J. L. M. CURRY FAMILY PAPERS, 1816-1907 Finding aid Call number: LPR48 Extent: 2.5 cubic ft. (5 archives boxes and 1 oversized box.) To return to the ADAHCat catalog record, click here: http://adahcat.archives.alabama.gov:81/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=3945 Alabama Dept. of Archives and History, 624 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36130 www.archives.alabama.gov CURRY FAMILY PAPERS SERIES DESCRIPTION AND CONTAINER LISTING Collection Number: LPR48 I. JABEZ L. M. CURRY PAPERS, 1816-1907 This subgroup contains eight series: A. BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION, n.d.; B. PERSONAL PAPERS, 1846-1907 and n.d.; C. GENERAL AGENT OF PEABODY FUND, 1867-1902; D. GENERAL AGENT TO THE JOHN F. SLATER FUND FOR NEGRO EDUCATION, 1890-1897 and n.d.; E. MINISTER TO SPAIN, 1816-1888, 1902, and various dates; F. REFERENCE FILES, n.d.; G. PRINTED MATERIAL, 1879-1902, 1907 and n.d.; H. PHOTOGRAPHS, n.d. A. BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION, n.d. This collection of papers contains biographical information about Jabez L. M. Curry and George Peabody. Box 1, Folder 1 B. PERSONAL PAPERS, 1846-1907 and n.d. This series contains the following subseries: 1. Letters and papers, 1850-1904; 2. Articles, lectures, notes, 1855-1901, and n.d.; 3. Sermons, 1876-1884; 4. Book manuscripts, 1890, 1891; and 5. Financial records, 1846-1901 1. Letters and papers, 1850-1904 The bulk of this subseries consists mainly of letters to and from Curry. Subjects discussed in the letters include the establishment of a State Historical Society in Alabama; Lincoln’s election as U.S. President signaling a different social policy for the South; Curry’s resentment of having the southern states return to the Union; request from the Second Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia, calling Curry to the pastorate; the Southampton (Virginia) insurrection; repeal of the Moffet law in Virginia; the writing of a proposed pamphlet concerning the geographical and social movements of the black race in the U.S.; and other literary efforts by Curry. Additional papers include an undated membership list of the American Historical Association of Washington, D.C. and invitations to various social events. A few family letters are included here. Correspondents include John Haralson, William F. Samford, and G. P. Putnam’s Sons who published some Curry’s work. Unarranged. Box / Folder 1 2 1850-1894 1 3 1889-1904 2. Articles, lectures, notes, etc., 1899-1901 and n.d. This subseries consists of Curry’s articles, lectures, notes, etc. Topics covered by the materials include education, duties as a Mason, school curriculum, ethics of laws, black education, public schools or free schools, teachers, morality, industrial education, skilled labor, higher education, mechanization of agriculture, export trade, educational ethics, Curry family papers LPR48 I. JABEZ L. M. CURRY PAPERS, 1816-1907 (continued) B. PERSONAL PAPERS, 1846-1907 and n.d. (continued) 2. Articles, lectures, notes, etc., 1899-1901 and n.d. (continued) tariff repeal, state debt, Republican party, and taxes. Additional topics discussed are church and state, English grammar, feudalism, the Magna Carta, Richmond College, parliamentary law, family values, normal, Reconstruction, and the Baptist religion. Arranged chronologically, alphabetically, and unarranged. Box / Folder 1 4 1855-1874 1 5 1874-1887 1 6 1891-1898 1 7 1899-1901 1 8 A-E 19 E 1 10 F-N 2 1 O-R 2 2 S-W 2 3 n.d. 2 4 n.d. 2 5 n.d. 2 6 n.d. 3. Sermons, 1876-1884 and n.d. This subseries contains sermons that discuss the law of nature and divine source, lawful authority, status of the female, Baptist religion, charitableness, and church reform. Box 2, Folder 7 4. Book manuscripts, 1890-1891 This subseries contains book manuscripts for Dr. Fuller and William E. Gladstone. Arranged chronologically by year. Box / Folder 2 8 1890 2 9 1891 5. Financial records, 1846-1901 This subseries contains a small collection of Jabez L. M. Curry miscellaneous financial papers including some belonging to members of his family. Included are bills; a stock certificate from the Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad Company, 1868; and receipts for a variety of dry goods. Unarranged. Box 2, Folder 10 Curry family papers LPR48 I. JABEZ L. M. CURRY PAPERS, 1816-1907 (continued) C. GENERAL AGENT OF THE PEABODY EDUCATION FUND (PEF), 1867-1902 This series contains the following subseries: 1. Letters, 1867-1902; 2. Reports, 1897-1902; 3. Notes and miscellaneous papers, various dates; 4. Miscellaneous financial records, 1888-1896; and 5. Printed material, various dates. 1. Letters, 1867-1902 The letters in Box 3, Folders 1-4, are to Jabez M. L. Curry, Robert C. Winthrop and others. Topics discussed include a proposal for additional normal schools in Texas,; book bills for several schools; funding of teachers’ salaries, scholarships, and school supplies; Peabody Board of Trustees visit to the Peabody Normal School; search for a Model School teacher, examination for a scholarship appointment; building fund for the Model School; redistribution of scholarships among the white population; appropriations for the Knoxville school; legislative appropriations for “common schools” and the Teachers’ Institute in Georgia; Booker T. Washington’s expression of thanks to the Peabody Fund for appropriations to Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute; and disposition of the Peabody Fund. The letters in Box 3, Folders 5-8, are written to Robert C. Winthrop, the chairman of the PEF board, by Barnas Sears, the first PEF general agent. A variety of PEF issues are discussed including George Peabody; PEF finances; candidates for PEF agents; PEF expenditures for the year 1868; New York incorporation of the Board of Trustees of the PEF; Peabody’s donation to the Southern Education Society and the state of Florida; establishment of normal schools (especially for the training of female teachers); opposition to free schools in Virginia; establishment of public education in the southern states; cost for maintaining black and white schools; studies of population in Texas; support of normal schools in New Orleans, La.; the possibility of establishing more than one normal school in each southern state; and the . establishment of tax supported public schools in Texas. Racial issues in education are also documented in letters. Some topics reflecting race include the political crisis in Columbia, S. C. and New Orleans, La., over the placement of blacks and whites in the same school; permission to aid black normal pupils at Berea College, Ken., if a good normal school could not be found in Tennessee; Barnas Sears’ opposition to mixed schools; Foster’s donation to be applied exclusively to the education and improvement of black schools for teachers; and lobbying Congress to aid Southern states in educating their black population. The letters also report on the progress of the Peabody Fund in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Additional topics include recommendation of Dr. Curry to be Barnas Sears’ successor; scholarship funds for attendance to the Peabody Normal School at Nashville, Tenn.; attainment public schools through state supported legislation; methods of educating a better class of teachers; conversion of a department at the University of Nashville into a State Curry family papers LPR48 I. JABEZ L. M. CURRY PAPERS, 1816-1907 (continued) C. GENERAL AGENT OF THE PEABODY EDUCATION FUND (PEF), 1867-1902 (cont.) 1. Letters, 1867-1902 (continued) Normal College; possibility of a joint meeting between the American Association of State School Superintendents and the Peabody Trustees; Sears’ speech on education; Sears’ protracted illness with laryngitis and indigestion; and the death of Barnas Sears. A frequent correspondent between 1888-1896 is William H. Payne, Chancellor of the Peabody Normal School, University of Nashville. Other correspondents are Barnas Sears, Daniel C. Gilman, Herbert Baxter Adams, Eli Thayer, Dwight Mayo, and Robert C. Winthrop. Arranged chronologically by year. Box / Folder 3 1 1867-1871 3 2 1872-1876 3 3 1877-1879 3 4 1880 3 5 1881-1888 3 6 1889 3 7 1890 3 8 1891 3 9 1892 3 10 1893 3 11 1894 3 12 1895 3 13 1896 3 14 1897-1899 3 15 1900-1902 2. Reports, 1897-1903 This subseries contains reports regarding annual expenditures; growth of the Peabody Normal College; manual training at several colleges; and Peabody Parish Institutes. Two 1902 travel reports by Dr. Wallace Buttrick who visited several southern African American schools are also in this subseries. Unarranged. Box 3, Folder 16 3. Notes and miscellaneous papers, 1868, 1896, and 1902 This subseries includes an 1868 printed address by Dr. Sears; notes on George Peabody; a short, unidentified commencement speech; and a 1900 census list of illiteracy among the southern male population. Box 4, Folder 1 Curry family papers LPR48 I. JABEZ L. M. CURRY PAPERS, 1816-1907 (continued) C. GENERAL AGENT OF THE PEABODY EDUCATION FUND (PEF), 1867-1902 (cont.) 4. Miscellaneous financial records, 1888-1896 This subseries consists of an account book, a payroll sheet, accounts, and a financial statement concerning the teachers’ pay at Peabody Normal College. Other records include building, salary, scholarship, and library expenses, and a 1896 treasurer’s statements. Unarranged. Box 4, Folder 2 5. Printed material, various dates This subseries consists of a circular and a pamphlet concerning the establishment of the Peabody Normal College at the University of Nashville, Tenn., and information on the rules and regulation of the Peabody’s scholarship program. Also included is a scrapbook of clippings and circulars of Barnas Sears’ letters on education, and funding objectives of the Peabody program. Box 4, Folder 3 D. GENERAL AGENT OF THE JOHN F. SLATER FUND, 1890-1903 and n.d. This series contains the following subseries: 1.