slavery, claiming it had been beneficial to the enslaved, and argued for denying full citizenship rights to African Americans. Included are Carr's 1899 speech supporting an amendment to the North Carolina constitution that disenfranchised African Americans and his address at the 1913 dedication of the Confederate monument later known as "Silent Sam" on the UNC campus.

Contents list

Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

1. Correspondence and Other Papers, 1890-1923 and undated.
2. Sunday School Lessons and Addresses, 1896-1923 and undated.
2.1. Sunday School Lessons, 1896-1921 and undated.
2.2. Addresses, 1896-1923 and undated.
3. Volumes, 1907-1921.
4. Images, circa 1875-1917.

Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence and Other Papers, 1890-1923 and undated.

About 220 items.

Arrangement: chronological and by type.

Letters, telegrams, printed announcements, programs, and pamphlets, business and legal documents, maps, and newspaper clippings pertaining to Carr's business and personal affairs. The letters chiefly concern banking, farming, and family matters, but Carr's interests in the in the Civil War and the United Confederate Veterans and in the Methodist Church are also reflected.

Folder 1	1892-1898
Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-141/1	Extra-oversize papers, 1900-1907 and undated Two oversize maps and a poster for a Confederate Veterans' Fourth of July celebration at which Julian S. Carr is listed as a speaker.
Folder 2	1901-1907
Folder 3	1908-1911
Folder 4	1912-1923
Folder 5	Undated
Folder 6	Printed Maps
Folder 7	Printed Advertisements
Folder 8	Programs and Meeting Announcements
Folder 9	Lists
Folder 10-11 Folder 10 Folder 11	Clippings

Expand/collapse Series 2. Sunday School Lessons and Addresses, 1896-1923 and undated.

Typescript and manuscript lessons for Sunday school classes taught by Carr in Durham, N.C., and addresses delivered by Carr on various occasions, chiefly in North Carolina cities and towns.

Expand/collapse Subseries 2.1. Sunday School Lessons, 1896-1921 and undated.

About 125 items.

Lectures based on scripture and liturgy for adult Sunday school lessons taught by Carr at Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, South in Durham, N.C.

Arrangement: chronological.

Folder 12a	Sunday school lessons, 1896-1897
Folder 12b	Sunday school lessons, 1898
Folder 13a	Sunday school lessons, 1904-1905
Folder 13b	Sunday school lessons, 1906
Folder 13c	Sunday school lessons, 1907
Folder 14a	Sunday school lessons, 1908
Folder 14b	Sunday school lessons, 1909
Folder 15a	Sunday school lessons, 1911
Folder 15b	Sunday school lessons, 1912
Folder 16a	Sunday school lessons, January-March 1914
Folder 16b	Sunday school lessons, April-December 1914
Folder 17	Sunday school lessons, 1915-1921
Folder 18a	Sunday school lessons, undated
Folder 18b	Sunday school lessons, undated
Folder 19a	Sunday school lessons, undated
Folder 19b	Sunday school lessons, undated
Folder 20a	Sunday school lessons, undated
Folder 20b	Sunday school lessons, undated

Expand/collapse Subseries 2.2. Addresses, 1896-1923 and undated.

About 125 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Speeches written and delivered by Carr for various occasions, including dedications of Confederate monuments, meetings of Confederate veteran and commemoration groups such as chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, school commencements, and convocations such as University Day at the University of North Carolina. In his oratory, Carr often extolled what he viewed as the virtues of southern white women during the Civil War, the bravery of Confederate soldiers, the gallantry of Confederate generals especially Robert E. Lee, and the cause of states' rights. In addressing what contemporaries called "the race problem" or "the Negro problem," Carr's rhetoric reflected the era's white supremacy movements in North Carolina. For example, he argued for the disenfranchisement of African Americans.

