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 Alice Spencer Kerr Papers, #2248, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from W. C. Kerr of Catonsville, Md., 1940.

Additional Descriptive Resources

A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.

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: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, May 2009

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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.

• Chapel Hill (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• College students--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Kerr, Alice Spencer, 1858-1879.
• Kerr, Lizzie.
• Peace College (Raleigh, N.C.)--Faculty--Social life and customs.
• Peace College (Raleigh, N.C.)--Students--Social life and customs.
• School notebooks--History--19th century.
• Spencer, Cornelia Phillips, 1825-1908.
• Teachers--North Carolina--Social life and customs--19th century.
• University of North Carolina (1793-1962)--Students--Social life and customs.
• Winston Academy (N.C.)--Faculty--Social life and customs.
• Women college students--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Women--North Carolina--Social life and customs.

Alice Spencer Kerr (1858-1879), a teacher, was the daughter of Washington Caruthers Kerr (1827-1885), state geologist and lecturer at the University of North Carolina. Alice Kerr was educated at the Peace Institute in Raleigh, N.C., and the University of North Carolina Normal School in Chapel Hill, N.C. She taught at the Winston Academy, 1877-1878, and at the Peace Institute, 1878.

The collection includes personal letters, chiefly 1876-1879, received by Alice Kerr from friends and relatives. Included are many letters written by Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825-1908) and June Spencer giving social news of Chapel Hill, N.C, and the University of North Carolina. There are also letters addressed to Lizzie Kerr, Alice's sister, particularly from family and friends in sympathy after Alice's death, but also from R. F. Smith in courtship, and from W. M. Wiley while in France. Also included are a manuscript magazine, "Banner of Peace," apparently compiled by students of the Peace Institute and a small account book, 1862-1863, recording laborers and wages paid.