mc00160 Guide to the Selz C. Mayo Papers, 1936 - 1963 Processed by: Valerie Gillispie; machine-readable finding aid created by: Valerie Gillispie North Carolina State University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center
Campus Box 7111 Raleigh, NC 27695-7111
2002 Machine-readable finding aid derived from xml authoring program. Date of source: December, 2002 Finding aid written in English 2005Converted to EAD 2002 Guide to the Selz C. Mayo Papers, 1936 - 1963 MC 160 North Carolina State University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center Valerie Gillispie December, 2002 Valerie Gillispie Descriptive Summary North Carolina State University. Libraries. Special Collections Dept. Mayo, Selz C. (Selz Cabot), 1915-1983 The Selz C. Mayo Papers, 1936 - 1963 MC 160 3 1.5 The Selz C. Mayo Papers primarily contains documents from the 1940s and 1950s, when Mayo was a professor in the small but growing Department of Rural Sociology at North Carolina State College. Much of the collection consists of correspondence with fellow professors and researchers, organizations related to his research interests, and students and others whom Mayo assisted. Along with a limited amount of Mayo's writings and research, the collection contains records of his membership in professional organizations, including the North Carolina Rural Chuch Institute. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Special Collections Research Center Reference Staff. Information for Users Restrictions to Access

This collection is open for research; access requires at least 24 hours advance notice.

Acquisitions Information

Gift of Selz C. Mayo, 1982.

 Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], Selz C. Mayo Papers, MC 160, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, North Carolina.

 Copyright Notice

North Carolina State University does not own copyright to this collection. Individuals obtaining materials from the NCSU Libraries' Special Collections Research Center are responsible for using the works in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.

 Biographical Note

Selz Cabot Mayo was born in Pamlico County, North Carolina on September 20, 1915. After attending high school, he received a B.S. in Sociology from Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in 1935. Mayo went on to earn an M.S. degree in Rural Sociology from North Carolina State College in 1938 and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina in 1942.

Mayo joined the faculty of North Carolina State in 1939 as an instructor, and remained with the University for 42 years, until 1981. During that time, Mayo was a professor in the Department of Rural Sociology, and became the head of the department in 1960. In 1963, he was named head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology as well, and in 1965 the Department of Rural Sociology was absorbed into the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Mayo remained the head of this department until his retirement in 1981. During his career at North Carolina State, Mayo also taught courses at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Shaw University.

Always active as a professor as well as a community member, Mayo had broad interests, including farm labor, demography and population, health services, education, and social change. All of his interests revolved around his main professional focus, rural communities and their development. Mayo edited the journal Rural Sociology from 1941 to 1951, and was a member of the American Sociological Association, the Population Association of America, the North Carolina Rural Church Institute, and the Rural Sociology Society, in which he served as Vice President in 1963 - 1964. He also served as President of the Southern Sociological Society from 1963 - 1964, after being the Secretary-Treasurer of that organization. In 1974, Mayo was elected President of the North Carolina Sociological Association. In addition to his membership in many organizations, he also published over 150 articles and essays.

Upon Mayo's retirement in 1981, Frederick L. Bates remarked, "His career-long goal has been to bring the message of sociology and its research methods to other fields, particularly to fields such as education, engineering, and to the technical fields of agriculture, and to social work." Mayo continued to work after his retirement on a history of sociology at North Carolina State University. Mayo died at the age of 68 on November 16, 1983.

 Scope and Content Note

This collection contains materials relating to both the personal and professional life of Selz C. Mayo. It documents his correspondence, research, writings, and membership in organizations primarily while he was professor of Rural Sociology at North Carolina State College in the 1940s and 1950s. The correspondence includes letters to and from researchers, professors, professional organizations, students, and community members. This correspondence documents Mayo's communication with others who shared his research interests, and those for whom he recommended materials pertaining to rural sociology. The research materials include both notes and collected secondary resources on rural sociology and extension activities. The documents relating to Mayo's research reflect his interest in rural people and education. There is a sampling of Mayo's own in the Writing series that demonstrate his professional and academic interests. These include both articles and booklets. Finally, the organizational documents describe Mayo's active involvement in the Association of Southern Agricultural Workers and the North Carolina Rural Church Institute, among others, through correspondence, memorandums, minutes, and organizational information.

 Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into four series: Correspondence, Research, Writings, and Organizations. Mayo, with some assistance from his secretary, had organized his papers into roughly these four groups. Correspondence was organized alphabetically, chiefly by surname. The Research series has been maintained in the order in which Mayo left them. A collection of Mayo's writings were received and filed together. Organizations were divided by group, and have been filed this way.

 Online Catalog Headings Personal Names Mayo, Selz C., (Selz Cabot), 1915-1983 Corporate Names Committee for North Carolina North Carolina Rural Church Institute North Carolina State University. Dept. of Rural Sociology North Carolina State University. Dept. of Rural Sociology -- Faculty North Carolina State University. Dept. of Rural Sociology -- History Topics Agriculture -- Social Aspects -- Southern StatesAssociation of Southern Agriculture Workers Rural churches -- North Carolina Rural churches -- Southern States Rural extension -- North Carolina Sociology, Rural -- North Carolina Sociology, Rural -- Research -- North Carolina Sociology, Rural -- Southern States Sociology, Rural -- Study and teaching -- North Carolina Related Material Detailed Description of the Collection MC 160 Series 1 Correspondence, 1942 - 1951 1.5 Archival Boxes0.75 linear feet

This series contains correspondence between Mayo and other researchers, professors, organizations, students, and others. The three main categories of the correspondence series are People Related to Research Interests, Organizations Related to Research Interests, and General. Letters are arranged alphabetically according to personal name or organization name.

 People Related to Research Interests, 1942 - 1951 11 A - Bi Alexander, Frank D., 1951 Atwater, Reginald M., 1947 Barlow, Frank D., Jr., 1947 - 1948 Beers, Howard W., 1948 - 1951 Bishop, Charles E., 1950 12 Bl- Br Blackwell, Gordon W., 1944 - 1951 Bobbitt, Robert McDaniel, 1947 - 1951 Brewer, Earl D. C., 1945 des Brunner, Edmund, 1951 13 C - Da Chambers, Martin Reed, 1945 - 1947 Christensen, Harold T., 1950 Comfort, Richard O., 1946 Davies, Vernon, 1947 - 1948 Davis, Dan R., 1948 Davis, Joseph S., 1950 Davis, Kingsley, 1951 14 De - Du Dean, S. P., 1945 - 1947 Demerath, Nicholas, 1947 Denton, Alfred M., Jr., 1951 Duncan, O.D., 1948 - 1951 15 E - F Ensminger, Douglas, 1948 Ferriss, Abbott L., 1942 -1949 Fessler, Donald R., 1951 Fink, Arthur E., 1948 - 1949 Forster, G. W., 1946 - 1950 Fullerton, Kie, 1946 - 1948 Furfey, Paul Hanly, 1942 16 G - H Gamble, Clarence J., 1950 Gee, Wilson, 1950 Gibson, W. L., 1947 Greene, R. E. L., 1950 Grigsby, S. Earl, 1949 - 1950 Grisette, Felix A., 1945 - 1951 Hagood, Margaret Jarman, 1950 - 1951 Hamilton, C. Horace, 1949 - 1951 Hay, Donald G., 1949 - 1950 Hedrick, W. P., 1950 Hitt, Homer, 1950 - 1951 17 J - L Jocher, Katherine, 1946 - 1947 Johnson, Alice M., 1949 Larson, Olaf F., 1948 - 1951 Leagans, J. Paul, 1948 Lewis, Myron F., 1947 - 1949 Longmore, T. Wilson, 1950 - 1951 18 M - Sc McCoy, Charles S., 1950 Martin, Robert E., 1947 - 1951 Matthews, M. Taylor, 1950 - 1951 Robinson, William McKinley, 1947 Santopolo, Frank, 1951 19 Schuler, Edgar A., 1944 -1949 110 Sm - W Smith, Marion B., 1948 Taylor, Carl C., 1951 Tate, Leland B., 1947 Tripp, Thomas Alfred, 1947 - 1948 Umstead, Vertee, 1945 Vance, Rupert B., 1951 Wakeley, Ray E., 1951 Williams, Robin M., Jr., 1948 - 1950 Organizations Related to Research Interests, 1942 - 1951 111 A - B American Association of University Professors, 1945 - 1951 American Council for the Community, 1950 - 1951 Bureau of the Census, 1942 - 1949 112 C Carolina Power and Light Company, 1950 - 1951 Committee for North Carolina, 1946 - 1947 Community Council of Raleigh and Wake County, Inc., 1949 - 1951 Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, State of North Carolina, 1945 - 1951 Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, State of Wisconsin, 1945 113 F - N Farmers Cooperative Exchange, 1948 - 1951 National Planning Association, 1947 North Carolina Conference for Social Service, 1947 - 1949 North Carolina Council of Churches, 1946 North Carolina Dental Society, 1947 114 P - Sh People's Hospital, Inc., 1946 Progressive Farmer, 1945 - 1952 Shaw University, 1947 - 1951 21 So - W Southeast Regional Land Tenure Research Committee, 1951 Southern Sociological Society, 1944 - 1951 State Planning Board, 1944 United States Department of Agriculture, 1944 - 1945 Wake County Health Department, 1949 General, 1942 - 1951 22 A - B 23 C - D 24 E - G 25 H - L 26 M 27 N - R 28 S - Y MC 160 Series 2 Research, 1948 - 1953 0.1 Archival Boxes.05 linear feet