Folder 21	Addresses, 1896-1899 In one 1898 address given in Concord, N.C., at the laying of a cornerstone, Carr opined about the "future of the negro." "If we can but succeed in weaning the negro from believing that Politics is there [sic] calling ... and turn the bent of his mind into the development of manufacturing industries, what will the end be? Whereas, if the negro is to continue to make Politics his chief aim and object, there can be but one ending....I need not tell the most intelligent of you, that whatever of opportunities have come to you, except a few high schools established by Northern people, have come through the voluntary taxation of the 200,000 white tax payers of the State." In another address [1899], Carr advocated under "the banner of white supremacy" for an amendment to the North Carolina constitution that established a literacy test to disenfranchise African Americans. "The Amendment proposes to eliminate the vote of the ignorant negro and thereby increase the dignity and power of the white man's ballot."
Folder 22	Addresses, 1900-1902 Contains several addresses delivered at dedications of Confederate monuments erected in North Carolina cities and towns including Shelby, Mount Airy, and Morganton.
Folder 23	Addresses, 1903-1905 Includes a 1903 address to a carpenters' union in Durham, N.C. Carr praised the organization, but warned them: "When the counsel of the wise, and the conservative of your organization are set at nought, and the vicious and the reckless rule, then you invite troubles upon your own heads."
Folder 24	Addresses, 1906-1908 Includes a 12 October 1906 address delivered at the University Day convocation at the University of North Carolina.
Folder 25	Addresses, 1909-1911 Includes an April 1910 address Carr delivered at the "Colored Presbytery" in Durham, N.C. In it, Carr claimed to be "the constant friend of the colored man" while defending slavery, which he called a "Divine institution." He praised the efforts of African American educator James E. Shepard of Durham, N.C., Shepard's Chautauqua for preachers, and Durham's "good colored people," pointing to the black-owned North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company in Durham as an example of their success. Carr also mentioned the work of Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee Institute in this address.
Folder 26	Addresses, 1912-1914 Includes an address titled "Unveiling of Confederate Monument at University," that Carr delivered on 2 June 1913 at the dedication of the monument later known as "Silent Sam" on the University of North Carolina campus. Carr discussed the motives and morale of Confederate soldiers; the devotion and sacrifices of women on the Confederate home front; military service by students and North Carolinians; and the protection of the "Anglo Saxon race" during Reconstruction. Carr also described whipping a "negro wench" in front of federal soldiers in Chapel Hill shortly after he returned from Appomattox because the woman had publicly insulted a "Southern lady."
Folder 27	Addresses, 1915-1918 Includes a 1916 address delivered in Lexington, Va., at an event celebrating Jefferson Davis's birthday. In the speech, Carr venerated the Confederate cause and defended the institution of slavery. "The South was not responsible for African slavery in this hemispher [sic] and slavery at the South was the gentlest and the most beneficent servitude mankind has ever known."
Folder 28	Addresses, 1919-1922 Includes a 1919 address to the Methodist Centenary in Columbus, Ohio in which Carr defended the reputation of the South in response to those in the North who held Uncle Tom's Cabin as their "Prayer Book" and claimed that "no where on earth do two races dwell together in more harmony."
Folder 29	Addresses, 1923 Includes a 1923 address to the Confederate Veterans Association in New York in which Carr asserted that the conflict that started the Civil War was not slavery, but a different interpretation of the Constitution with regard to states' rights. "It is mendaciously vaunted that the South drew the sword solely to perpetuate African Slavery."
Folder 30a	Addresses, undated
Folder 30b	Addresses, undated In one address delivered in Alamance County, N.C. in circa 1900, Carr argued for the disenfranchisement of African Americans. "Show me the man of any party, who in cold blood, can vote for the continued domination of the negro race: who would continue North Carolina as the only spot on the globe in which a hundred thousand negroes can be used as a great political weight ... and used against every interest the white man holds dear." In another address [circa 1899], Carr discussed mob violence and lynching. "The Northern man reads the revolting story of the lynching, with its attendant ferocity which he doesn't know is born of devotion to womanhood and not love of blood." Speaking to an unidentified group of African Americans, Carr explained how their leadership would in his view end mob violence. "Frown upon any who would excuse the crime or give protection to the brute, and create a public sentiment that will compel all your race to follow your example. Is this more than you can do? Do you shrink from it? If so, you are not worthy to be teachers and leaders of your race....The negro preacher and teacher who sits still and says nothing when an outrage is committed by a brute of his race, but comes out in strong denunciation when a mob has lynched the offender, is a moral coward who is an enemy to the uplifting of his race, and the moral elevation of his country."
Folder 31a	Addresses, undated
Folder 31b	Addresses, undated
Folder 32a	Addresses, undated
Folder 32b	Addresses, undated
Folder 33a	Addresses, undated
Folder 33b	Addresses, undated
Folder 34a	Addresses, undated
Folder 34b	Addresses, undated
Folder 35a	Addresses, undated
Folder 35b	Addresses, undated
Folder 36a	Addresses, undated
Folder 36b	Addresses, undated
Folder 37a	Addresses, undated
Folder 37b	Addresses, undated
Folder 38a	Addresses, undated
Folder 38b	Addresses, undated
Folder 39a	Addresses, undated
Folder 39b	Addresses, undated
Folder 40a	Addresses, undated
Folder 40b	Addresses, undated
Folder 41a	Addresses, undated
Folder 41b	Addresses, undated
Folder 41c	Addresses, undated
Folder 41d	Addresses, undated

