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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the James E. Shepard Memorial Library at North Carolina Central University. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web.
Portions of this collection have been digitized as part of "Content, Context, and Capacity: A Collaborative Large-Scale Digitization Project on the Long Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina." The project was made possible by funding from the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.
Size | 9.0 feet of linear shelf space |
Abstract | In 1948, Alfonso Elder became the second president of the North Carolina College for Negroes (renamed the North Carolina College at Durham in 1947 and North Carolina Central University in 1969). He served in that position until his retirement in 1963. Correspondence, speeches, notes, and reports on financial audits for North Carolina College for Negroes generated during Alfonso Elder's tenure as president reflect his attempts to establish a policy of shared governance with all the college's constituencies. Correspondence with local educators, artists, the college's faculty and staff, and others concerns conferences and professional organizations, institutional renovations and advancement, and curricula development. Annual reports on financial audits from the North Carolina College for Negroes and later the North Carolina College at Durham pertain to the college's annual capital assets, income, expenses, receipts, disbursements, and salaries and wages. Speeches were delivered before civic organizations, churches, and student groups at North Carolina College at Durham; local high schools in Durham, N.C.; and national associations. Prominent among the speeches is "The Responsibility of the University to Society (With Special Emphasis on Student Involvement in Extra-Class Affairs)," which was delivered at a regional meeting of the National Student Association at Duke University in 1962. In this speech, Elder discussed pressures put on him to curb student involvement in the civil rights movement and his refusal to do so. |
Creator | Elder, Alfonso, 1898-1974. |
Curatorial Unit | North Carolina Central University. James E. Shepard Memorial Library. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Andre D. Vann
Finding aid authored by: Andre D. Vann and Shanee Yvette Murrain
Finding aid encoded in EAD by: Joyce Chapman
Updated: February 2020
Back to TopThe 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.
Alfonso Elder was born on 26 February 1898 in Sandersville, Ga. He was the son of Thomas Jefferson Elder and Lillian Elder. Elder completed elementary and high school at the Thomas Jefferson Elder School in Sandersville, Ga., and received his A.B. degree from Atlanta University in 1921. He later received both a Masters of Arts and Masters of Education from Columbia University and completed post-graduate work at Chicago University and the University of Cambridge.
Elder joined the faculty of the North Carolina College for Negroes in Durham, N.C., in 1924 as professor of education and dean of the college. In 1931, he married Louise Holmes of Atlanta, Ga., the daughter of Thomas Willis Holmes. The couple did not have children. In 1943, Elder left the college to become director of the School of Education at Atlanta University.
In the fall of 1947, Elder returned to North Carolina College for Negroes, and when the school's first president, James E. Shepard, died in November 1947, Elder succeeded him. During Elder's 15-year tenure as president, the college expanded, added programs, and integrated. Elder retired in September 1963.
Elder was a member of the Durham Community Redevelopment Commission and the Durham Human Relations Committee, a member of the Board of Directors of Durham's Mutual Savings and Loan Association, a trustee of the Board of Lincoln Hospital, a member of the Durham Community Benevolent Commission, and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He was also an active congregant at the Saint Titus Episcopal Church in Durham.
Elder died on 7 August 1974 in Lincoln Hospital in Durham.
