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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
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.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 73.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 44,500 items) |
| Abstract | John McNeill Smith Jr. (1918-2011), a white attorney, state legislator, and teacher, practiced law in Greensboro, N.C. He was attorney for University of North Carolina students in the Speaker Ban case in 1963; co-counsel, 1958-1962, for Junius Irving Scales, a Communist Party member charged with advocating violent overthrow of the government; and negotiator during the 1960 lunch counter sit-in in Greensboro. Smith served as state representative and then senator, 1971-1978. After an unsuccessful campaign for the United States Senate in 1978, he continued to practice law and taught constitutional law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The papers, 1937-1999, of McNeill Smith document his career as a lawyer and as a North Carolina state legislator. Political papers, which make up the bulk of the collection, include materials relating to Smith's tenure in the North Carolina legislature, political campaigns, and other political activities. Many of these items relate to environmental legislation, education, and tax reform. Law firm materials include papers relating to Smith's activities in civil rights, the 1963 Speaker Ban Law case, and academic freedom and freedom of speech in general, but there are only a small number of items about his defense of Junius Irving Scales. There are also materials relating to Smith's participation in professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar Association, and the North Carolina Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and in civic and religious organizations, especially the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and the Methodist Church. Also included are writings; items relating to his helping Estonia in its legal preparations for self-governance after the break-up of the Soviet Union; World War II materials relating to Smith's service in the United States Navy as a bomb disposal officer; papers from Robeson County, N.C., schools and the University of North Carolina documenting school life and alumni activities; and personal papers, including family correspondence and financial materials. |
| Creator | Smith, McNeill. |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
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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Related Collections
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Biographical Information
John McNeill Smith Jr., a white attorney, state legislator, and teacher, was born in Rowland, Robeson County, N.C., on 9 April 1918. Smith was graduated from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1938 and received his law degree from Columbia University in 1941. After World War II service in the Navy as a bomb disposal officer in North Africa, the Middle East, China, Burma, and India, Smith returned to North Carolina to practice law in Greensboro with Smith, Moore, Smith, Schell, and Hunter, a firm that became one of the largest in the state.
Smith became known as an advocate of human rights and equal justice, frequently taking cases that other lawyers refused. In 1963, he was the attorney for University of North Carolina students in the Speaker Ban case. From 1958 to 1962, Smith was co-counsel for Junius Irving Scales, a Communist Party member who was charged with advocating the violent overthrow of the United States government. In 1960, Smith was the negotiator between black and white leaders during the lunch counter sit-in in Greensboro. He continued acting as a negotiator in the desegregation of hotels, motels, and sit-down restaurants.
In 1970, Smith was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives, and, in 1972, to the North Carolina Senate. From 1971 to 1978, he developed a reputation as a liberal lawmaker, supporting such issues as tax reform, education, energy, consumer issues, creation of a state Department of Transportation, tougher laws against drunk drivers, and consolidation of the University of North Carolina system. In 1978, Smith unsuccessfully ran for the United States Senate, losing in the Democratic primary. Smith built his campaign around defeating incumbent Jesse Helms. After his defeat, Smith returned to civil litigation and also taught constitutional law at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In 1989-1990, Smith was ranked as one of the nation's most influential lawyers by the National Law Journal for his work in establishing the North Carolina Civil Liberties Union. From 1992 to 1993, Smith traveled to Estonia to help the Soviet republic in its legal preparations to become self governing.
