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Size | 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1,000 items) |
Abstract | Olive Matthews Stone was a sociologist involved in social welfare and race relations. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Carolina in 1939 and was later associated with the Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina. She was associate professor in the School of Social Welfare, University of California at Los Angeles, 1949-1964. Papers reflect Stone's interests in social welfare, race relations, southern farmers, the training of social workers, and her own family history. Included are materials pertaining to a study of various aspects of the lives of African Americans in Gee's Bend, Wilcox County, Ala.; observations on group relations and tensions in India, China, and Japan from a trip she took under the auspices of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1931-1932; anti-lynching efforts; and Stone's involvement in the Southern Committee for People's Rights (originally called the Southern League for People's Rights), the Southern Negro Youth Congress, and several biracial conferences on race relations, including the Institute of Race Relations held at Swarthmore College and the Shaw University conference, both in 1934. Prominent correspondents include Howard Kester, Joseph S. Gelders, George Stoney, Josephus Daniels, various officers of the American Friends Service Committee regarding the Institute of Race Relations, Katharine D. Lumpkin, Sam H. Franklin Jr. of the Delta Cooperative Farm; Virginia Durr; C. Vann Woodward; Clyde Johnson; and Arthur Raper. Also included are correspondence about other matters, financial and legal materials, writings, clippings, certificates, some nineteenth-century family items, genealogical materials, printed items, and photographs. |
Creator | Stone, Olive M. (Olive Matthews), 1897-1977. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: SHC staff, 1992 and Jessica Sedgwick, August 2008
Encoded by: Jessica Sedgwick, August 2008
This collection was orginally processed under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
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.
Sociologist Olive "Polly" Matthews Stone was born 13 January 1897 in Dadeville, Ala., the second of four children of Augusta "Gussie" Matthews and William Carson Stone. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Carolina in 1939 and was later associated with the Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina. She spent time observing group relations and tensions in India, China, and Japan for the Fellowship of Reconciliation 1931-1932. She was associate professor in the School of Social Welfare, University of California at Los Angeles, 1949-1964. Her work focused on social welfare, race relations, southern farmers, and the training of social workers. Stone was involved in radical politics and civil rights, especially in the 1930s. She advocated for the rights of farmers and sharecroppers, attended race relations conferences, helped establish the Southern Committee for People's Rights, was involved with the Southern Negro Youth Congress and the Southern Conference for Human Welfare, and worked with a Montgomery hospitality group for those involved in sharecroppers' union, peace, and civil rights work. She died 8 November 1977 in Santa Monica, Calif.
Professional Career
1918 | Received an A. B. in English from Huntingdon College (then Woman's College of Alabama), Montgomery, Ala. |
1927 | Assistant professor of Sociology and Social Work at Alabama College in Montevallo, Ala. |
1929 | Received an A. M. in Social Service Administration from University of Chicago |
1929 | Associate professor of Sociology and Social Work at Huntingdon College |
1934 | Visiting scholar, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., and Elmhirst Fellow, Institute for Research in the Social Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
1936 | Professor of social work, College of William and Mary and Richmond School of Social Work |
1939 | Received the Ph.D. in sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
1942 | Professor of sociology, Georgia State College for Women, Valdosta, Ga. |
1944 | Held various positions in the Federal Bureau of Family Services (later a department of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare) |
1949 | Associate professor, School of Social Welfare, University of California at Los Angeles |
1964 | Retired |
"Civil Rights in the South, a summary for 1934-1935," by Olive M. Stone, 1936 (see folder 27)
Papers reflect Olive M. Stone's interests in social welfare, race relations, southern farmers, the training of social workers, and her own family history. Included are materials pertaining to a study of various aspects of the lives of African Americans in Gee's Bend, Wilcox County, Ala.; observations on group relations and tensions in India, China, and Japan from a trip she took under the auspices of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1931-1932; anti-lynching efforts; opposition to the poll tax due to its negative impact on women voters; and Stone's involvement in the Southern Committee for People's Rights (originally called the Southern League for People's Rights), the Southern Negro Youth Congress, and several biracial conferences on race relations, including the Institute of Race Relations held at Swarthmore College, and the Shaw University conference, both in 1934. Prominent correspondents include Howard Kester, Joseph S. Gelders, George Stoney, Josephus Daniels, various officers of the American Friends Service Committee regarding the Institute of Race Relations, Katharine D. Lumpkin, Sam H. Franklin Jr. of the Delta Cooperative Farm; Virginia Durr; C. Vann Woodward; Clyde Johnson; and Arthur Raper. Also included are correspondence about other matters, financial and legal materials, writings, clippings, certificates, some nineteenth-century family items, genealogical materials, printed items, and photographs.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Correspondence is chiefly professional, documenting Olive M. Stone's involvement with various institutions and social organizations. Also included are some early letters between Stone's parents, and yearly Christmas letters from Stone to her friends.
