%xmlchars; ]> mc00329 Guide to the Wall Family Papers, 1900-1992 Processed by: Michael Watts and Dani Nation;machine-readable finding aid created by: Dani Nation North Carolina State University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center 2007 Machine-readable finding aid derived from xml authoring program Finding aid written in English. May 2007Updated because of addition of May 2007 by Dani Nation Guide to the Wall Family Papers, 1900-1992 MC 329 North Carolina State University Libraries Special Collections Research Center &ncsuaddr; Michael Watts and Dani Nation, April 2007, May 2007 Dani Nation, April 2007, May 2007 Descriptive Summary North Carolina State University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center Wall family Wall Family Papers, 1900-1992 MC 329 1122 archival boxes The Wall Family Papers document the lives of John Nelson Wall; his wife, Frances MacGregor Wall; their son, John Nelson Wall Jr.; along with various members of their extended family, friends, and professional acquaintances, between 1900 and 1992. The bulk of the collection is correspondence written between the years of 1920 and 1960, much of which was exchanged between John and Frances from 1933 to 1949, during their extended courtship and early years of marriage. The Wall family of Morven, North Carolina, includes John Nelson Wall (1904-1992); his wife, Frances MacGregor Wall (1909-1949); and their son John Nelson Wall Jr. (1945- ). John Nelson Wall Sr. worked for the North Carolina Transportation Department in Anson County, North Carolina. Frances MacGregor Wall taught home economics and was a 4-H home demonstration agent in Cleveland County, North Carolina, then assistant 4-H club leader for the state of North Carolina. John Nelson Wall Jr. was a faculty member in the English Department at North Carolina State University. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Special Collections Research Center Reference Staff. English Information for Users Restrictions to Access

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

 Acquisitions Information

Gift of John Nelson Wall Jr., 2002 December (Accession no. 2002-0018) and 2007 April (Accession no. 2007-0126)

 Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Wall Family Papers, MC 329, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

 Copyright Notice &ncsucpyrt; Processing Information

Processed by Michael Watts and Dani Nation, May 2007

Encoded by Dani Nation, May 2007

 Biographical Note

The Wall family of Morven, North Carolina, includes John Nelson Wall (1904-1992); his wife, Frances MacGregor Wall (1909-1949); and their son John Nelson Wall Jr. (1945- ).

Frances Smith MacGregor Wall was born on August 22, 1909, in Lilesville, North Carolina. Her father, John MacGregor, was a farm demonstration agent employed by the Cooperative Extension Service in North Carolina; her mother, Georgia MacGregor, operated a boarding house for school teachers living in the area. Frances attended the North Carolina College for Women (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), where she received a degree in education. After graduating, she taught home economics at Lilesville High School. In 1935, she began work as a 4-H home demonstration agent for Cleveland County. She remained with the organization and was promoted to assistant 4-H club leader for the State of North Carolina in 1937. Her chief obligations were to organize local 4-H club functions, demonstrate to young women on the domestic arts, write newspaper articles, and deliver radio broadcasts to promote the 4-H program.

John Nelson Wall was born on February 20, 1904, in Morven, North Carolina, to Edwin and Inez Wall. He was the youngest of their ten children. Wall enrolled in North Carolina State College (later North Carolina State University) in 1923 and 1924 to study mechanical engineering.

In the late 1920s, John Nelson Wall organized work parties that traveled to the midwestern United States to participate in summer wheat harvests. The groups were known as the "Wheatfield Gang."

After 1929, Wall settled permanently in Morven, taking a job with the North Carolina Department of Transportation. He attended the Morven Presbyterian Church, eventually becoming a Ruling Elder, and was also an active member of the Kilwinning Scottish Rite Masonic Lodge.

John Wall and Frances MacGregor met in 1933 and maintained a correspondence throughout their courtship. They married in 1944, and the correspondence continued as Frances's work with the 4-H association often kept them apart. In 1945 the couple had a son, John Nelson Wall Jr., and Frances resigned her post with 4-H and was, in 1946, working as a home economics instructor at Morven High School. In April 1949, Frances was hospitalized and treated for cancer. After experiencing a brief period of recovery, she died that August at the age of forty.

John Nelson Wall Sr. worked for the North Carolina Department of Transportation in Anson County for more than forty years. He died on September 29, 1992, at the age of eighty-eight.

John Nelson Wall Jr. graduated from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill with a BFA in English in 1967 and earned his master's degree in English in 1969 from Duke University. He received a doctorate in English from Harvard in 1973 and joined the faculty of North Carolina State University's English Department that same year.