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Scope and Content
The papers, 1937-1999, of McNeill Smith, a white North Carolinian originally from Rowland, Robeson County, N.C., document his career as a lawyer and as a North Carolina state legislator. Political papers, which make up the bulk of the collection, include materials relating to Smith's tenure during the 1970s in the North Carolina House of Representatives and North Carolina Senate, political campaigns, and other political activities. Many of these items relate to environmental legislation, education, and tax reform. Law firm materials include papers relating to Smith's activities in civil rights, the 1963 Speaker Ban Law case at the University of North Carolina, and academic freedom and freedom of speech in general, but there are only a small number of items about his defense of Communist Party member Junius Irving Scales, 1958-1962. There are also materials relating to Smith's participation in professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar Association, and the North Carolina Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and in civic and religious organizations, especially the Greensboro, N.C., Chamber of Commerce and the Methodist Church. Also included are writings; items relating to his helping Estonia in its legal preparations for self-governance after the break-up of the Soviet Union; World War II materials relating to Smith's service in the United States Navy as a bomb disposal officer; papers from school and alumni activities; and personal papers.
The Addition of June 2017 consists of primary and secondary school materials, including publications from schools in Rowland, Robeson County, N.C.; college materials, including letters home from Chapel Hill to parents and friends; political campaign materials; printed materials, including legal filings of McNeill Smith with the U.S. Supreme Court; and personal and Smith family financial materials.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Political Papers, 1949-1999.
Materials relating to McNeill Smith's tenure as a North Carolina legislator make up the bulk of the collection. They include papers from Smith's time as a representative and as a senator in the North Carolina General Assembly. Other items include campaign material from his state campaigns and from his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for United States Senate in 1978 on a platform of opposition to Jesse Helms. Also included are papers relating to Smith's attempt at nomination to the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals judgeship, which Jesse Helms opposed. There are also materials relating to issues with which Smith was associated during his tenure in the North Carolina legislature, including education, energy, environmental issues, and tax reform.
Note that original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
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Subseries 1.1. North Carolina Legislature, 1970-1978.
Correspondence, subject files, and sound recordings relating to McNeill Smith tenure as North Carolina representative and senator. Subject files contain correspondence, notes, and other items. Researchers should be sure to check general files for materials related to specific subjects of interest.
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Subseries 1.2. Political Campaigns, 1967-1979.
Correspondence, research materials, speeches, and other items relating to McNeill Smith's political campaigns for the North Carolina General Assembly as both delegate and state sentor, for state attorney general, and for the United States Senate in 1978. Also included is material relating to Smith's nomination for the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals judgeship. For additional campaign speeches, see Series 4.
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Subseries 1.3. Political Activities, 1949-1999.
Materials relating to McNeill Smith's political activities apart from his tenure in the North Carolina General Assembly. Files contain correspondence, notes, research material, speeches, and other items. Of note are papers relating to the Committee on Constitutional Integrity, of which Smith was a member.
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Series 2. Legal Papers, 1941-1999.
Note that original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
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Subseries 2.1. Law Firm, 1941-1999.
General correspondence, papers relating to court cases, sound recordings from the Junius Irving Scales trial, and general files from McNeill Smith's law firms. See also Series 6.3.
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Subseries 2.2. Speaker Ban, 1966-1999.
Materials relating to McNeill Smith's activities as attorney for the students in the Speaker Ban case at the University of North Carolina in the 1960s that centered on the North Carolina state legislature's ban on Communist Party-affiliated speakers on state school campuses.
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Subseries 2.3. North Carolina Advisory Committee to the United States
Commission on Civil Rights, 1958-1999.
Material related to the North Carolina Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. McNeill Smith was chair of the committee. Materials include correspondence, notes, research materials, and other items that are arranged by the topics discussed by the committee: administration of justice, education, employment, housing, medical care, and voting. There are also files containing information about other committees, requests for and corrections to the committee's report, galley proofs, and general correspondence.
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Series 3. Professional Associations and Legal Activities, 1945-1946.
Note that original folder titles have been, for the most part, retained.
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Subseries 3.1. American Bar Association, 1945-1998.
Materials relating to McNeill Smith's participation in American Bar Association (ABA) activities, especially the Central and East European Law Initiative (CEELI), a public service project of the ABA designed to advance the rule of law in the world by supporting law reform processes in Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union. Through various programs, CEELI made available United States legal expertise and assistance to emerging democracies that were in the process of modifying or restructuring their laws or legal systems. Included are about twenty audiocassettes relating to Smith's work in Estonia (see also VT-4990/13).
