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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 | 46.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 23,000 items) |
| Abstract | The Craig, Flowers, and Ferris Papers document three white families in Vicksburg and Yazoo City, Miss. Members include William C. Craig; New York cotton and sugar broker William R. Craig (1870-1931); Seraphina Brooks Flowers (1824-1868); Vicksburg businessmen Uriah Grey Flowers (1883-1947) and Edward Gibbs Flowers (1880-1945); Mississippi Council of Garden Clubs president Hester Craig Flowers (1885-1987); Shelby Flowers Ferris; Mississippi state senator Grey Flowers Ferris; and author, filmmaker, folklorist, and professor William R. Ferris Jr. (1942- ) (Bill Ferris). Some family members lived at the Ceres Plantation in Warren County, Miss. The collection consists of business and personal correspondence, including a copybook containing the outgoing letters of Seraphina Brooks Flowers, who successfully petitioned federal officers to allow her to visit her son in the Rock Island, Ill., prison during the Civil War; financial and legal papers; newspaper clippings; scrapbooks; journals; travels diaries; creative writing; and genealogical materials. Topics include family news; the Flowers Bros. Insurance Agency; real estate; farm life; intergenerational relationships; divorce; international travel; garden clubs; the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi; family history; the Allen Cooperage Company in Nanachehaw, Miss.; and heritage tourism in Louisiana and Mississippi. Pictures are chiefly portraits and candid photographs of various members of the Craig, Flowers, and Ferris families and their dogs, livestock, houses, gardens, and travel. |
| Creator | Craig family.
Flowers family. Ferris family. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| 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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Biographical Information
In the 1820s, the Flowers family moved from North Carolina to Warren County, Miss., where Uriah Flowers (1761-1845) and his wife, Elizabeth Watson Flowers (1779-1846), settled what came to be known as Ceres Plantation at Oakland. Their son, Ignatius Flowers (1806-1862), married Seraphina Brooks (1824-1868) in 1840, and they also made their home at Ceres. Their sons, Oliver Brooks Flowers (1841-1884) and Uriah Flowers (1846-1890), joined the Confederate Army as members of Harvey's Scouts, composed chiefly of men from Madison County, Miss. In the summer of 1864, Oliver was captured near Rome, Ga., and sent to the Union prison at Rock Island, Ill. In 1877, Uriah Flowers married his second wife, Shelby Gibbs, daughter of Edward and Jane Gibbs of Vicksburg, Miss. They had two daughters, Helen and Jane, both of whom died young, and two sons, Edward Gibbs Flowers (1880-1945) and Uriah Grey Flowers (1883-1947).
Uriah Grey Flowers ("U.G." or "Grey") was a prominent businessman in Vicksburg, Miss. After attending a year at Mississippi College and two years at the Virginia Military Institute, he became involved in the merchandise brokerage business, handling lines bought and sold in the grocery trade. In 1905, he and his brother Edward established the Flowers Bros. Insurance Co. The brothers also were involved with real estate as well as stocks, bonds, and securities trading. In 1915, Grey married Hester Isabel Craig (1885-1987), daughter of William C. and Harriet Rabb Craig ("Hattie"), and with her had three children: Shelby Flowers, Hester Flowers, and Uriah Grey Flowers Jr. In 1935, Grey retired from his business because of ill health and turned his attention to operating the Ceres plantation until his death in 1947. After her husband's death, Hester became one of the founders of the Vicksburg Garden Club and served two years as president of the Mississippi Council of Garden Clubs.
Grey and Hester's daughter Shelby married William R. Ferris and with him had five children: William R. Ferris Jr. ("Bill"), Shelby Ferris, Hester Ferris, Grey Ferris, and Martha Ferris. Bill Ferris (1942- ) is an author, folklorist, filmmaker, professor, photographer, administrator, and scholar. He co-founded the Center for Southern Folklore in Mississippi and was its director from 1972 to 1984. From 1979 to 1997, he was the founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. He has recorded blues albums, produced documentary films, authored a number of books, and co-edited The Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.
