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Vernon L. Wharton Papers

Collection 34

Wharton, Vernon L. (1907–1964). Papers, 1935–1964, n.d.

6 feet, 0.5 inches; oversize

Dr. Vernon Lane Wharton was born 29 September 1907 in Handsboro, Mississippi, the son of Guy Vernet Wharton and Fannie Henningham Lane. He was married to Beverly Dickerson of McComb, Mississippi and they had 2 sons. Wharton died 7 September 1964 and is buried at the Hollywood Cemetery in McComb, Mississippi

Wharton earned a Bachelor’s degree in English at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi in 1928. He received his Master’s degree and Doctorate in History at the University of North Carolina. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He taught at Millsaps College from 1935 to 1952 and chaired the Department of Sociology. He was the Dean of College and Graduate School at Texas State College of Women from 1952-1956 and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) from 1956 until his death.

Wharton had scholarly interests in historical, social, political, and economic issues. His dissertation was the influential work The Negro in Mississippi. As an educator, Dr. Wharton was a member of distinguished academic societies such as Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, Pi Kappa Delta, and Theta Chi.

This collection consists of biographical material, correspondence, writings and speeches, lecture notes, clippings, and other materials. Several of these works reference African Americans, the South, Reconstruction, and American, European, and Latin American history.

Series:

A. Correspondence 1-01 through 1-13

B. Biographical Material 1-14 through 2-14

C. Writings

  1. Wharton 2-15 through 3-20
  2. Others (history) 7-01 through 7-10

D. Research (history) 2-11 through Box 6

  1. Note cards for The Negro in Mississippi Box 4 through Box 6
  2. Book reviews, etc. 7-11 through 7-17

E. Speeches

  1. Wharton 7-15 through 8-17
  2. Others and research 8-18 through 8-25

F. Lecture notes 9-01 through 13-02

G. Miscellaneous 13-03 through 13-07

H. Reel-to-reel tapes 13-08 through 13-09

I. Volumes: 14-01 through 15-01

J. Diplomas and Certificates Map Case 43-03

Inventory:

A. Correspondence

1-01 General Correspondence: 1920s

1-02 General Correspondence: 1930s

1-03 General Correspondence: 1940s

1-04 Correspondence regarding Negro in Mississippi, 1943-1947

1-05 General Correspondence: 1950-1953

1-06 General Correspondence: 1954-1955

1-07 General Correspondence, 1956

1-08 General Correspondence, 1957-1959

1-09 General Correspondence: 1960-1964

1-10 General Correspondence: n.d.

1-11 Rotary, 1957-1962, n.d.

  • Correspondence, records, certificates, notes for talks

1-12 Public Affairs Research Council controversy over high school survey, 1961-1962, n.d.

  • Resolutions, correspondence, etc.

  • 1-13 PAR controversy: clippings, 1958-1962, n.d. [photocopies]

B. Biographical Material

1-14 Biography: [Wharton?] high school notebook for English class, n.d., pp 1-58, 60-132

1-15 Biography: Ph.D Exam, 1939

1-16 Biography: miscellaneous: life insurance information, 1940-1945

  • booklet about returning to civilian life

1-17 Biography: Farewell Reception at Millsaps College, 12 August 1952

2-01 Biography: vita; Who's Who entry, 1959, n.d.

2-02 Biography: programs for events in which Wharton participated, 1949-1963

  • Mississippi Conference of Social Work, 22nd Annual Meeting, 16-18 March 1949

  • The Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures in Southern History, 26-28 April 1949

  • Introduction comments for Fletcher M. Green

  • Southern Historical Association meeting, Nov., 1949

  • NAPA Purchasing Agents of the Southeast, 10th Annual Conference, 13 Oct. 1953

  • TSCW Winter Commencement, 31 Jan. 1954

  • The Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures in Southern History, 17-18 March 1958

  • Delta Iota Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, 23 rd Annual Banquet, 7 May 1958