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Subseries 3.2. North Carolina Bar Association, 1946-1999.
Materials relating to McNeill Smith's participation in the North Carolina Bar Association, especially its Committee on Constitutional Rights and Responsibilities (CCR+R).
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Subseries 3.3. Other Associations and Miscellaneous Legal Materials,
1946-1999.
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Series 4. Writings, 1960-1997 and
undated.
Speeches, book reviews, and other writings of McNeill Smith. Beginning in 1948, Smith delivered more than 400 speeches before civic, legal church, and student groups, mostly on the topics of constitutional issues, bills of rights, the role or rule of law, world law, environmental issues, and educational topics. Some of the speeches are available on audiocassette. See Series 7 for videotapes of speeches. Note that other series contain speeches that are directly related to materials within those series.
Note also that original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
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Series 5. Civic and Religious Organizations, 1947-1998 and undated.
Note that original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
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Subseries 5.1. Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, 1956-1997 and undated.
Materials relating to McNeill Smith's tenure as chair of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, including correspondence, speeches, notes, and research material. The bulk of the materials relate to the downtown improvement of Greensboro, N.C., also called the Central Business District, headed by the Total Development Committee. Also included are materials about urban renewal.
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Subseries 5.2. Churches, 1947-1998.
Papers of McNeill Smith regarding the Methodist Church, his involvement in the lay ministry, the North Carolina Council of Churches, the Association of Churches and Synagogues, Inc., and the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Note that materials in this series on the World Affairs and World Peace committees of the North Carolina Council of Churches closely relate to materials in Series 3.3 on the American Freedom Association and United World Federalists. See also Series 6.3.
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Subseries 5.3. Other Civic Organizations, 1958-1997.
Materials relating to McNeill Smith's activities with groups such as the Alternative Energy Corporation and the Southern Regional Council. Files contain correspondence, speeches, notes, and research materials.
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Series 6. Personal Papers, 1936-1999.
Note that original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
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Subseries 6.1. United States Navy Bomb Disposal Service, 1941-1999.
Materials relating to McNeill Smith's World War II service in the United States Navy as a bomb disposal officer in North Africa, the Middle East, China, Burma, and India. Papers include official correspondence and reports, personal correspondence, notebooks, photographs, and items relating to the North Carolina G.I. Democrats Chalfonte Resolutions. See also Series 6.3.
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Subseries 6.2. Schools, 1937-1999.
Papers of McNeill Smith relating to his time at the University of North Carolina and at the Columbia University School of Law, as well as materials from other colleges and universities with which Smith was associated. Papers include correspondence, notes for a law class taught by Smith, alumni material and gifts, speeches, and photographs. See also Series 6.3.
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Subseries 6.3. Family and Biographical Materials, 1936-1998.
Papers of McNeill Smith, including personal correspondence; financial papers; genealogical and biographical papers; and audiocassettes of interviews with Smith's mother, Roberta A. Smith (1894-1995). Labeled "personal" by Smith, the correspondence contains material related to all other series, most especially Series 2.1. Law Firm, about court cases and other legal matters; Series 5.2. Churches; Series 6.1. United States Navy; and Series 6.2. Schools.
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Series 7. Miscellaneous Audiovisual Materials, 1950s-1990s.
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Subseries 7.1. Sound Recordings, 1950s-1990s.
Audiocassettes, microcassettes, and open reel tapes of speeches, talks, interviews, telephone conversations of McNeill Smith and others. Sound recordings clearly related to material in other series may be found in those series. Recordings in this series are those for which the subject matter is not easily determined.
