Michael R. Nelson Papers, circa 1890-2012

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Summary

Creator:
Nelson, Michael R., 1963-
Abstract:

This collection documents white politician Michael("Mike") R. Nelson's 16 years of elected office in Carrboro, N.C., including his service from 1995 to 2005 as the first openly gay mayor in North Carolina. The collection primarily contains newspapers and campaign materials documenting Nelson's political career, beginning as campaign manager for Joe Herzenberg's 1987 Chapel Hill Town Council campaign. Materials document Chapel Hill and Carrboro election campaigns, Carrboro events, and actions taken by Nelson while serving as an alderman, mayor, and county commissioner. There collection also contains a small amount of letters, speeches, and audiovisual materials, as well as newspaper articles documenting Ray Warren becoming the first openly gay Republican officeholder in December 1998. The collection also contains newspaper articles, letters, and other documentation from the Orange County Commissioners and the Carrboro Board of Aldermen pertaining to a 1994 ordinance allowing unmarried couples to register as domestic partners and receive benefits, as well as a small amount of political memorabilia dating back to the late 19th century.

Extent:
2000 items (6.5 linear feet)
Language:
Materials in English
Library Catalog Link:
View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

Michael ("Mike") R. Nelson, a white politician, served as Mayor of Carrboro, N.C. from 1995 to 2005 and as a county commissioner for Orange County, N.C. from 2006 to 2009. Nelson, who is a co-founder of Equality North Carolina, was the first openly gay mayor in North Carolina. At the time of his inauguration, he was one of five openly gay mayors in the United States.

In 1987, Nelson served as campaign manager for Joe Herzenberg during Herzenberg's run for Chapel Hill Town Council. Nelson first ran for elected office in 1989, losing his bid serve on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen by 32 votes. He was elected to the Board of Aldermen in 1993. While serving on the Board of Aldermen, Nelson championed a domestic partners ordinance that made Carrboro the first municipality in North Carolina to bring benefits to same-sex couples.

Nelson has served as a leader in North Carolina's LGBTQ political movement, including his involvement with NC Pride PAC (which he co-founded in 1992), which merged with Equality NC in 2002.

Scope and content:

This collection documents Michael("Mike") R. Nelson's 16 years of elected office in Carrboro, N.C., including his service from 1995 to 2005 as the first openly gay mayor in North Carolina. The collection primarily contains newspapers and campaign materials documenting Nelson's political career, beginning as campaign manager for Joe Herzenberg's 1987 Chapel Hill Town Council campaign. Materials document Chapel Hill and Carrboro election campaigns, Carrboro events, and actions taken by Nelson while serving as an alderman, mayor, and county commissioner. There collection also contains a small amount of letters, speeches, and audiovisual materials, as well as newspaper articles documenting Ray Warren becoming the first openly gay Republican officeholder in December 1998. The collection also contains newspaper articles, letters, and other documentation from the Orange County Commissioners and the Carrboro Board of Aldermen pertaining to a 1994 ordinance allowing unmarried couples to register as domestic partners and receive benefits, as well as a small amount of political memorabilia dating back to the late 19th century.

Acquisition information:

Received from Michael R. Nelson in October 2022 (20221024.7).

Processing information:

Processed by: Dawne Howard Lucas, December 2022

Encoded by: Dawne Howard Lucas, December 2022

In 2017, we began using "white" as an ethnic and racial identity for individual and families, in addition to "Black," "African American," "Jewish," and other familiar identity terms that we have used for decades in collection descriptions. We use this identity term so that whiteness is no longer the presumed default of the people represented in our 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.

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:

Use of audio or moving image materials may require production of listening or viewing copies.

Restrictions to use:

No usage restrictions.

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

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Michael R. Nelson Papers #Michael R. Nelson Papers, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections 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