Hester Craig Flowers's brother, William R. Craig (1870-1931), was a cotton and sugar broker in New York. Born in Yazoo City, Miss., he graduated from Southwestern Presbyterian University and then entered his father's firm, W. C. Craig & Co., a cotton and general merchandise business. In 1905, he moved to New York and created his own business, W. R. Craig & Co., that brokered commodities in the cotton and sugar trade. He married Margaret Cunningham of Yazoo City, Miss., in 1913. Hester's other brother, Robert E. Craig (1872-1942), also attended Southwestern Presbyterian University and was a cotton broker. He married Margaret Henry, the daughter of Judge and Mrs. W. A. Henry, and lived in Vicksburg, New York, and New Orleans.
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Scope and Content
Papers documenting the white Craig, Flowers, and Ferris families of Vicksburg, Miss., and Yazoo City, Miss., and New Orleans, La., especially William C. Craig, Harriet Rabb Craig, William R. Craig, Robert E. Craig, Philip S. Craig, Hester Craig Flowers, Uriah Grey Flowers, Seraphina Flowers, Shelby Flowers Ferris, and William R. Ferris Jr. (Bill Ferris). Materials include business and personal correspondence, including a copybook containing the outgoing letters of Seraphina Flowers, who successfully petitioned federal officers to allow her to visit her son imprisoned at Rock Island, Ill., during the Civil War; financial and legal papers; newspaper clippings; scrapbooks; journals; travel diaries and photographs; creative writing; genealogical materials; family correspondence and photographs. Topics include family news; the Flowers Bros. nsurance Agency; real estate; farm life; intergenerational relationships; divorce; international travel; garden clubs; the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi; family history; the Allen Cooperage Company in Nanachehaw, Miss.; and heritage tourism in Louisiana andMississippi. Pictures are chiefly portraits and candid photographs of various members of the Craig, Flowers, and Ferris families and their dogs, livestock, houses, gardens, and travel.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Craig Family Papers, 1858-1991.
Correspondence, legal papers, clippings, obituaries, notebooks, and a ledger related to the Craig family of Yazoo City and Vicksburg, Miss. The materials were chiefly created by William C. Craig; his wife, Harriet Rabb Craig; and their children, William R. Craig, Robert E. Craig, Philip S. Craig, and Hester Craig Flowers. See also Series 4. Genealogical papers.
| Folder 1 |
Correspondence, 1858-1941 #05323, Series: "1. Craig Family Papers, 1858-1991." Folder 1Letters written and received by various members of the Craig family. Includes a number of telegrams sent to Philip S. Craig from C. P. Ellis and Company regarding the weather, crops, and stocks. |
| Folder 2 |
Financial and legal papers, 1861-1920 #05323, Series: "1. Craig Family Papers, 1858-1991." Folder 2Mostly receipts and bills from 1906 for furniture, appliance, and home repair purchases made by Mr. and Mrs. William C. Craig for the family home on Cherry Street in Vicksburg. Papers also include an 1897 partnership agreement between William C. Craig and William R. Craig. |
| Folder 3 |
Obituaries and memorials, 1868-1991 #05323, Series: "1. Craig Family Papers, 1858-1991." Folder 3Newspaper obituaries and other mourning and memorial documents for members of the Craig and Flowers families. |
| Folder 4 |
Clippings, 1915-1986 #05323, Series: "1. Craig Family Papers, 1858-1991." Folder 4Relating to the Craig family and their employee, Willette Fairfax, chiefly documenting weddings, anniversaries, education, and deaths. |
| Folder 5 |
Notebooks, 1906 and 1911-1915 #05323, Series: "1. Craig Family Papers, 1858-1991." Folder 5Two small notebooks of Philip Craig with entries describing his travels. |
| Folder 6a |
Ledger, 1904-1907 #05323, Series: "1. Craig Family Papers, 1858-1991." Folder 6aRecord of sales made by William C. Craig and Robert E. Craig. |
| Folder 6b |
Notebook, 1905 #05323, Series: "1. Craig Family Papers, 1858-1991." Folder 6bRecord of cotton sales to J. Meyerkort, 1905 |
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Series 2. Flowers Family Papers, 1841-1993.
Arrangement: by type of material.
Business and personal correspondence of Uriah Grey Flowers, the Flowers Bros. Insurance Agency, and other Flowers family members. Topics include family news; real estate, employment with Flowers Bros. Insurance Agency, and other financial concerns; discussions of cattle, other livestock, and general farm life; and illness. Financial and legal papers relate chiefly to the Flowers family and the Flowers Bros. Insurance Agency. There are a few items relating to Bernard and Elizabeth Conaghan and the Kelley family. Other papers document gardening and creative writing. A copybook contains the outgoing letters of Seraphina Flowers, including her successful petition to federal officers to visit her son in a Rock Island, Ill., prison during the Civil War. Journals and scrapbooks chronicle cruises and other travel taken by Flowers family members, some as older adults.