Audiocassette C-4990/1-52
C-4990/1C-4990/2C-4990/3C-4990/4C-4990/5C-4990/6C-4990/7C-4990/8C-4990/9C-4990/10C-4990/11C-4990/12C-4990/13C-4990/14C-4990/15C-4990/16C-4990/17C-4990/18C-4990/19C-4990/20C-4990/21C-4990/22C-4990/23C-4990/24C-4990/25C-4990/26C-4990/27C-4990/28C-4990/29C-4990/30C-4990/31C-4990/32C-4990/33C-4990/34C-4990/35C-4990/36C-4990/37C-4990/38C-4990/39C-4990/40C-4990/41C-4990/42C-4990/43C-4990/44C-4990/45C-4990/46C-4990/47C-4990/48C-4990/49C-4990/50C-4990/51C-4990/52 |
52 audiocassettes #04990, Subseries: "7.1. Sound Recordings, 1950s-1990s. " C-4990/1-52 |
Audiocassette C-4990/53-66
C-4990/53C-4990/54C-4990/55C-4990/56C-4990/57C-4990/58C-4990/59C-4990/60C-4990/61C-4990/62C-4990/63C-4990/64C-4990/65C-4990/66 |
14 microcassettes #04990, Subseries: "7.1. Sound Recordings, 1950s-1990s. " C-4990/53-66 |
Audiotape T-4990/1-34
T-4990/1T-4990/2T-4990/3T-4990/4T-4990/5T-4990/6T-4990/7T-4990/8T-4990/9T-4990/10T-4990/11T-4990/12T-4990/13T-4990/14T-4990/15T-4990/16T-4990/17T-4990/18T-4990/19T-4990/20T-4990/21T-4990/22T-4990/23T-4990/24T-4990/25T-4990/26T-4990/27T-4990/28T-4990/29T-4990/30T-4990/31T-4990/32T-4990/33T-4990/34 |
34 open-reel tapes #04990, Subseries: "7.1. Sound Recordings, 1950s-1990s. " T-4990/1-34 |
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Subseries 7.2. Videotapes, 1968-1997.
Videotapes of interviews with McNeill Smith and speeches by McNeill Smith.
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Series 8A. Papers, 1920s-1990s (Addition of June 2017).
Acquisition Information: Accession 103090
Processing Note: The acquisition was divided between this collection and #05800 Smith and Andrew Family Papers and subsequently arranged by format by Southern Historical Collection staff. Some printed ephemera relating to the University of North Carolina and North Carolina tourism and travel were removed and transferred to the North Carolina Collection. Any materials not kept by the North Carolina Collection have been returned to the donor.
The Addition of June 2017 consists of primary and secondary school materials, including publications from Rowland, Robeson County, N.C., schools; college materials, including letters home from Chapel Hill to parents and friends; political campaign materials; printed materials, including legal filings of McNeill Smith with the U.S. Supreme Court; and personal and Smith family financial materials.
Box 48-49
Box 48Box 49 |
School notebooks, publications #04990, Series: "8A. Papers, 1920s-1990s (Addition of June 2017). " Box 48-49The Tattler, Town Talk, Rowland High School. |
Box 50-52
Box 50Box 51Box 52 |
School materials #04990, Series: "8A. Papers, 1920s-1990s (Addition of June 2017). " Box 50-52College writings, quiz books, correspondence to parents and friends. |
| Box 53 |
Writings and other materials from state senate political campaigns, 1960s-1990s #04990, Series: "8A. Papers, 1920s-1990s (Addition of June 2017). " Box 53 |
| Box 54 |
Printed materials, 1970s #04990, Series: "8A. Papers, 1920s-1990s (Addition of June 2017). " Box 54Legal filings with the U.S. Supreme Court, newspaper clippings, Neptune: Independent News at the Law of the Sea Conference, Geneva |
| Box 55 |
Personal and Smith family financial materials, 1920s-1930s #04990, Series: "8A. Papers, 1920s-1990s (Addition of June 2017). " Box 55 |
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Items Separated
Processed by: James M. Roth, June 2001
Encoded by: James M. Roth, June 2001
Revisions by: Nancy Kaiser, Gillian McCuistion, and Biff Hollingsworth, November 2019
Finding aid updated for digitization by Kathryn Michaelis, July 2010
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
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