Letter, Frank Porter Graham to Kemp Plummer Lewis
Contempo controversy and labor issues
In this letter, University President Frank Porter Graham thanks Kemp Plummer Lewis, a University trustee and Durham textile executive, for his support on several labor issues, including the "reduction of hours and abolition of night work for women and children." Graham goes onto describe the controversy surrounding the Scottsboro issue of Contempo magazine and states his intent not to interfere Langston Hughes' visit to Chapel Hill.
Contempo was a small literary magazine published in Chapel Hill by co-editors Milton “Ab” Abernethy and Anthony Buttitta, both former UNC students. Although only lasting from 1931-1934, Contempo was able to build a strong reputation among critics and also managed to attract contributions from William Faulkner, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and many other well-known writers. The December 1931 issue of Contempo caused a stir in Chapel Hill due its inclusion of two controversial pieces by African American writer Langston Hughes.
Abernethy and Buttitta had decided to devote the entire issue to writings about the case of the Scottsboro Boys – a series of trials in Alabama involving nine African American boys who had been accused of the rape of two white women. Hughes submitted a poem called, “Christ in Alabama,” (which appeared with a drawing called, “Black Christ,” by artist Zell Ingram) and an essay called, “Southern Gentlemen, White Prostitutes, Mill-Owners, and Negroes.”
The publication of the Scottsboro issue was timed to appear several days before Hughes was to visit Chapel Hill for a public reading. Citizens of the town of Chapel Hill were incensed by the visit. Newly-inaugurated University of North Carolina President Frank Porter Graham and Chapel Hill town officials received a flood of letters denouncing Hughes as “sacrilegious” and calling for his engagement to be canceled. Graham did not interfere and the reading went on as planned.
Frank Porter Graham
Kemp Plummer Lewis Papers #3819, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
16 December 1941
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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Letter, David Clark to Kemp Plummer Lewis
Langston Hughes and Contempo controversy
In this letter, David Clark, editor of the Southern Textile Bulletin, writes to Kemp Plummer Lewis, president of the Alumni Association of the University of North Carolina, condemning the University's inaction toward Contempo magazine and Langston Hughes' visit to Chapel Hill.
Contempo was a small literary magazine published in Chapel Hill by co-editors Milton “Ab” Abernethy and Anthony Buttitta, both former UNC students. Although only lasting from 1931-1934, Contempo was able to build a strong reputation among critics and also managed to attract contributions from William Faulkner, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and many other well-known writers. The December 1931 issue of Contempo caused a stir in Chapel Hill due its inclusion of two controversial pieces by African American writer Langston Hughes.
Abernethy and Buttitta had decided to devote the entire issue to writings about the case of the Scottsboro Boys – a series of trials in Alabama involving nine African American boys who had been accused of the rape of two white women. Hughes submitted a poem called, “Christ in Alabama,” (which appeared with a drawing called, “Black Christ,” by artist Zell Ingram) and an essay called, “Southern Gentlemen, White Prostitutes, Mill-Owners, and Negroes.”
The publication of the Scottsboro issue was timed to appear several days before Hughes was to visit Chapel Hill for a public reading. Citizens of the town of Chapel Hill were incensed by the visit. Newly-inaugurated University of North Carolina President Frank Porter Graham and Chapel Hill town officials received a flood of letters denouncing Hughes as “sacrilegious” and calling for his engagement to be canceled. Graham did not interfere and the reading went on as planned.
David Clark
Kemp Plummer Lewis Papers #3819, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
17 February 1932
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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Letter, Richard Adler to Frank Porter Graham
Carolina Magazine and freedom of expression
Adler writes to President Graham to solicit his support for Carolina Magazine, in light of a bill presented by some UNC students to the Student Legislature to cease its publication during World War II. “This group feels that creative expression is trivial during the crisis and that all effort should be devoted to ‘practical’ war aid,” he writes of the bill’s sponsors. Carolina Magazine continued to be published until 1948, making it one of the longest continuous UNC student publications, with a 104 year run.
Richard Adler
Office of President of the University of North Carolina (System): Frank Porter Graham Records #40007, University Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
4 November 1942
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Telegram, Junius G. Adams to Frank Porter Graham, 21 September 1939, Salisbury, N.C.
Protest of Fritz Kuhn speaking at UNC
In this letter, a North Carolina citizen expresses his opinion that Fritz Kuhn should not be allowed to speak before the Carolina Political Union at UNC. As the head of the German American Bund and a supporter of Nazi Germany, Kuhn was a controversial figure in 1939. While Kuhn was invited to speak by the CPU, he did not ultimately visit UNC.
Junius G. Adams
Office of President of the University of North Carolina (System): Frank Porter Graham Records #40007, University Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
21 September 1939
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Photograph of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Clyde R. Hoey, and Frank Porter Graham.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's visit to UNC Chapel Hill
Photograph of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, North Carolina Governor Clyde R. Hoey, and University President Frank Porter Graham on the occasion of President Roosevelt's CPU-sponsored visit to UNC Chapel Hill.
Unknown
State Archives, North Carolina Division of Archives and History, Raleigh, N.C.
1938
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Photograph of Eleanor Roosevelt during visit to UNC Chapel Hill, 1942, Chapel Hill, N.C.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visits UNC Chapel Hill
Eleanor Roosevelt (at head of table) sitting in a dining hall with students, faculty, and staff, during Roosevelt’s January 1942 visit to the University of North Carolina, as the keynote speaker at a jointly-sponsored International Student Service-Carolina Political Union conference on “Youth’s State in War Aims and Peace Plans.” Pictured seated from left are James B. Carey, CIO Secretary, Mrs. Carey, Frank Porter Graham, Lucy Darvin, CPU leader, Mrs. Roosevelt, Ridley Whitaker, Chairman of the CPU, Josephus Daniels, and Mrs. Roosevelt's secretary Malvina Thompson.
Unknown
Hugh Morton Photographs and Films #P0081, copyright Hugh Morton, 1942, North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library.
1942
Copyright is retained by the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library.
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Letter, Franklin D. Roosevelt to Frank Porter Graham
Invitation from CPU to speak at UNC.
Roosevelt responds to the CPU's invitation with interest.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Office of President of the University of North Carolina (System): Frank Porter Graham Records #40007, University Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
5 April 1938
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