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Subseries 2.1. Uriah Grey Flowers Correspondence, 1889-1946.
Arrangement: chronological.
Business and personal correspondence of Uriah Grey Flowers. Topics include real estate, especially the buying and selling of lots, as well as various tax and pricing issues; employment and other concerns at Flowers Bros. Insurance Agency; and stocks and bonds. Personal correspondents include family members Hester Craig Flowers, Edward G. Flowers, Robert E. Craig, William R. Craig, Philip S. Craig, and Olive Edmiston, a cousin of Uriah Grey Flowers. There also is correspondence from William Drake ("Magruder"), a good friend who was involved in the Enochs Lumber and Manufacturing Company with Edward G. Flowers and W. C. Craig & Co. with W. R. Craig. Drake ran Mount Ararat Plantation in Church Hill, Miss., and much of his and Grey's correspondence contains discussions of cattle, other livestock, and general farm life. Correspondence from 1918 with various members of the military concerns Grey's desire to join the Field Artillery Central Officers Training School, though there is no evidence that Grey joined the military at this time, and in an October 1918 letter he mentions being sick from influenza. Correspondence, 1928-1930, focuses on Grey's illness from bronchitis; his travel to Asheville, N.C., to seek treatment and recovery; and the related medical bills. See also folder 44 below.
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Subseries 2.2. Other Flowers Family Correspondence, 1869-1993.
Arrangement: by correspondent.
Correspondence of Hester Craig Flowers and other members of the Flowers family, including that of the Flowers Bros. Insurance Company (note that the Uriah Grey Flowers correspondence in Series 2.1. also contains many letters regarding this company). Also included are letters to Uriah Grey Flowers's aunt, Mollie Kelley.
| Folder 43 |
Flowers, Hester Craig, 1908-1986 #05323, Subseries: "2.2. Other Flowers Family Correspondence, 1869-1993." Folder 43Correspondence with her daughters, Shelby Flowers Ferris and Hester Flowers Faser, her niece Harriet, her brothers, and others, including an admirer, Walbridge Taft. Topics chiefly center around home life and daily activities. Note that correspondence between Hester Craig Flowers and her husband is in Series 2.1. Uriah Grey Flowers. |
| Folder 44 |
Flowers Bros. Insurance Company, 1913-1935 #05323, Subseries: "2.2. Other Flowers Family Correspondence, 1869-1993." Folder 44Business correspondence includes employment inquiries, specifics on land purchases, and solicitations from stockholding and credit companies. There are additional insurance letters regarding Uriah Grey Flower's illness in 1929 and several letters concerning the purchase of hunting dogs. |
| Folder 45 |
Kelley, Mollie, letters to, 1869-1917 #05323, Subseries: "2.2. Other Flowers Family Correspondence, 1869-1993." Folder 45 |
| Folder 46 |
Other correspondence, 1884-1993 #05323, Subseries: "2.2. Other Flowers Family Correspondence, 1869-1993." Folder 46Correspondence of other members of the Flowers family, including Olive Kelley, Edwina Enochs Flowers (married to Edward G. Flowers), David Evans, Irene Whitehead, and Grey Flowers Jr. Also contains letters whose author or recipient are unknown or unclear. |
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Subseries 2.3. Flowers Family Legal and Financial Papers, 1879-1938.
Arrangement: chronological by year.
Financial and legal papers relating to the Flowers family and Flowers Bros. Insurance Agency. The papers chiefly consist of bills, receipts, purchase orders, bank statements, cancelled checks, and prescriptions as well as newsletters for various bond and security businesses. Balance sheets for the insurance agency are included. There are four account books and several deeds under the names of Bernard and Elizabeth Conaghan, whose connection to the Flowers family is unclear.
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Subseries 2.4. Other Papers, 1841-2007.
Arrangement: by type of material.
