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Size | 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 600 items) |
Abstract | Physics professor and activist Joseph Ward Straley (1914-2005) was born in Paulding, Ohio. Straley joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina in 1945; he retired from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1980. Straley was dedicated to a wide range of social justice issues, including desegregation, civil rights, freedom of speech, academic freedom, and injustice in Central America. He, along with the Reverend Charles Jones, helped start the racially integrated Community Church of Chapel Hill in 1953; served as chair of the Committee of Concerned Citizens, a group of Chapel Hill residents dedicated to civil rights, 1964-1965; was co-chair of the Orange County Energy Conservation Task Force, 1975; and was active in the Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America, 1987-2002. Straley was also an elected member of the Chapel Hill Town Council, 1980-1984. Straley and his wife Lucy had a daughter, Lesley, and two sons, Joseph Jr. and David. The collection includes essays, correspondence, pamphlets, newsletters, clippings, audiotapes, a videotape, photographs, Straley's FBI file, and other items relating to Straley's education, causes in which he was interested, and other topics. There are materials relating to the North Carolina Speaker Ban law, to which Straley was opposed; clippings of opinion and other pieces Straley wrote chiefly about Central America; materials on communism, including a 1949 letter to University of North Carolina Chancellor R. B. House from Straley about his not being a Communist; sermons by Charles Jones and materials relating to him and to the Community Church; materials relating to African American politician Howard Lee's unsuccessful 1976 North Carolina lieutenant governor bid; and notebooks from Straley's 1984-1985 trip to Central America that contain detailed information on meetings Straley had with local activists and other residents. |
Creator | Straley, Joseph W., 1914- |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
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.
Physics professor and activist Joseph Ward Straley was born 6 October 1914 in Paulding, Ohio. Upon earning his Ph.D. in physics from the Ohio State University in 1941, Straley taught briefly at the University of Toledo before joining the faculty of the University of North Carolina in 1945. He retired from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1980.
Straley was dedicated to a wide range of social justice issues, including desegregation, civil rights, freedom of speech, academic freedom, and injustice in Central America. He, along with the Reverend Charles Jones, helped start the racially integrated Community Church of Chapel Hill in 1953; served as chair of the Committee of Concerned Citizens, a group of Chapel Hill residents dedicated to civil rights, 1964-1965; was co-chair of the Orange County Energy Conservation Task Force, 1975; and was active in the Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America, 1987-2002. Straley was also an elected member of the Chapel Hill Town Council, 1980-1984.
Straley and his wife Lucy had a daughter, Lesley, and two sons, Joseph Jr. and David. Straley died in September 2005 at the age of 90.
Back to TopPapers of physics professor Joseph W. Straley, who taught at the University of North Carolina, 1945-1980, include essays, correspondence, pamphlets, newsletters, clippings, audiotapes, a videotape, photographs, Straley's FBI file, and other items relating to Straley's education, causes in which he was interested, and other topics. There are materials relating to the North Carolina Speaker Ban law, to which Straley was opposed; clippings of opinion and other pieces Straley wrote chiefly about Central America; materials on communism, including a 1949 letter to University of North Carolina Chancellor R. B. House from Straley about his not being a Communist; sermons by Charles Jones and materials relating to him and to the Community Church in Chapel Hill, N.C.; materials relating to African American politician Howard Lee's unsuccessful 1976 North Carolina lieutenant governor bid; and notebooks from Straley's 1984-1985 trip to Central America that contain detailed information on meetings Straley had with local activists and other residents.
Back to TopArrangement: alphabetical.
Folder 1 |
Academics, 1936-1944Transcripts and report cards from the Ohio State University and correspondence relating to Straley's employment at the University of Toledo and the University of North Carolina. |
Folder 2 |
American Association of University Professors (AAUP), 1964-1968Straley was president of the North Carolina Conference of the AAUP when the North Carolina Speaker Ban law, an effort to prevent Communists from appearing on state-owned college and university property, was in place. He was a vocal opponent of the ban, which was declared unconstitutional in 1968. |
Folder 3 |
Campaign Bumper Stickers |
Folder 4-9
Folder 4Folder 5Folder 6Folder 7Folder 8Folder 9 |
Carolina Interfaith Task Force on Central America (CITCA) newsletters, 1987-2002 |
Folder 10 |
Clippings, 1986-1990 and undatedPrimarily opinion and other pieces written by Straley pertaining chiefly to Central America. |
Folder 11-12
Folder 11Folder 12 |
Committee of Concerned Citizens, 1963-1964Local group was dedicated to civil rights and ending segregation in Chapel Hill. |
Folder 13 |
Communism, 1949Included is a 28 May 1949 letter from Straley to Chancellor R. B. House stating that Straley was not a Communist. |
Folder 14 |
Dunne, John, 1982-1983Dunne was a University of North Carolina student in the early 1960s prominent in civil rights protests. He was arrested numerous times for attempting to integrate theaters, restaurants, and other facilities in Chapel Hill and was sentenced to prison during his senior year. The sentence was later commuted by Governor Terry Sanford, and Dunne completed his studies at Harvard University. He died of cancer in December 1982, and Straley assisted in organizing a memorial service for him in Chapel Hill. Included are papers relating to the service and his death. |
Folder 15-16
Folder 15Folder 16 |
Energy and physics essays |
Folder 17-18
Folder 17Folder 18 |
Straley's FBI file |
Folder 19 |
Jones, Charles, 1964-1995 (bulk 1964)Charles Miles Jones, Christian minister and social justice activist, spent most of his ecclesiastical career in Chapel Hill, N.C., first as the head of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church and later as the first minister of the racially integrated Community Church, which Straley helped found. Materials are chiefly sermons preached by Jones and information about him and about the Community Church. |
Folder 20 |
Lee, Howard, 1976Primarily materials relating to African American politician Howard Lee's unsuccessful 1976 North Carolina lieutenant governor bid. |
Folder 21 |
McCarthy, Eugene, 1967-1969 |
Folder 22 |
Miscellaneous: General |
Folder 23 |
Miscellaneous: Correspondence |
Folder 24 |
Notebooks from trip to Central America, 1984-1985Two notebooks containing detailed notes and transcripts of interviews from meetings with local activists and residents with whom Straley met during his travels. |
Folder 25-26
Folder 25Folder 26 |
Orange County Energy Conservation Task Force, 1975 |
Folder 27 |
Radical newspapers |
Folder 28 |
Speaker Ban, 1963-1968 |
Folder 29 |
Town Council: Joe Straley's newsletter, 1979-1983 |
Folder 30 |
Town Council: Re-election: Expenses |
Folder 31 |
Town Council: Re-election: General |
Audiocassette C-5252/1-2
C-5252/1C-5252/2 |
William Sloan Coffin, 6 November 1988 |
Audiocassette C-5252/3 |
William Sloan Coffin, 6 November 1988 (master) |
Audiocassette C-5252/4 |
Oscar Romero, 23 March 1980 |
Museum Item MU-5252/1 |
Political buttons |
Oversize Image OP-P-5252/1 |
McCarthy Campaign peace poster |
Image Folder P-5252/1 |
PhotographsThree undated photographs: one of Lucy Straley; one of what appears to be the Duke University Chapel; and one of two individuals, possibly Straleys. |
Videotape VT-5252/1 |
Bible Belt Justice in the Southern Part of Heaven (Running time: 29 minutes)Discusses the Reverend Charles Miles Jones, a Presbyterian minister who attempted to integrate his North Carolina church and was dismissed for his attempts. Includes interviews with Chapel Hill residents, including several founding members of the church he formed after his dismissal, the Community Church of Chapel Hill (United Church of Christ). |