Collection Number: 03617

Collection Title: Ben Dixon MacNeill Papers, 1937-1960

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 processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

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Size 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1400 items)
Abstract Author and journalist of Buxton on Hatteras, N.C. Papers of author and journalist Ben Dixon MacNeill, including correspondence, manuscript articles, clippings of articles by and about MacNeill, reviews of MacNeill's book "The Hatterasman," maps of coastal areas of North Carolina, and photographs of MacNeill and his family and of people and animals at Cape Hatteras. Most of the material relates in some way to Cape Hatteras or the Outer Banks. Correspondence includes letters from Alvah H. Ward, Herbert C. Bonner, George Ross, and others about Oregon Inlet; from Lindsay C. Warren and others about the establishment of a National Seashore at the Outer Banks; from Dudley W. Bagley about a book on Joseph Palmer Knapp and other matters; from governors William B. Umstead and Luther Hodges about appointments of MacNeill and others to state boards, including MacNeill's appointment to the North Carolina Cape Hatteras Seashore Commission; and from John F. Blair, publisher, and many others about MacNeill's book, "The Hatterasman."
Creator MacNeill, Ben Dixon, 1889-1960.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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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 Ben Dixon MacNeill papers #3617, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Dudley W. Bagley of Moyock, N.C., in 1963 and 1966.
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.
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Processed by: Suzanne Ruffing, March 1996

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

Updated by: Laura Hart, January 2022

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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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1899 Born in Laurinburg, Scotland County, N.C., son of Alexander Benjamin and Flora MacKinnon MacNeill

circa 1903 Attended Bingham School for Boys

circa 1907 Worked for Fayetteville Observer

circa 1910 Worked for Wilmington Morning Star

1919-1960 Worked for the Raleigh News and Observer

1937 Went to the Outer Banks as publicity director for the "Lost Colony"

1941-1945 Lt. Col., U.S. Army public information corps

1958 Won Mayflower Award for The Hatterasman

1960 Died at Buxton-on-Hatteras

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection consists of personal correspondence, 1953-1960, of Ben Dixon MacNeill when he lived at Buxton-on-Hatteras. Letters include congratulations on winning the Mayflower Award in 1958 and concern about MacNeill's illness in 1959. Correspondents include Governor William B. Umstead; Huntington Cairns of the National Gallery of Art; Governor Luther H. Hodges; Senator W. Kerr Scott; Dr. James W. Patton, director of the Southern Historical Collection; Senator Roman L. Hruska of Nebraska; and Sam Ragan of the Raleigh News and Observer.

Other items include published and unpublished manuscripts; clippings of his newspaper articles; letters and clippings about his pet raccoon Minnie; letters and clippings about the anniversary celebration of the first flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C.; information of the Oregon Inlet; and maps, photographs and certificates.

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Contents list

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Folder 1-37

Folder 1

Folder 2

Folder 3

Folder 4

Folder 5

Folder 6

Folder 7

Folder 8

Folder 9

Folder 10

Folder 11

Folder 12

Folder 13

Folder 14

Folder 15

Folder 16

Folder 17

Folder 18

Folder 19

Folder 20

Folder 21

Folder 22

Folder 23

Folder 24

Folder 25

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

Folder 29

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Folder 36

Folder 37

Correspondence, 1937-1960 and undated

Personal correspondence of Ben Dixon MacNeill, primarily dealing with Cape Hatteras and the Outer Banks.

Folder 38-41

Folder 38

Folder 39

Folder 40

Folder 41

Undated manuscripts

Folder 42

Oregon Inlet, 1951

Folder 43-44

Folder 43

Folder 44

Clippings on "Minnie the Coon"

Folder 45-47

Folder 45

Folder 46

Folder 47

Clippings of articles by MacNeill

Folder 48

Clippings of Confederate Reunion, 1951

Folder 49

Clippings of Kitty Hawk Anniversary, 1953

Folder 50

Clippings about MacNeill

Folder 51

Clippings of obituaries and estate of MacNeill

Reviews of The Hatterasman

Folder 52

Charts and maps

Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-3617/1a

Extra oversize papers

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3617/1b

Oversize papers

Image P-3617/1-49

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Photographs of MacNeill and family, Cape Hatteras, Buxton, Kitty Hawk, and of Minnie the Coon and other Cape Hatteras animals.

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