Materials include the financial and legal papers of the Kelley family; a copybook containing the outgoing letters of Seraphina Flowers, including her successful petition to federal officers to visit her son imprisoned at Rock Island, Ill., during the Civil War; papers documenting Hester Craig Flowers's involvement in local garden clubs; newspaper clippings; and creative writing by members of the Flowers family. Diaries and scrapbooks chronicle cruises and other travel taken by Hester Craig Flowers and her daughters, Shelby Flowers Ferris and Hester Flowers Faser, some documenting travel as older adults.
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Series 3. Ferris Family Papers, 1921-2005.
Papers include the correspondence of Shelby Flowers Ferris, especially letters from her son William R. Ferris Jr. (Bill Ferris), documenting life events, including births, deaths, weddings, and divorces; programs, flyers, and newsletters relating to the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi; correspondence regarding family history; and copies of published writings by and about Bill Ferris.
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Subseries 3.1. Shelby Flowers Ferris Letters, 1921-2005.
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters received by Shelby Flowers Ferris from family members, especially her son William R. Ferris Jr. while he was attending Brooks School, Davidson College, and Northwestern University; while traveling abroad in Ireland and France; and while teaching at Yale University. Family letters chronicle life events, including births, deaths, weddings, and divorces.
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Subseries 3.2. Ferris Family Correspondence, 1932-1991.
Correspondence of Ferris family members, including letters to Mrs. E. B. Ferris, many from her daughter-in-law Shelby Flowers Ferris and her grandchildren.
Folder 130-131
Folder 130Folder 131 |
Mrs. E. B. Ferris, 1932-1991 #05323, Subseries: "3.2. Ferris Family Correspondence, 1932-1991." Folder 130-131 |
Folder 132-134
Folder 132Folder 133Folder 134 |
Ferris family, 1961-1991 #05323, Subseries: "3.2. Ferris Family Correspondence, 1932-1991." Folder 132-134 |
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Subseries 3.3. William R. Ferris Papers, 1973-2005.
Papers include programs, flyers, and newsletters relating to the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi; correspondence regarding family history; and copies of published writings by and about William R. Ferris Jr. (Bill Ferris), including essays, chapters in books, reviews, and book covers.
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Series 4. Genealogical Papers, 1950s-2000s.
Papers collected by various members of the Flowers, Craig, and Ferris family while researching history of Brooks, Kelley, Nicholson, Michie, Watson, Gibbs, Jefferies, Edmiston, Biggs, Rabb, Luce (Luse), Swayze (Swazey), and Horton families. Papers chiefly consist of correspondence between interested family members and copies of the correspondence of their ancestors. Included are transcriptions of letters of Seraphina Flowers and letters from Hester and William Rabb to their daughter Matilda in the 1850s.
About 150 pages of a photocopied journal contain genealogical information for the Luse and Rabb families as well as records of daily activities. The dates in the journal range from 1837 to 1860. There are a few photocopied pages of recipes, some from printed books and some from handwritten notes.
Photocopies of correspondence written between 1919 and 1938 detail the relationship between the Craig family and Reverend Charles Diehl, D.D., president of Southwestern Presbyterian University in Clarksville, Tenn., from 1920 to 1935. Included with the correspondence are copies of obituaries for Robert E. Craig and William R. Craig and for Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Craig's infant son.
Other materials include family trees for the Flowers and Michie families; birth, death, and marriage records; information pulled from tombstones, land grants, and deeds; and obituaries. There is also information on Melville Weston Fuller, an orphan who was found and adopted by Uriah Goldsborough Flowers, and about Joseph Henry Bush, who painted portraits of Uriah and Elizabeth Watson Flowers.
Folder 144-146
Folder 144Folder 145Folder 146 |
Genealogical papers #05323, Series: "4. Genealogical Papers, 1950s-2000s." Folder 144-146 |
| Folder 147 |
Photocopies of journal and recipes #05323, Series: "4. Genealogical Papers, 1950s-2000s." Folder 147 |
Folder 148-149
Folder 148Folder 149 |
Craig and Diehl families #05323, Series: "4. Genealogical Papers, 1950s-2000s." Folder 148-149 |
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Series 5. Photographic Materials, circa 1900-circa 1995.
Arrangement: by family name.
Pictures of the members of the Flowers family, including Uriah Flowers (1846-1890); Hester Craig Flowers; Hester Flowers Faser; Uriah Grey Flowers; Edward G. Flowers; Margaret Craig; Mollie Kelley; and Milton Jones, an employee of the Flowers family. There are photographs of portraits of Elizabeth Watson and Uriah Flowers, painted by Joseph Henry Bush. Other photographs document cruises and other travel; horses, cows, and other livestock; and Hester Craig Flower's garden and homes, including the Cherry Street house.