26 February 1898 | Alfonso Toby Elder was born in Sandersville, Ga., to Thomas Jefferson Elder and Lillian Elder. |
1900-1917 | Elder completed his elementary and secondary education at the Thomas Jefferson Elder School. |
1920 | Elder became a charter member of the Eta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., in Atlanta, Ga. |
1921 | Elder graduated magna cum laude from Atlanta University in Atlanta, Ga., with an A.B. degree. |
1924 | Elder received his M.A. degree from Columbia University. He joined the faculty of the North Carolina College for Negroes as professor of education and dean of the college. |
1928 | Elder studied at the University of Cambridge in England. |
1931 | Elder married Louise Holmes of Atlanta, Ga. |
1938 | Studying under a General Education Board Fellowship, Elder earned his doctorate in education from Columbia University. |
1943 | Elder left North Carolina College for Negroes to serve as the director of the School of Education at Atlanta University in Atlanta, Ga. |
1947 | Elder returned to North Carolina College for Negroes to serve as head of the Graduate Department of Education. |
20 January 1948 | Elder was named president of North Carolina College at Durham. |
31 August 1963 | Elder retired and was named President Emeritus. |
1974 | Elder died in Lincoln Hospital in Durham, N.C. |
Correspondence, speeches, notes, and reports on financial audits for North Carolina College for Negroes generated during Alfonso Elder's tenure as president reflect his attempts to establish a policy of shared governance with all the college's constituencies. Correspondence with local educators, artists, the college's faculty and staff, and others concerns conferences and professional organizations, institutional renovations and advancement, and curricula development. Programs, bulletins, faculty publications, syllabi, budget reports, fund solicitations, resumes, and student records are interfiled with associated correspondence. Annual reports on financial audits from the North Carolina College for Negroes and later the North Carolina College at Durham pertain to the college's annual capital assets, income, expenses, receipts, disbursements, and salaries and wages. Speeches were delivered before civic organizations, churches, and student groups at North Carolina College at Durham; local high schools in Durham, N.C.; and national associations. Prominent among the speeches is "The Responsibility of The University to Society (With Special Emphasis on Student Involvement in Extra-Class Affairs)," which was delivered at a regional meeting of the National Student Association at Duke University in 1962. In this speech, Elder discussed pressures put on him to curb student involvement in the civil rights movement and his refusal to do so.
Back to TopArrangement: alphabetical
This series contains correspondence with local and national educators, artists, and others concerning conferences and professional organizations, institutional renovations and advancement, and curricula development. Correspondence throughout is chiefly between Elder and faculty or staff persons, with a few letters from state educational agencies and a small number of other letters pertaining to the search for Elder's successor. Programs, bulletins, faculty publications, syllabi, budget reports, fund solicitations, resumes, and student records are interfiled with associated correspondence. Dates in parentheses after names refer to the person's dates of tenure.
This series contains the annual reports on financial audits for the North Carolina College for Negroes (and later for the North Carolina College at Durham). Prepared by the Bureau of Institutional Auditing, State Auditor's Office in Raleigh, N.C., reports document the college's annual capital assets, income, expenses, receipts, salaries and wages, and disbursements related to the both the Permanent Improvement Fund and the Maintenance Fund. The documents reflect the college's efforts to protect assets, maintain fiscal integrity, and operate effectively and efficiently in order to achieve the goals and objectives outlined in the mission statement and defined by the board of trustees.
Reports are for fiscal years beginning 1 July and ending 30 June.
Folder 202 |
Reports on financial audits, 1927-1940Includes the reports for fiscal years 1927-1928, 1932-1933, 1933-1934, and 1939-1940. |
Folder 203 |
Reports on financial audits, 1942-1949Includes the reports for fiscal years 1942-1943, 1946-1947, 1947-1948, and 1948-1949. |
Folder 204 |
Reports on financial audits, 1949-1954Includes the reports for fiscal years 1949-1950, 1950-1951, 1951-1952, 1952-1953, and 1953-1954. |
Folder 205 |
Reports on financial audits, 1954-1959Includes the reports for fiscal years 1954-1955, 1955-1956, 1956-1957, 1957-1958, and 1958-1959. |
Folder 206 |
Reports on financial audits, 1954-1959Includes the reports for fiscal years 1954-1955, 1955-1956, 1956-1957, 1957-1958, and 1958-1959. |
Folder 207 |
Reports on audit of the dormitory debt service fund and housing and home finance agency, 1959-1961Report on Audits for the Dormitory Debt Service Fund Housing and Home Finance Agency Project #NC-31-CH-31 Contract #H302-268, 1 September 1959 to 31 August 1961. |
This series contains speeches, notes for speeches, and programs for occasions at which Elder spoke. Elder's speeches were delivered before civic organizations, churches, and student groups at North Carolina College at Durham; local high schools in Durham, N.C.; and national associations. Prominent among the speeches is "The Responsibility of The University to Society (With Special Emphasis on Student Involvement in Extra-Class Affairs)," which was delivered at a regional meeting of the National Student Association at Duke University in 1962. In this speech, Elder discussed pressures put on him to curb student involvement in the civil rights movement and his refusal to do so. The speeches are arranged chronologically and listed by title. Undated speeches are filed together at the end of the series.
Arrangement: alphabetical
This addition includes publications, biographical information, speeches by Elder, correspondence between Elder and various education and political figures in connection with the North Carolina College for Negroes. Included with some of the documents are note cards that help to highlight their significance.