Expand/collapse Series 3. Volumes, 1907-1921.

Seven personal diaries and five letterbooks briefly documenting Carr's personal life, chiefly his travels and personal associations; Carr's daughter Eliza's wedding album, 1895; and a Carr family history by Joseph Julian Carr, 1991.

Folder 42	Volume 1a. Diary, 1907
Folder 43	Volume 1b. Diary, 1911
Folder 44	Volume 1c. Diary, 1912
Folder 45	Volume 1d. Diary, 1913
Folder 46a	Volume 2. Diary, 1914
Folder 46b	Volume 2. Diary, 1914 (enclosures)
Folder 47	Volume 3a. Diary, 1916
Folder 48	Volume 3b. Diary, 1917
Folder 49	Volume 4. Letterbook, January-May 1919
Folder 50	Volume 5. Letterbook, May-October 1919
Folder 51	Volume 6. Letterbook, October 1919-May 1920
Folder 52	Volume 7. Letterbook, May 1920-June 1921
Folder 53	Volume 8. Letterbook, June 1921-October 1922
Folder 54	Volume 9. Wedding Album, 18 December 1895
Folder 55	Volume 10. "The Carr Family of Loudoun County, Virginia" by Joseph Julian Carr, 1991.

Expand/collapse Series 4. Images, circa 1875-1917.

Image Folder PF-141/1

Photographs

Julian Shakespeare Carr, circa 1875. Carte-de-visite. Photographer: W. Shelburn, Durham, N.C. Subject's cheeks have been hand-tinted.
Julian Shakespeare Carr, circa 1890. Cabinet card. Photographer: Fredericks, New York, N.Y.
Julian Shakespeare Carr, circa 1910.
F. R. Mitchell, December 1897. Cabinet card. Photographer: Jordan, New Bedford, Mass.
Lois Kimsey Marshall and Ellen Axson Wilson, wives of vice-president Thomas Marshall and president Woodrow Wilson, circa 1912.
Woman identified only as "Walton," 1917.
Three unidentified little girls, circa 1912.
Unidentified girl and baby, 1909. Photographer: Miss Reineke, Kansas City.
Unidentified domestic bird coop, circa 1900. Inscription: "This is the bird I am keeping for you--General."

Expand/collapse Items Separated

Pictures (PF-141/1)
Extra-oversize paper folder (XOPF-141/1)

Navigate this page

Search Within This Page

Collection Number: 00141 Collection Title: Julian Shakespeare Carr Papers, 1892-1923