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Series 5A. Photographic Materials, 1900s-2000s (Additions of 2006-2019).
Acquisitions Information: Acc. 100774, 100888, 101345, 101800, 102571, 103531
Photographs collected by Hester Flowers Ferris depicting members of the Craig, Ferris, and Flowers families. Images chiefly depict members of all three families, with many depicting family members traveling to different locations both within and outside of the United States.
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Series 6. Miscellaneous, 1920, 1960s-1990s.
Papers include receipts from the Allen Cooperage Company in Nanachehaw, Miss., and booklets and pamphlets, chiefly relating to historic sites in Louisiana and Mississippi and gardening clubs.
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Series 7A. Family Papers, 1940s-1960s, 1993 (Addition of March 2008).
Acquisitions Information: Acc. 100888
The addition includes a photograph album, 1940s-1950s, of Bill Ferris and Shelby Flowers Ferris, their honeymoon, farm, and children; a funeral book for Hester Flowers Faser (1916-1993); and a sketchbook, 1960s, of Vicksburg scenes.
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Series 7A. Family Papers, 1970-2005 (Addition of August 2010).
Acquisitions Information: Acc. 101345
The addition includes Shelby Flowers Ferris's date books, 1970-2005, with scrapbook elements, such as invitations, menus, appointments, books read, newspaper clippings.
Box 27-29
Box 27Box 28Box 29 |
Date books, 1970-2005 #05323, Series: "7A. Family Papers, 1970-2005 (Addition of August 2010)." Box 27-29 |
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Series 7A. Family Papers, 1980s-2010s (Addition of June 2013).
Acquisitions Information: Acc. 101800
The addition includes articles and print material related to William R. Ferris's career, some loose ephemera related to Mississippi, and a few family items such as family photographs, genealogical information, and printed emails and other correspondence.
Box 29-30
Box 29Box 30 |
Papers, 1980s-2010s #05323, Series: "7A. Family Papers, 1980s-2010s (Addition of June 2013)." Box 29-30 |
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Series 7A. Family Papers, 1914-2014 (Addition of April 2016).
Acquisitions Information: Acc. 102571
The addition includes correspondence, family history research, family photography, scrapbooks, and professional work and records from th 20th century. Of note are letters received by Shelby Flowers Ferris from family and friends, especially from William R. Ferris, Sr., before and after their marriage. During their courtship Shelby Flowers Ferris attended Newcomb College in New Orleans, La. The letters cover her time in college, her wedding, and the birth of at least one of her children. There are also letters from Shelby Flowers Ferris and her sister Hester to their father, and Shelby Flowers Ferris's school notes. Other materials include letters to Hester Craig from Walldridge Taft, 1914-1916; Shelby Flowers Ferris's personal files, with family history research materials (one box arranged by Virginia Ferris) and correspondence, 2000-2014, as well as her unsorted papers; Grey Ferris scrapbooks and files, 1991-1998, documenting his political career in the Mississippi Senate and his campaigns for state senator and lieutenant governor; condolence letters regarding Grey Ferris's death, 2008; a scrapbook of Mary Shelby Gibbs Flowers, 1868-1892, in Vicksburg, and a 1936 scrapbook of Shelby Flowers at Newcomb College.
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Series 7A. Family Papers, 1903-1960s (Addition of January 2019).
Acquisitions Information: Acc. 103531
Travel diaries and a few guidebooks from members of the Craig and Flowers families, early and mid-twentieth century. There are diaries from 1903 (to England, Scotland, and Ireland) and 1908, and the rest span the 1940s through 1960s. The diarists traveled widely. Places noted include locations in Europe, South America, and the Middle East, and a few locations in the United States and South Pacific. Also included are slide suitcases of travel photos, loose photographs from travel, notes and itineraries, print ephemera (menus, tickets, maps, brochures) from cruises, and postcards sent by Shelby Flowers Ferris to home
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Items Separated
Processed by: Sarah Peterson and Nancy Kaiser, December 2007
Encoded by: Sarah Peterson and Nancy Kaiser, December 2007
Revisions by: Nancy Kaiser, April 2019
Revisions by: Patrick Cullom, June 2019
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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