Folder 2-4
Folder 2Folder 3Folder 4 |
1863-1909Correspondence is between Olive M. Stone's parents, Augusta Matthews (nicknamed "Gussie") and William Carson Stone. Also included is correspondence between Augusta and friends from Wesleyan Female College, Macon, Ga., where Augusta graduated in 1882. |
Folder 5 |
1915-1929Correspondence is mostly to Olive M. Stone from friends; a good deal of it pertains to Stone's and sister Bliss's trips to Europe. |
Folder 6-12
Folder 6Folder 7Folder 8Folder 9Folder 10Folder 11Folder 12 |
1934-1973Correspondence is chiefly professional in nature, except for yearly Christmas letters from Olive M. Stone to her friends. Topics discussed include Stone's research under the Tennessee Valley Authority on the Alabama Farmer in 1934; anti-lynching efforts; opposition to the poll tax due to its negative impact on women voters; Stone's involvement with the Southern Committee for People's Rights (originally the Southern League for People's Rights); two biracial, month-long conferences on race relations: the Institute of Race Relations held at Swarthmore College in July of 1934, and the Negro-White Conference at Shaw University in fall of 1934; and observations on group relations and tensions abroad, including a trip to the Soviet Union in 1931, and trips for the Fellowship of Reconciliation to India, China, and Japan in 1932 (note that further correspondence regarding this trip can be found in Series 3. Subject Files). Noted correspondents include: Mary Van Kleeck, director, Department of Industrial Studies, the Russell Sage Foundation; Charles S. Johnson, Fisk University; various officers of the American Friends Service Committee, regarding the Institute of Race Relations; Ralph J. Bunch; Howard Kester; Joseph S. Gelders; George Stoney; Josephus Daniels; Katharine D. Lumpkin; Sam H. Franklin Jr. of the Delta Cooperative Farm; Virginia Durr; C. Vann Woodward; Clyde Johnson; and Arthur Raper. Correspondence becomes increasingly personal following Stone's retirement in 1964. |
Folder 13-15
Folder 13Folder 14Folder 15 |
1974-1977Correspondence consists chiefly of letters to many of the above correspondents concerning activities in the 1930s and 1940s. Olive M. Stone asked their assistance in refreshing her memory for an oral history interview she had with the Southern Oral History Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1975. |
Folder 16 |
UndatedScattered undated correspondence; many letters contain poems. |
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Included are undated course outlines and reprints of Olive M. Stone's published articles.
Folder 31 |
Course outlines, undated |
Folder 32 |
"Agrarian Conflict in Alabama," abstract, ca. 1936 |
Folder 33 |
Not used |
Folder 34 |
"Present Position of the Negro Farm Population," 1936 |
Folder 35 |
"Problem Solving in Dalton," 1958 |
Folder 36 |
Other writings and reprints"What Can Social Case Work Contribute to the Social Sciences" (1950), "Landmark in Marriage and Family Counseling" (1951), "Destination Education: The Course Ahead in Social Work Education" (1954), "The Three Worlds of the Back Ward" (1961), "Cultural Uses of Religious Visions: A Case Study" (1962), "Posthospital Changes in Role Systems of Patients" (1968), "Frames of Reference for Professional Observation" (undated) |
Arrangement: by topic.
Subject files represent projects with which Olive M. Stone was involved and organizations for which she worked.
Folder 19-20
Folder 19Folder 20 |
Alabama Farmer Today, 1930A study outline for a project directed by Olive M. Stone at Huntingdon College. Includes analyses of folklife in the community. |
Folder 21 |
Federal Emergency Relief Administration, 1934A preliminary report on landlord-tenant relations and relief in Alabama |
Folder 22 |
Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1932Chiefly correspondence regarding Olive M. Stone's trips to India, China, and Japan in 1932, with scattered ephemera. |
Folder 23-24
Folder 23Folder 24 |
Gee's Bend, Ala., 1962, 1977Report, field notes, and other materials related to a study of folk life and cultural change in Gee's Bend, Ala., revisiting a study done by Olive M. Stone in 1943. |
Folder 25 |
Greeks in AlabamaNotes, correspondence, and pamphlets chiefly related to the Malbis Plantation of Daphne, Ala. |
Folder 26 |
"Human Problems in Acreage Reduction in the South"A report by Calvin B. Hoover, circa 1933 |
Folder 27-28
Folder 27Folder 28 |
Southern Committee for People's Rights, 1934-1937Correspondence, pamphlets, and other items related to the Southern Committee for People's Rights, including several issues of the "People's Rights Bulletin" (published by the committee), and a summary on the status of civil rights in the South, prepared by Olive M. Stone. |
Folder 29 |
Southern Conference for Human Welfare, 1938-1940Correspondence, pamphlets, and other related items. |
Folder 30 |
Southern Negro Youth Council, 1936-1939Correspondence, pamphlets, and other related items. |
Included is information about the life of Olive M. Stone, including her later involvement in advocacy for senior citizens; genealogical notes, forms from the Daughters of the American Revolution, ancestral charts, and correspondence about family history. Both the paternal side of Stone's family (the Stone, Cox, Rowan, Campbell, and Carson families) and the maternal side (the Matthews, Melson, Hall, Wingate, Wright, Wilmot, and Hamblin families) are covered.