  • USL Appreciation Banquet, 13 Oct. 1960

  • Centenary College of Louisiana, formal opening, 139th Session, 3 October 1963

2-03 Biography: Wharton activities, 1947-1960

  • Carnegie Foundation Grant, 1947

  • Typed list of Wharton lectures, 1953-1954

  • National Citizens Council for Better Schools. Summary of Members-State Leaders Southern Regional Conference, 20 June l959 [Wharton a participant]; also Yardsticks for Our Schools: A First Step in Measuring Quality, n.d. 22 pp

  • Southwestern Alumni News, v.21, no.4 (Jan., 1960)

    • 2 group photographs include Wharton

2-04 Biography: Diplomas, Certificates, 1924-1961

2-05 Biography: miscellaneous personal materials, 1928 - 1964

  • Includes transcript records: Millsaps; UNC

2-06 Biography: clippings, 1943-1964, n.d. [photocopies]

2-07 Biography: clippings, 1943-1966, n.d. [photocopies]

2-08 Biography: sympathy letters to Mrs. Wharton on Wharton's death, 1964-1965

2-09 Biography: military records, 1941-1942

2-10 Biography: Military

  • U.S. Naval Training School, Hollywood, Florida, The Quarterdeck, December 15, 1942 - February 9, 1943 [Wharton in 5th Company]

2-11 Biography: military records, 1942-1945

2-12 Biography: military records, 1945-1955

2-13 Biography: military records - Navy Reserves, 1955-1956

2-14 Biography: Photographs, n.d.

  • many of Wharton; family; many unidentified

C. Writings

1. Wharton

2-15 Writings: "Negro in Mississippi" - thesis, n.d. very incomplete and may be several drafts; plan of work as thesis and proposal to Rosenwald Fund; several bibliographies [may be from different works]

  • Box 4 through Box 6 Research note cards, Negro in Mississippi

2-16 Writings: Negro in Mississippi - corrections, n.d. handwritten

2-17 Writings: Negro in Mississippi , reviews, 1948, n.d.

  • Clippings (photocopied); magazines; correspondence, D.C Heath and Company flyer for “Amherst Series” Problems in American Civilization - Reconstruction in the South includes a Wharton selection, n.d.

2-18 Writings: Fletcher Green Festschrift committee - correspondence, 1956-1962

2-19 Writings: Green Festschrift committee - correspondence, 1962-1963

2-20 Writings: Green Festschrift committee - correspondence, 1964

3-01 Writings: Green Festschrift - correspondence, 1965-1966 [Magruder Drake did final editing on article submitted by Vernon Wharton who died in 1964.]

3-02 Wharton, "Reconstruction" 1-19 handwritten

3-03 Wharton, “Reconstruction,” 20-57 handwritten

3-04 Wharton, "Reconstruction," 1-40 typed with handwritten inserts

3-05 Wharton, “Reconstruction,” 100-111 handwritten

3-06 Wharton, “Reconstruction,” 1-29 typed

3-07 Wharton, “Reconstruction,” 1-39 typed

3-08 Wharton, “Reconstruction,” 1-20 typed

3-09 Wharton, “Reconstruction,” 1-55 typed

3-10 Wharton, “Reconstruction,” 1-55 [same as 3-09]

3-11 Writings: Wharton contribution to The Southerner as American volume, 1957

3-12 Writings: published articles

  • Wharton. “The Meaning of Totalitarianism,” The Eleusis of Chi Omega , v 43, # 2 (May, 1941): 123-128

  • Wharton. “The Race Issue in the Overthrow of Reconstruction in Mississippi,” Phylon, The Atlanta University, Review of Race and Culture , 4th Quarter, (1941): 362-369

  • Wharton. “Population Trends as They Affect Purchasing,” The Kentuckiana Purchasor, v.8, No.11, November 1953

3-13 [Wharton?], "Reconstruction," 18 pp 2 copies

  • [very different essay from folders 2-12 through 2-20]