 Scope and Content Note

The Wall Family Papers document the lives of John Nelson Wall; his wife, Frances MacGregor Wall; and their son, John Nelson Wall Jr.; along with various members of their extended family, friends, and professional acquaintances between 1900 and 1992. The bulk of the collection is correspondence written between the years of 1920 and 1960, much of which was exchanged between John and Frances from 1933 to 1949, during their extended courtship and early years of marriage. There is also a good deal of correpsondence sent to John Nelson Wall by women that he most likely met while traveling to wheat harvests in various locations throughout the 1920s, as well as photographs taken durring these travels.

The collection also contains photographs, papers and correspondence related to Frances MacGregor Wall's work for the 4-H organization and the various educational and promotional events she conducted over the course of her travels as demonstration agent. Of particular interst are the transcripts of her radio broadcasts for 4-H.

Clippings and photographs related to the childhood and education of John Nelson Wall Jr. are included as well.

Organization of the Collection

The collection is divided into three series: 1. Personal Papers 2. Correspondence 3. Photographs An addition of May 2007 was arranged in the same way but was not incorporated into the original deposit.

 Online Catalog Terms

The following terms have been used to index the guide to the collection in the NCSU Library's online catalog.

Individuals Wall, John Nelson, 1904-1992. Wall, Frances MacGregor, 1909-1949 Wall, John Nelson,1945- . Topics 4-H clubs--North Carolina--History. Courtship--United States--History. Love-letters--United States. Dating (Social customs)--United States--History. Women--United States--History. Places Lilesville (N.C.)--History. Morven (N.C.)--History. Detailed Description of the Collection Series 1Correspondence, 1920-1992 4.59 archival boxes

This series contains the letters written by and to members of the John Nelson Wall family. Primarily, it contains letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall dating from 1920 to 1946 and depicting their courtship and marriage, as well as describing Frances Wall's career with the 4-H organization. Also included are letters received by John Nelson Wall from friends and acquaintances from 1920 until 1992. Of particular interest are letters from women he most likely met during his travels across the United States in the 1920s.

See also the addition of May 2007.

 11Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, January 1933 - April 1933 12Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, May 1933- October 1933 13Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, November 1933 - December 1933 14Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, January 1934 15Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, February 1934 16Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, March 1934 - April 1934 17Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, September 1934 - December 1934 21Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, May 1935 - July 1936 22Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, August 1935 - December 1935 23Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, January 1936 - March 1936 24Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, May 1936 - August 1936 25Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, September 1936 - December 1936 26Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, March 1937 - July 1937 27Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, August 1937 - December 1937 28Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, January 1938 - May 1938 31Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, June 1938 - December 1938 32Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, January 1939 - August 1939 33Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, September 1939 - December 1939 34Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, January 1940 - May 1940 35Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, June 1940 - December 1940 36Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, January 1941 - April 1941 41Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, May 1941 - August 1941 42Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, September 1941 - December 1941 43Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, January 1942 - March 1942 44Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, April 1942 - June 1942 45Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, July 1942 - October 1942 46Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, November 1942 - December 1942 51Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, January 1943 - February 1943 52Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, March 1943 - April 1943 53Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, January 1943 - February 1943 54Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, May 1943 - July 1943 55Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, August 1943 - October 1943 56Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, Jan 1944-February 1944 57Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, March 1944 - April 1944 61Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, May 1944 - August 1944 62Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, September 1944 - December 1944 63Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, January 1945 64Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, No date 65Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, No date 66Letters from Frances MacGregor Wall to John Nelson Wall, No date 71Frances MacGregor- Personal Correspondence (other) 92Letters from John Nelson Wall to his Mother, 1928-1940 93 John Nelson Wall Sr. to John Nelson Wall Jr., 1967-1990 94Letters to Family Members, 1922 - 1979 95John Nelson Wall Personal Correspondence (General), 1932-1954 95John Nelson Wall Business Correspondence (General) 96Wheatfield Gang Correspondence, 1925 - 1932 97Letters to John Nelson Wall from Agnes, 1924 - 1925 98Letters to John Nelson Wall from Ann, 1933 99Letters to John Nelson Wall from Elizabeth Braswell, 1924 910Letters to John Nelson Wall from Bright, 1924 911Letters to John Nelson Wall from Cornelia, 1927 912Letters to John Nelson Wall from Evelyn, 1928 - 1934 913Letters to John Nelson Wall from Edna, 1932 - 1935 914Letters to John Nelson Wall from Fanny, 1930 915Letters to John Nelson Wall from Frances Kelly, 1930 - 1944 916Letters to John Nelson Wall from Hattie 917Letters to John Nelson Wall from Hester, 1927 -1928 918Letters to John Nelson Wall from Inez Boone, 1928 -1929 101Letters to John Nelson Wall from Jean, 1927 - 1930 102Letters to John Nelson Wall from Jimmie, 1922 103Letters to John Nelson Wall from Leona, 1922 104Letters to John Nelson Wall from Lilly, 1941 105Letters to John Nelson Wall from Louise, 1937 106Letters to John Nelson Wall from Margaret, 1932 - 1941 107Letters to John Nelson Wall from Marie,1922 108Letters to John Nelson Wall from Mary,1922 - 1929 109Letters to John Nelson Wall from Mary Alice, 1926 - 1927 1010Letters to John Nelson Wall from Mary E., 1929 1011Letters to John Nelson Wall from Mary Shaw, 1931 1012Letters to John Nelson Wall from Mary Taylor, 1928 1013Letters to John Nelson Wall from Merle, 1927 1014Letters to John Nelson Wall from Sarah 1925 1015Letters to John Nelson Wall from Viola, 1925 1016Letters to John Nelson Wall from Virginia, 1940 1017Letters to John Nelson Wall from unknown 1927, 1940 1018Ruth, 1930-1931 111John Wall Sr. Letters concerning John Jr's relationship with Terry Cobb, 1967 -1970 112Letters from Family Members 113Postcards, 1925-1949 114Postcards and Greeting Cards (1 of 3), 1900-1950 106Postcards and Greeting Cards 107Greeting Cards 115Postcards and Greeting Cards (2 of 3), 1900-1950 116Postcards and Greeting Cards (3 of 3), 1900-1950 165Letters from John Wall Jr. to John Wall Sr., 1969-1983 166Letters from Terry Cobb Wall John Wall Sr., 1967 167Letters to John Wall Sr., 1980-1992 Series 2Personal Papers, 1906-1992 2.55 archival boxes

