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.
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.
Size | 5.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1,000 items) |
Abstract | Harley Bascom Ferguson, of Waynesville, N.C., graduated from West Point in 1897 and served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers, retiring in 1939 as a major general. The collection includes papers pertaining to Ferguson's domestic and foreign military assignments, particularly to service in the China Relief Expedition, 1901; the raising of the U.S.S. "Maine" in Havana harbor, Cuba, 1910-1911; and flood control on the Mississippi River, 1932-1939. There also is information on his World War I service as a general of engineers in France and commander of the Newport News (Va.) port of embarkation, and his work with industrial mobilization in the office of Assistant Secretary of War Dwight Filley Davis, 1921-1927. |
Creator | Ferguson, Harley Bascom, b. 1875. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: SHC Staff
Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007
Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, June 2009; Dawne Howard Lucas, May 2021
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.
Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.
Back to TopThe 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.
Harley Bascom Ferguson (1875-1968), of Waynesville, N.C., graduated from West Point in 1897 and served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers. During his military service he was stationed in Cuba, 1898; the Phillippines, 1899; and as chief engineer of the China Relief Expedition, 1900, of the Boxer War. He was also district engineer in Montgomery, Ala., 1907-1909; the executive officer in charge of the U.S.S. "Maine" in Havana harbor, 1910-1911; and district engineer in Milwaukee, Wis., 1913-1916. During World War I, he served in France as brigadier general and chief engineer of the 2nd Army, and on his return commanded the Newport News (Va.) port of embarkation. He was district engineer in Pittsburg, Pa., in 1920. He was in charge of organization of industrial mobilization, working with the assitant secretary of war, Dwight F. Davis, and served as director of the Army Industrial College, 1921-1927. He also served as division engineer of Gulf Division, New Orleans, La., 1928; of the Ohio River Division, 1928-1930; and of the South Atlantic Division, Norfolk, Va., 1930-1932. From 1932 until his retirement as major general in 1939, he was division engineer of the Lower Mississippi River Division and president of the Mississippi River Commission, with headquarters in Vicksburg, Miss. He was a member of special engineering boards concerned with rivers and harbors, 1930-1932; the St. Lawrence Waterway, 1930-1931; Muscle Shoals; the Delaware River; the Lexington Dam; the mouth of the Columbia River; and the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Back to TopThe collection includes papers pertaining to Ferguson's military assignments in the United States Army Corps of Engineers, particularly to service in the China Relief Expediton, 1901; the raising of the U.S.S. "Maine" in Havana harbor, 1910- 1911; and flood control on the Mississippi River, 1932-1939. There also is information on his World War I service as a general of engineers in France and commander of the Newport News (Va.) port of embarkation, and his work with industrial mobilization in the office of Assistant Secretary of War Dwight Filley Davis, 1921-1927.
Back to TopThe papers closely parallel Ferguson's military and engineering career, and are concerned with his assignments and work, particularly full in relation to the China Relief Expedition, the raising of the U.S.S. "Maine," industrial mobilization, and Mississippi flood control work. There is no material on his service in Cuba and the Philippines during the Spanish-American War.
Folder 1a |
Original finding aid |
Folder 1 |
1892-1900 |
Folder 2 |
1901-1905 |
Folder 3 |
1906-1909 |
Folder 4-5
Folder 4Folder 5 |
1910 |
Folder 6-9
Folder 6Folder 7Folder 8Folder 9 |
1911 |
Folder 10-15
Folder 10Folder 11Folder 12Folder 13Folder 14Folder 15 |
1912 |
Folder 16 |
1913-1915 |
Folder 17 |
1916 |
Folder 18 |
1918-1919 |
Folder 19 |
1920-1922 |
Folder 20 |
1923-1926 |
Folder 21 |
1927 |
Folder 22 |
1928 |
Folder 23-24
Folder 23Folder 24 |
1929 |
Folder 25 |
1930 |
Folder 26-29
Folder 26Folder 27Folder 28Folder 29 |
1931 |
Folder 30-33
Folder 30Folder 31Folder 32Folder 33 |
1932 |
Folder 34-35
Folder 34Folder 35 |
1933 |
Folder 36-37
Folder 36Folder 37 |
1934 |
Folder 38-41
Folder 38Folder 39Folder 40Folder 41 |
1935 |
Folder 42-43
Folder 42Folder 43 |
1936 |
Folder 44-47
Folder 44Folder 45Folder 46Folder 47 |
1937 |
Folder 48-51
Folder 48Folder 49Folder 50Folder 51 |
1938 |
Folder 52-53
Folder 52Folder 53 |
1939, 1941 |
Folder 54-56
Folder 54Folder 55Folder 56 |
Undated |
Letters addressed to Dwight Filley Davis in reply to a letter he sent to businessmen in connection with industrial mobilization.
Folder 57-59
Folder 57Folder 58Folder 59 |
May-July 1923 |
Daily reports of work on raising the U.S.S. "Maine."
Folder 60-76
Folder 60Folder 61Folder 62Folder 63Folder 64Folder 65Folder 66Folder 67Folder 68Folder 69Folder 70Folder 71Folder 72Folder 73Folder 74Folder 75Folder 76 |
Reports 1-16, December 1910-February 1912 |
Chiefly records and reports primarily related to Ferguson's work on the China Relief Expedition, the raising of the U.S.S. "Maine," and Mississippi river flood control.
Oversize volume (SV-2970/12).
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