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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.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 6.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 4,300 items) |
| Abstract | Educator, educational historian, and child labor reformer Charles L. Coon taught in Lincoln County and Charlotte, N.C., and served as superintendent of schools in Salisbury, N.C., 1903; as superintendent of African American normal schools in North Carolina, 1904-1906; as chief clerk of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 1907; and as superintendent of schools in Wilson and Wilson County, N.C., 1907-1927. Correspondence and writings include material related to Coon's work as an educator and education reformer, including his efforts to improve education for African Americans, especially regarding funding and teacher training. Topics in education include curricula; the establishment of a school for the mentally handicapped; adoption of textbooks; teacher training, certification, and evaluation; farm life schools; legislation for mandatory school terms; professional ethics; school athletics; school financing; and Coon's work for the Bureau of Information of the Southern Education Board, the North Carolina Teachers Assembly, North Carolina African American normal schools, and the schools of Salisbury, N.C., and Wilson County, N.C. Also included are materials about child labor reform; social services; Coon's work with the North Carolina Child Labor Committee and the Wilson Welfare League; pacifism and peace movements; juvenile crime, especially as it relates to illiteracy; and the establishment of a tuberculosis hospital for African Americans. Prominent correspondents include Booker T. Washington, Charles Brantley Aycock, Clarence Poe, A. J. McKelway, and Claude Kitchin. Educational materials include collected articles on education; notes on the history of education; and subject files on various topics in education, information about North Carolina schools and teachers, and teaching and testing materials. In addition, there are documents pertaining to Coon's historical research, especially the educational history of North Carolina; materials regarding residents of Mecklenburg County, N.C., 1775-1874; and clipping files, chiefly related to education. |
| Creator | Coon, Charles L. (Charles Lee), 1868-1927. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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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.
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Biographical Information
Charles Lee Coon (1868-1927) was an educator, educational historian, and child labor reformer. Born 25 December 1868 near Lincolnton, N.C., Coon was the eldest of nine children of David A. Coon and Frances (Hovis) Coon. The family was of German ancestry and the name Coon was originally spelled Kuhn. Coon joined the Lutheran Church at age twelve and attended the neighborhood schools and Concordia College in Conover, N.C. He edited the Lincoln Democrat, 1895-1896, and was a journalist for the Charlotte Observer, 1896-1899. In the 1890s, he also taught school in Lincolnton, at Concordia College, and in Charlotte, N.C. While in Charlotte, he was engaged in historical research for Daniel A. Tomkin's History of Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte: From 1740 to 1903. Coon was married to Carrie Louise Sparger of Mount Airy, N.C., on 21 October 1903. They had three children: Frances Elizabeth, Mary Moore, and Charles Lee Coon.
Coon served as superintendent of schools in Salisbury 1899-1903, and in 1903 went to Knoxville, Tenn., to do publicity work for the Southern Education Board, editing 20 issues of Southern Education. From 1904 to 1906, he acted as superintendent of North Carolina African American normal schools, and during 1907 was chief clerk in the office of the North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction. In 1907, Coon moved to Wilson, N.C., and remained there as a public school administrator for the rest of his life, serving as superintendent of Wilson City Schools, 1907-1927, and as superintendent of Wilson County Schools, 1913-1927. He was president of the Wilson Welfare League in 1914; secretary of the North Carolina Child Labor Committee, 1906-1916, president of the North Carolina Teachers Assembly in 1911, and was a member of the editorial board of the North Carolina Historical Review, 1924-1927. He authored numerous newspaper and magazine articles, addresses, teachers' manuals, and was the editor of educational documents published as The Beginnings of Public Education in North Carolina, 1790-1840, and North Carolina Schools and Academies, 1790-1840. He received the LL. D. degree from the University of North Carolina in 1926 and was president-elect of the State Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina when he died on 23 December 1927.
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Scope and Content
The collection contains correspondence, writings, biographical materials, educational materials, historical research and related materials, and clippings.
Sample item:
Correspondence and writings include material about Coon's work as an educator and education reformer. Materials relate to Coon's efforts to improve education for African Americans, particularly regarding funding and teacher training. Topics in education include curricula; the establishment of a school for the mentally handicapped; adoption of textbooks; teacher training, certification, and evaluation; farm life schools; legislation for mandatory school terms; professional ethics; school athletics; school financing; and Coon's work for the Bureau of Information of the Southern Education Board, the North Carolina Teachers Assembly, North Carolina African American normal schools, and the schools of Salisbury, N.C., and Wilson County, N.C. Also included are materials about child labor reform; social services; Coon's work with the North Carolina Child Labor Committee and the Wilson Welfare League; pacifism and peace movements; juvenile crime, especially as it relates to illiteracy; and the establishment of a tuberculosis hospital for African Americans. Prominent correspondents include Booker T. Washington, Charles Brantley Aycock, Clarence Poe, A. J. McKelway, and Claude Kitchin. Also of note are letters and clippings related to Coon's controversial 1909 address, "Public Taxation and Negro Schools," given at the Twelfth Conference for Education in the South in Atlanta, Ga. Biographical information on Coon is also included as is a bibliography of Coon's writings, speeches, and addresses.
Educational materials include collected articles on education; notes on the history of education; information about North Carolina schools and teachers; book lists; and subject files on topics such as textbook adoption, anti-hookworm campaigns, and teachers' duties. Teaching and testing materials include sample lesson plans, copies of tests, outlines, Coon's suggestions for teaching various subjects, and other items used in the training of teachers. Scrapbooks are of clippings, images, and stories used by Coon as teaching tools.