This series contains news clippings, financail documents and printed materials. Of particular interest are compiled histories of Frances MacGregor Wall's ancestors of the names Smith and MacGregor as well as radio broadcast transcriptions, organization literature and notes amassed by Frances MacGregor Wall durring her career with 4-H.

See also the addition of May 2007.

 72Frances MacGregor- Professional Papers 73Frances MacGregor- 4-H Radio Broadcasts 74Frances MacGregor- Newspaper Articles 75Frances MacGregor - 4-H Pamphlets 76Frances MacGregor - Home Economics Literature 77Frances MacGregor- Delta Kappa Gamma Society 78Julia MacGregor 79Family History Smith/MacGregor 710Family History- Smith (Book) 711Coin Purse - Frances MacGregor 117Wedding Invitation - John Nelson Wall and Frances Smith MacGregor, 1944 118Family History- Wall and Liles 119Edwin Craig Wall Sr. and Edwin Craig Wall Jr. (Canal Industries), 1980-1987 1110John Nelson Wall Sr. -Deceased, 1992 91John Nelson Wall Travel Journal and Notebooks, 1909-1968 1111Loose contents "Mother's Bible", 1940-1950 131Newspaper Articles, 1942-1943 132Newspaper Articles, 1941-1949 133Newspaper Articles, 1958-1987 134Theological Matters- Church, 1922-1962 135Printed materials, 1900-1950 136North Carolina Highway Map, 1948 137John Nelson Wall Sr. notes (1 of 2), unknown 138John Nelson Wall Sr. notes (2 of 2), unknown 141John Wall Sr. Business papers, 1937-1986 142John Wall Sr. bank statements and canceled checks, 1944 144John Wall Sr. bank statements and canceled checks, 1946 145John Wall Sr. bank statements and canceled checks, 1948 151John Wall Sr. bank statements and canceled checks, 1950 152John Wall Sr. bank statements and canceled checks, 1951 153John Wall Sr. bank statements and canceled checks, 1956 154Frances MacGregor Wall bank statements and canceled checks, 1944 155Veterans Loan, 1942-1944 156Insurance, 1938-1951 161Real Estate, 1925-1987 162Sales contract 1941 Pontiac Deluxe, 1941 163Receipts (1 of 2), 1941-1977 164Receipts (2 of 2), 1941-1977 168John Wall Jr. newsclippings and scholarly correspondence, 1963-1970 Series 3Photographs, 1880-1992 1.53 archival flat boxes

This series contains family photographs collected by Frances MacGregor Wall, John Nelson Wall, and John Nelson Wall Jr. as well as photographs of Frances MacGregor Wall (then Frances Smith MacGregor) when she was a student and during her career with the 4-H organization.