This series includes notes, speeches, lists, statistics, and a booklet about two research topics in which Mayo was interested: extension activities and the study of rural sociology in the south. The contents of each folder were filed together originally, and this arrangement is preserved.

 29 Extension Activities in North Carolina, 1951 - 1953, [no date] 210 Rural Sociology in the Southeast, 1948 MC 160 Series 3 Writings, 1946 - 1963 0.1 Archival Boxes.05 linear feet

The Writings series contains a small sampling of Mayo's writings on rural communities, distribution of healthcare specialists in North Carolina, and other rural sociology topics. Several articles are reprints from sociology journals, and one article is a progress report written for the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. Also included is a booklet about changing population trends in North Carolina. These writings, which cover a broad span of time, were originally grouped together in the collection, and this organization is preserved.

 211 1946 - 1963 MC 160 Series 4 Organizations, 1936 - 1963 1.3 Archival Boxes.65 linear feet

The Organizations series contains correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and other organizational information about several groups to which Mayo belonged. The Association of Southern Agricultural Workers, the North Carolina Rural Church Institute, and Committee for North Carolina were all organizations in which Mayo contributed his expertise on rural sociology. Mayo's participation in the School of Agriculture Open House Planning Committee and the State of the University Conference Committee reflects his long-standing relationship with the University. Each organization's materials were originally filed all together, and have since been broken down into smaller categories, such as correspondence, conference materials, and so on.

 Association of Southern Agricultural Workers, 1947 - 1951 Correspondence 212 1947 - October, 1948 213 November, 1948 - September, 1950 214 Announcements, Conference Materials, 1949 - 1951, [no date] 215 Speech Notes, 1949 News Service, Committee for North Carolina, 1947 - 1948 216 Correspondence, 1947 - 1948 217 Press Releases and Clippings, 1948, [no date] North Carolina Rural Church Institute, 1936 - 1953 Correspondence 218 1942 - 1949 219 1950 - 1953 31 Memoranda, 1947 - 1952 32 Minutes, 1940 - 1953 33 Organizational Information, 1951, [no date] 34 Constitution, By-Laws, Articles of Incorporation, 1947 - 1948 35 Articles, Brochures, 1951 - 1953, [no date] 36 Financial Records, 1936 - 1953 37 Member and Attendence Rosters, 1944 - 1953, [no date] School of Agriculture Open House Planning Committee, 1961 - 1963 38 Memoranda, 1961 - 1963 39 Minutes, 1962 - 1963 310 Organizational Materials, 1962 - 1963 311 Planning Information, Brochures, 1962 - 1963, [no date] State of the University Conference Committee, 1953 - 1954 312 Correspondence, 1953 - 1954 313 Memorandums, 1953 - 1954 314 Conference Materials and Programs, 1953 - 1954 315 Discussion Topics, 1953, [no date] 316 Reports and Recommendations, 1953 317 Participant Rosters, [no date] 318 Extension Services Materials, [no date] 319 Presentation Notes, 1954, [no date]