Historical research and related materials collected by Coon in his research on North Carolina history include transcribed excerpts, copies of documents, and notes from Colonial Records, State Records, Laws of North Carolina, and various North Carolina newspapers on such topics as education, religion, Germans in North Carolina, slave codes, the establishment of North Carolina common schools, the Literary Fund, textbooks, institutes, and the administration of State Superintendent Calvin H. Wiley. Also included are documents created by residents of Mecklenburg County, N.C., probably collected while Coon was engaged in research for Daniel A. Tompkins's History of Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte: From 1740 to 1903.
Clippings are of newspaper articles concerning Coon's activities and interests, primarily regarding education, child labor reform, juvenile crime, and peace movements in North Carolina, including articles authored by him. There are also clippings of responses to addresses given by Coon, namely "The Need of a Constructive Educational Policy for North Carolina" and "Public Taxation and Negro Schools." Also included are a few scattered broadsides and pamphlets.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Correspondence, Writings, and Biographical Materials, 1903-1928.
Arrangement: chronological.
Correspondence is professional in nature and focuses primarily on Charles L. Coon's involvement in education and child labor reform. Interfiled with correspondence are writings on related topics. Prominent correspondents include Booker T. Washington, Charles Brantley Aycock, Clarence Poe, A. J. McKelway, and Claude Kitchin.
Topics in education include the education of African Americans, especially the betterment of North Carolina African American normal schools and the proposed racial division of school funds; curricula; the establishment of a school for the mentally handicapped; adoption of textbooks; teacher training, certification, and evaluation; farm life schools; legislation for mandatory school terms; professional ethics; school athletics; school financing; the history of education; courts and school support; statistical research on southern education; libraries; tests and measurements; college English; educational campaigns in Louisiana and Tennessee; Coon's connection with schools in Franklinton and Wilson, N.C., in the 1850s; adult illiteracy; and Wake Forrest summer school. Materials also reflect Coon's work as the superintendent of schools in Salisbury, N.C., 1899-1903; head of the Bureau of Information of the Southern Education Board in 1903; superintendent of North Carolina African American normal schools, 1904-1906; president of the North Carolina Teachers Assembly in 1911; and superintendent of Wilson city schools, 1907-1927, and of Wilson County schools, 1913-1927. Materials from 1909 relate to Coon's controversial address, "Public Taxation and Negro Schools," given at the Twelfth Conference for Education in the South in Atlanta, Ga.
Topics in child labor reform include Coon's activity in campaigns for state regulation, such as his work as secretary of the North Carolina Child Labor Committee, 1906-1916, associate member of the National Child Labor Committee, and his support of the bill to establish the Federal Children's Bureau. There are also related materials on working conditions in mills, especially in Reidsville, N.C., filed among 1911 materials.
Other topics discussed include public health, especially the founding and financing of the Negro Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Wilson, N.C., 1912-1917; pacifism and peace movements; historical research; juvenile crime, especially as it relates to illiteracy; racial prejudice; welfare work, especially with the Wilson Welfare League, of which Coon was president in 1914; Coon's wartime experience as chaplain for the United States Army; national defense; evolution; tax reform; and transportation.
The digitized indexes and bibliography referred to in Additional Descriptive Resources above can be used to locate materials in this and other series. For a more detailed folder list, refer to the original finding aid for this collection in Folder 1.
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Series 2. Educational Materials, 1896-1928.
Arrangement: By subject and material type.
Educational material includes collected articles on education; notes on the history of education; information about North Carolina schools and teachers; book lists; and subject files on topics such as textbook adoption, anti-hookworm campaigns, and teachers' duties. Teaching and testing materials include sample lesson plans, copies of tests, outlines, Charles L. Coon's suggestions for teaching various subjects, and other items used in the training of teachers. Scrapbooks are of clippings, images, and stories used by Coon as teaching tools.
Note that most of these files were removed from their original binders, with the original contents and arrangement preserved. The digitized indexes and bibliography referred to in Additional Descriptive Resources above can be used to locate materials in this and other series.
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Series 3. Historical research and other materials, 1775-1910s.
Arrangement: chronological.
Material collected by Charles L. Coon in his research on North Carolina history, including transcribed excerpts, copies of documents, and notes from Colonial Records, State Records, Laws of North Carolina, and various North Carolina newspapers on such topics as education, religion, Germans in North Carolina, slave codes, the establishment of North Carolina common schools, the Literary Fund, textbooks, institutes, and the administration of State Superintendent Calvin H. Wiley. Also included are manuscripts documents created by residents of Mecklenburg County, N.C., probably collected while Coon was engaged in research for Daniel A. Tompkins's History of Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte: From 1740 to 1903, and several volumes and photographs.
The digitized indexes and bibliography referred to in Additional Descriptive Resources above can be used to locate materials in this and other series. For a more detailed folder list, see the original finding aid in Folder 1 of this collection.
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Series 4. Clippings, 1841-1931.
Arrangement: chronological.
Clippings of newspaper articles concerning Charles L. Coon's activities and interests, primarily regarding education, child labor reform, juvenile crime, and peace movements in North Carolina, including articles authored by him. There are also clippings of responses to addresses given by Coon, chiefly "The Need of a Constructive Educational Policy for North Carolina" and "Public Taxation and Negro Schools." Also included are a few scattered broadsides and pamphlets and a bibliography of Coon's writings, many of which can be found chronologically filed in these clipping files. Note that there are also clippings in the Educational Materials series, in scrapbooks put together by Coon as instructional tools.
The digitized indexes and bibliography referred to in Additional Descriptive Resources above can be used to locate materials in this and other series.
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Items Separated
Processed by: SHC Staff and Jessica Sedgwick, August 2008
Encoded by: Jessica Sedgwick, August 2008
Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, October 2020
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