See also the addition of May 2007.

 8Frances MacGregor Wall and ancestors, 1909-1949 12John Nelson Wall and ancestors, 1906-1992 17John Nelson Wall Jr. and family, 1945-1992 Addition of May 2007, 1920-1992 2.55 archival boxes, 1 flat file.

The addition of May 2007 contains materials documenting the lives of John Nelson Wall, his wife, Frances MacGregor Wall, and their son John Nelson Wall Jr. along with various members of their extended family, friends, and professional acquaintances between 1900 and 1992. The bulk of this series is comprised of books belonging to Frances MacGregor Wall. Also of interest are the letters, notes and journals written by John Nelson Wall, especially the calendars kept between 1986 and 1991 which describe his day to day life.

 Series 1 Correspondence, 1923-1987

This series contains the letters written by and to members of the John Nelson Wall family. The addition of May 2007 contains primarily letters, cards, and postcards sent to John Nelson Wall from the 1920s until the time of his death in 1992. This addition of May 2007 has been arranged in the same way but was not incorporated into the original deposit.

 181Letters and Cards sent to John Nelson Wall, 1923-1987 182Letters from John Nelson Wall to family, 1928-1939 183Letters exchanged between Belle Liles and "Aunt Sissy", 1940 Series 2 Personal Papers, 1920-1992

This series contains the personal papers generated by John Nelson Wall, his wife, Frances MacGregor Wall, and their son John Nelson Wall Jr. along with various members of their extended family and friends. The bulk of the series addition is made up of Frances MacGregor Wall's collection of books on gardening, cooking, and collections of poetry and reference volumes printed between 1920 and 1949. Also of interest are the notes and journals written by John Nelson Wall, especially the calendars kept between 1986 and 1991 which describe his day to day life. This addition of May 2007 has been arranged in the same way but was not incorporated into the original deposit.

 184WWII Ration book, 1942 185Gas Ration issues to M.E. Gardner, 1942 186Address book, 1980 187Gefroj Studio Keepsake Art, unknown 188Marriage License of John and Frances Wall, 1944 189Financial Doccuments, 1941-1945 1810Report Card NC State A&E issued to John N. Wall, 1923 1811John Wall Jr. School papers, 1963 1812Tax forms, 1944-1947 1813John Nelson Wall handwritten will, 1964 1814Stamp Collection, 1900-1977 1815Newsclippings, 1920-1986 1816John Nelson Wall Notes, 1927-1988 1817John Nelson Wall Calendar with notes, 1986 191John Nelson Wall Calendar with notes, 1987 192John Nelson Wall Calendar with notes, 1988 193John Nelson Wall Calendar with notes, 1990 194John Nelson Wall Calendar with notes, 1991 195John Nelson Wall memorial service record, 1992 196Frances MacGregor Wall photo stationery, unknown 197Frances MacGregor Wall's "Deadwood, SD" bookmark, unknown 198Lilesville 4-H booklet, 1947 199Wood-covered Guest Log, unknown 201The Morven Highschool Pioneer yearbook, 1923 202Websters Academic Dictionary, 1929 203Handbook of Early American Pressed Glass Patterns by Ruth Webb Lee, 1936 204Songs for Courage by Grace Noll Crowell, 1938 205My Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, 1939 211Verses I Like, 1939 212A Southern Garden by Elizabeth Lawerence, 1942 213The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, 1943 214When We're Green We Grow by Jane Simpson McKimmon, 1945 215Lilesville Echoes yearbook, 1946-1947 221Morven Highschool Yearbook, 1947 222Wadesboro Telephone Directory, 1952 223Clover All Over by James W. Clark Jr., 1984 224Greensboro College Alumni Directory, 1991 225You Might be a Redneck If... by Jeff Foxworthy, 1992 226Booklet - These Blooming Climbers by l. Young Correthers, Unknown 227The Favorite Recipes of the Cartoogechaye Home Demonstration Club, Unknown 228News photo of Frances Smith MacGregor with school class, 1920 1Oversized Printed Material, Magazine Clippings and Notes removed from Box 18 folder 16 and Box 20 folder 3, 1930-1959