Folder 1 |
Biographical and genealogical materials |
Folder 39 |
Genealogical materials: Paternal, 1920-1940, 1973 |
Folder 40 |
Genealogical materials: Maternal, 1933, 1935, 1940, 1969 |
Folder 43 |
Journal, 1897-1909A journal kept by Augusta Matthews Stone about Olive's first year. It contains a baby picture of Olive and a 1904 photograph of the four Stone children. |
Arrangement: chronological.
Material consists of land deeds and indentures from the area in and around Tallapoosa County, Ala., relating to the lands of Olive M. Stone's grandparents. Other deeds are for lands in Marion County, Ga. Some are oversize.
Folder 17 |
1838-1893 |
Oversize Paper Folder OP-4107/1 |
Oversize deeds |
Folder 18 |
Financial materials, 1853-1899Included are receipts, promissory notes, statements of account, and stock certificates. This material also pertains to Olive M. Stone's grandparents and parents. |
Image Folder P-4107/1 |
Olive Stone and family, 1890-1907 |
Image Folder P-4107/2 |
Olive Stone, 1913-1977 |
Image Folder P-4107/3 |
Olive Stone and friends, 1912-1919Included are Clyde Freeman, Brooke Sharpe, Bliss Stone, Helen Caldwell, Madame de Preville, Blanch and Julienne Monnard, and Helen Dobias. |
Image Folder P-4107/4 |
Olive Stone, friends, and family, 1920-1929Included are Genevieve Laval, Lewis Woodruff, Augusta Stone, Mary Ann Cox Stone Johnston, Freda Walker, Austin Riesen, Myrtle Brooke, Lorraine Pierson; also photos from scenes in Kentucky, Holland, and Scotland. |
Image Folder P-4107/5 |
Olive Stone and friends, 1930-1957Included are Bliss Stone and her husband Jim McManus, J. C. May, W. J. Matthews, Kathryn Froiseth, Yvonne Girou, Hilda McDowell, Web Powell, Alice Powell, and Don Howard. |
Image Folder P-4107/6 |
Olive Stone and friends, 1960-1969Included are Mabel Maccoby; Jim and Bliss McManus; Dee Cambier; Sarah Hodo; Sharon Willis; Agnes, Tim, and Camille Woodward; Karen, Brenda, and Louise Burton; Jack Stone; Marion Tucker; Tom Stone Jr.; and Arthur Emlen. |
Image Folder P-4107/7 |
Olive Stone and friends, 1970-1977Included are Mile, Angelo, and Bill Stone; Jack Stone; Bliss and Jim McManus; Helen Bisbee; Marjorie Blume; Bennie Blume; Bill Voss; Sarah Hodo; Freeda Walker; Mary Moore; Jack Wright; Gussie Lee Brannon; Sara Stone; Pauline MacClure; Marion Crory Ingersoll II; Barbara and Alexander Rothenberg; Jerry, Ruth, and Marion Ingersoll; and Lollie Felton. |
Newspaper clippings, magazine articles, greeting cards, invitations, passports, certificates, and other scattered items. Some are oversize.
Folder 37 |
Clippings, 1929-1975 |
Folder 41-42
Folder 41Folder 42 |
Other materials, 1879-1974Miscellaneous programs, printed and other materials from Wesleyan Female College, scattered personal correspondence, passports, and other printed material. Also included are a report of preliminary investigation of the arrest of Willie Joe Hart and Peavy Smith in Dadeville, Ala., in 1938, and a description of Ralph and Tommy Gray of Tallapoosa, "leaders of the first depression-born farm union with largely Negro membership in Alabama." |
Oversize Paper Folder OP-4107/2 |
Certificates and degrees |