Mena Webb Papers, 1860-1987

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Summary

Creator:
Webb, Mena.
Abstract:

Mena Fuller Webb is a writer and creative writing teacher of Durham, N.C.

The collection includes chiefly correspondence, printed material, typescripts and proofs, and pictures collected or produced by Mena Webb in the course of writing Jule Carr: General without an Army (1987), a biography of Julian Shakespeare Carr (1845-1924), industrialist and philanthropist of Durham. Included are letters from members of the Carr family concerning recollections of Julian S. Carr, original letters from Carr to members of his family, photographs of Carr and of individuals and scenes associated with him, and the 1888 cornerstone box with contents from Carr's Durham home, Somerset Villa. Some items are photocopies with originals in private hands or at various repositories. The Addition of August 2002 contains transcripts of letters by Margaret Louise Cannon, a member of the Carr family, to her relatives in Concord, N.C., while she was on a trip to Europe in 1900. The Addition of January 2007 contains a scrapbook belonging to Lida M. Carr Flower, Julian Shakespeare Carr's daughter, containing genealogical materials pertaining to the Bickley, Borden, Carr, Norris, Parrish, and Ward families, as well as newspaper clippings pertaining to Lida Flower and her husband, banker Henry Corwin Flower, and excerpts of writings about Lida Flower by Mena Webb.

Extent:
350 items (2.0 linear feet)
Language:
English.
Library Catalog Link:
View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

Mena Fuller Webb is a writer and creative writing teacher of Durham, N.C.

Between 1975 and 1986, Mena Webb undertook the writing of a biography on Julian Shakespeare Carr (1845-1924). Carr, more than any other individual, was responsible for the striking growth experienced by the city of Durham in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the growth of his business, Bull Durham Smoking Tobacco.

Webb's work was inspired by her own childhood recollections of "General" Carr, as he was known to everyone in his day, with whose grandchildren she had played at the Carr mansion, Somerset Villa. A good deal of Webb's research involved personal recollections of her childhood friends, with whom she conducted an extensive correspondence, collecting letters, clippings,and artifacts, in addition to memories. Jule Carr: General without an Army was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1987.

Scope and content:

The collection includes chiefly correspondence, printed material, typescripts and proofs, and pictures collected or produced by Mena Webb in the course of writing Jule Carr: General without an Army (1987), a biography of Julian Shakespeare Carr (1845-1924), industrialist and philanthropist of Durham. Included are letters from members of the Carr family concerning recollections of Julian S. Carr, original letters from Carr to members of his family, photographs of Carr and of individuals and scenes associated with him, and the 1888 cornerstone box with contents from Carr's Durham, N.C., home, Somerset Villa. Some items are photocopies with originals in private hands or at various repositories. The Addition of August 2002 contains transcripts of letters by Margaret Louise Cannon, a member of the Carr family, to her relatives in Concord, N.C., while she was on a trip to Europe in 1900. The Addition of January 2007 contains a scrapbook belonging to Lida M. Carr Flower, Julian Shakespeare Carr's daughter, containing genealogical materials pertaining to the Bickley, Borden, Carr, Norris, Parrish, and Ward families, as well as newspaper clippings pertaining to Lida Flower and her husband, bankerHenry Corwin Flower, and excerpts of writings about Lida Flower by Mena Webb.

Acquisition information:

Received from Mena Webb of Durham, N.C., and Austin H. Carr of Winston-Salem, N.C., in November 1987. Addition of August 2002 (Acc. 99304) and addition of January 2007 (Acc. 100574) received from Mena Webb.

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.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to use:

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

No usage restrictions.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Mena Webb Papers #4507, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu