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Size | 2.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1000 items) |
Abstract | Adelaide Williams Totten was a leader in the garden club movement and served as organizer of the Chapel Hill Garden Club; president of the Garden Club of North Carolina, 1935-1937; and director of the South Atlantic District of the National Council of State Garden Clubs, 1942. She was also a certified flower show judge. Correspondence and other materials of Totten reflecting her interests and activities in gardening. Much correspondence is with members of garden clubs both in North Carolina and in other states, with garden club federation offcials, and with flower show judges and members of judging societies. Especially prominent among corrspondents are those representing the Garden Club of North Carolina, Inc., and the National Council of State Garden Clubs, Inc. Most letters relate to flower and garden research, garden club organization and structure, organizing and judging flower shows, and other garden and flower topics. Also included are papers and notes from classes Totten took at the University of North Carolina in the 1930s; clippings, 1930s-1970s, relating to garden clubs in North Carolina and other parts of the country and to the National Council of State Garden Clubs, Inc.; Totten's speeches and writings, 1930s-1970s, chiefly on gardening topics; and appointment, travel, and address books with largely nonsubstantive entries, 1918-1919 and 1934-1958. There are also two photographs of Totten and a few items relating to her husband, Henry Roland Totten (1892-1974), professor of botany at UNC. |
Creator | Totten, Adelaide, 1890-1974. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, November 1992
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Updated by: Dawne Howard Lucas, December 2021
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Adelaide Williams Totten, daughter of E. P. Williams, was born in 1890 in Stedman, N.C. In 1923, she married Henry Roland Totten (1892-1974), professor of botany at the University of North Carolina, 1913-1963, and army reserve officer, who served in France during World War I. Except for their brief stay at Camp Blanding, Fla., during World War II, the Tottens lived in Chapel Hill until they both died in 1974.
Addie Totten attended Flora McDonald College and also took courses at UNC. She was a leader in the garden club movement and served as organizer of the Chapel Hill Garden Club; president of the Garden Club of North Carolina, 1935-1937; and director of the South Atlantic District of the National Council of State Garden Clubs, 1942. She was also a certified flower show judge.
Back to TopCorrespondence and other materials of Totten reflecting her interests and activities in gardening. Much correspondence is with members of garden clubs both in North Carolina and in other states, with garden club federation offcials, and with flower show judges and members of judging societies. Especially prominent among corrspondents are those representing the Garden Club of North Carolina, Inc., and the National Council of State Garden Clubs, Inc. Most letters relate to flower and garden research, garden club organization and structure, organizing and judging flower shows, and other garden and flower topics. Also included are papers and notes from classes Totten took at the University of North Carolina in the 1930s; clippings, 1930s-1970s, relating to garden clubs in North Carolina and other parts of the country and to the National Council of State Garden Clubs, Inc.; Totten's speeches and writings, 1930s-1970s, chiefly on gardening topics; and appointment, travel, and address books with largely nonsubstantive entries, 1918-1919 and 1934-1958. There are also two photographs of Totten and a few items relating to her husband, Henry Roland Totten (1892-1974), professor of botany at UNC.
Back to TopArrangement: roughly chronological.
Correspondence of Adelaide Williams Totten reflecting her interests and activities in gardening. Much correspondence is with members of garden clubs both in North Carolina and in other states, with garden club federation officials, and with flower show judges and members of judging societies. Especially prominent among correspondents are those representing the Garden Club of North Carolina, Inc., and the National Council of State Garden Clubs, Inc. Most letters relate to flower and garden research, garden club organization and structure, organization and judging flower shows, and other garden and flower topics. There are also letters transmitting flower seeds and specimens, discussing lecture and meeting schedules, and containing inquiries about and responses to specific garden problems. Beginning with a 1952 letter in which the couple's activities from 1942 to 1952 were summarized, there are printed Christmas letters that offer an review the Tottens' activities each year through 1972.
Folder 1 |
1933-1939 |
Folder 2 |
1940-1946 |
Folder 3 |
1950-1953 |
Folder 4 |
1954-1953 |
Folder 5 |
1958 |
Folder 6 |
1959 |
Folder 7-8
Folder 7Folder 8 |
1960 |
Folder 9 |
1961 |
Folder 10 |
1962-1965 |
Folder 11 |
1966-1969 |
Folder 12 |
1970 |
Folder 13 |
1971-1973 |
Folder 14 |
Undated |
Books listing daily appointments, 1918-1919 and 1934-1958. Some of the books contain entries that discuss particular gardening or scheduling problems, but most simply list meetings. The 1958 travel book contains minimal entries from the Tottens' garden tour of the British Isles, and the address book is undated.
Box 4 |
Appointment, travel, and address books, 1918-1919 |
Image P-4122/1 |
Photograph of Adelaide Williams Totten, undated. |
Image P-4122/2 |
Photograph of Adelaide Williams Totten at a meeting of the Chapel Hill Garden Club, undated. |