| Title: | Dallas W. Newsom and Dorothy Newsom Rankin Collection | ||
| Inclusive Dates: | 1913, 1930-1990 | ||
| Extent of Materials: | 10 boxes (6 linear feet) | ||
| Location: | 10 boxes (6 linear feet) | ||
| Donor: | Dallas W. Newsom and Dorothy Newsom Rankin | ||
| Processor: | Todd Johnson | ||
| Abstract: | Clippings, subject files, and miscellaneous manuscripts and ephemera collected by Dallas W. Newsom, Durham county manager in 1930s and 1940s, and his daughter, civic leader and local historian/preservationist Dorothy Newsom Rankin. | ||
| Scope and Content: | The bulk of materials from Dallas W. Newsom’s collection consists of clippings and subject files related to Durham County government during the Great Depression and World War II years. This material has particular research potential for scholars interested in relief efforts during the Depression, the beginnings of Raleigh-Durham Airport, and the inner workings of county government. The Dorothy N. Rankin files provide extensive material on Durham local history. Especially noteworthy are a history she compiled on the Southern Conservatory of Music in Durham and a collection of Durham historical photographs. | ||
| Related Materials: | Robert S. Rankin Papers, 1898-1977, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University. | ||
| Restrictions: | The collection is open for research | ||
| Biographical/Historical Note: | Dallas Walton Newsom was born October 24, 1873, in Littleton, Warren County, North Carolina. He attended Cedar Grove School and Littleton High School and Business Institute, assisting in the teaching of several subjects. In 1895 he entered Trinity College (now Duke University) in Durham, and was soon working as secretary to President John C. Kilgo. During his senior year he was president of his class and editor of The Trinity Archive, a literary magazine. After graduating from Trinity, Mr. Newsom spent a year in Havana, Cuba, as secretary to the U.S. Comptroller of Customs. He returned to Durham in 1901 as registrar at Trinity, and in 1907 he was appointed treasurer as well. He was also a poet and writer who composed lyrics for a town song, “In Old Bull Durham Town,” in the 1930s. | ||
| On September 14, 1905, Mr. Newsom married Tempie Battle (1881-1941), a voice teacher at the Southern Conservatory of Music. The couple had four children: D.W. Newsom, Jr. (died 1962); Routh Battle Newsom (died 1910); Dorothy Newsom (died 2002); and Tempie Garrett Newsom. | |||
| In 1923 Mr. Newsom left Trinity and began his own real estate and insurance business. He was elected secretary and president of the Durham Real Estate Board and was active in affairs of the community and the Methodist Church. He served as a county commissioner from 1924 until 1930. On August 8, 1930, he was appointed the first county manager of Durham County, and held that post in exemplary fashion until his death on February 21, 1949. | |||
| Dorothy Newsom Rankin (1911-2002), daughter of D. W. Newsom, was a local civic leader and historic preservationist. She was married to Duke University professor Robert S. Rankin. | |||
| Reference: Information in the above biographical note was taken from the detailed biographical introduction to Mr. Newsom’s Along the Silent Ways. This book is a collection of his poems, edited by his daughters, Dorothy Newsom Rankin and Teme Newsom Prouty, and published in 1973, the 100th anniversary of his birth. | |||
| Container List: | Box 1 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Agriculture | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Airport | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Bonds | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-City Canning | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-County Fair | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-County Home | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Civilian Conservation Corps | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| Box 2 | |||
| DWN - Subject files-Courts | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Foreclosures | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Grand Jury | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Home Guard | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Hospitals | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| Box 3 | |||
| DWN - Subject files-Courts | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Taxes | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Tuberculosis Sanitorium | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Welfare | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| Box 4 | |||
| Correspondence | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Civil Defense | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Clubs | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Festivals | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Misc. | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Subject files-Work Projects Administration | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| Box 5 | |||
| DWN - Clippings-Agriculture | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Airport | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-City/County Merger | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-County Budget | 1940-1948 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-County Coroner | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-County Government | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-County Home/Farm | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-County Manager (D. W. Newsom) | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Courts | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Crime | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Dr. Bartlett Durham's reburial | 1933 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Elections | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Federal Government | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Fire Dept. | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Forestry Camp | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Great Depression Relief Work | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Hospitals | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Illiteracy | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| Box 6 | |||
| DWN - Clippings-Library | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Misc. | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Prisons/Jails | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Prohibition/Repeal | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Public Health | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Roads | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Scandals/Disputes | 1930-1934 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Schools | ca. 1930-1950 | ||
| DWN - Clippings-Taxes/County Finance | 1930-1944 | ||
| Box 7 | |||
| DNR - list of photographs in Rankin collection | |||
| DWN - "In Old Bull Durham Town" sheet music | ca. 1930s | ||
| DWN - County Budgets | 1937-1948 | ||
| DWN - Day Book | 1935 | ||
| DWN - Day Book | 1938-1948 | ||
| DWN - Duke University Yearbook | 1913 | ||
| DWN - Maps, drawings, plats | |||
| DWN - Scrapbook pages (loose) | 1931 | ||
| Lakin, Bennie D., photograph | |||
| Signs, "For Sale"/"For Rent" | |||
| Box 8 | |||
| DNR - Bulletins, pamphlets | |||
| DNR - Misc. publications | |||
| DNR – Photographs | |||
| DNR - Southern Conservatory of Music history | |||
| Box 9 | |||
| DNR - Clippings-African Americans | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Churches | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Development/Urban Renewal | |||
| >DNR - Clippings-Duke family/homestead | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Government | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Neighborhoods | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Raleigh-Durham Airport | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Water Resources | |||
| Box 10 | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Arts and Music | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Businesses | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Dixon, Wyatt T., columns | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Eno Festival/History | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Fire Department | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Historic Properties/Preservation | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Hospitals | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Lougee, George, columns | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Misc. | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Nixon, Richard | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Schools | |||
| DNR - Clippings-Webb, Mena, columns | |||
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