3-14 [Wharton], “Historical Literature of the Negro as Freedman", n.d., typed; 2 copies

3-15 [Wharton?]: "Disfranchisement of the Negro in Mississippi", n.d., 14 pp typed

  • [Wharton?]: description of plantation house “Cumberland Place”; no location; 2 pp; carbon

3-16 Writings [Wharton?]: "The Republican Party and the Negro in the South, 1877-1896", n.d. 25 pp.; typed

3-17 Writings [Wharton?]: “The Role of the Negro Militia During Radical Reconstruction,” n.d. 19 pp typed; notes [TSWC stationery - on Reconstruction but not on Negro militias]

3-18 Writings [Wharton?]: "What's Wrong with History?", n.d. 15 pp.; typed

3-19 Writings: Spanish and Latin American history

  • Wharton critical review of biography of Charles V, 9 pp.; typed

  • Paper on Colombia in 1830s, 16 pp; p. 1 missing

3-20 Writings: Wharton book reviews - typed, published

2. Others [history]

7-01 Writings: Beale, Howard K. "Discussion of Wharton and Mabry Papers in Savannah, 15 November 1947.”, 3 pp; typed

  • letter from Howard Beale

  • program from Southern Historical Association meeting, 1947

7-02 Shugg, Roger W. "The Liberal Ideology of Reconstruction", paper to be read at Joint SHA, AHA session, Dec., 1953; correspondence; AHA Program; Wharton notes for commentary

7-03 Essays on the South:

  • Patrick, Rembert W. “Voices of Southern Dissent?” South Atlantic Quarterly , v. 62, # 4 (Autumn, 1963): 597-606 (reprint)

  • Woodward, C. Vann, "New Construction in the South", Commentary , n.d., pp. 501-508; published

  • No author, “Americans Below the Potomac,” n.d., 19 pp; mimeographed

7-04 Publications: History

  • Beale, Howard K. “On Rewriting Reconstruction History,” American Historical Review , v. 45, # 4 (July, 1940): 807-827; reprint, signed

  • Beale, Howard K. “The Professional Historian: His Theory and His Practice,” The Pacific Historical Review , v. 22, # 3 (Aug., 1953): 227-255; review, signed

  • Bridges, Hal. “Civil War and Reconstruction,” Service Center for Teachers of History, Publication No.5, 1957

  • England, J. Merton. “England and America in the Schoolbooks of the Republic, 1783-1861,” University of Birmingham, Historical Journal, v.9, No.1, (1963): 92-111; reprint, signed

  • Franklin, John Hope. “ Whither Reconstruction Hisoriography?” The Journal of Negro History , v. 17, # 4 (Fall, 1948): 446-461; reprint

  • Green, Fletcher M. “Cycles of American Democracy,” Mississippi Valley Historical Review , v. 48, # 1 (June, 1961): 3-23; reprint, inscribed

  • Singletary, Otis A. “Civil War and Reconstruction,” National Council for the Social Studies, 31st Yearbook, n.d..: 120-132; reprint, signed

  • Singletary, Otis A. “The South in American History,” Service Center for Teachers of History, 1957; inscribed

7-05 no author, "Southern Negro Since Reconstruction", n.d., 24 pp; typed [marginalia by Wharton?; Wharton referred to in 3 rd person in text]

7-06 Massey, Mary Elizabeth, "Confederate States of America: The Home Front", n.d., 36 pp; typed

7-07 No author, "The Central Theme Revisited", n.d., 28 pp; mimeographed

7-08 No author, "Development of the Code of Negro-White Relations in Mississippi, 1865-1890,” 10 pp; typed

7-09 James, Joseph B. “Southern Reaction to the Proposal of the Fourteenth Amendment,” n.d., 29 pp, typed: Wharton marginalia

7-10 Warren, Harold C. "The Recent Action of the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and Its Relations to Tougaloo College", n.d., 3 pp mimeograph

D. Research [history]

7-11 Research: published reviews of books on Reconstruction

7-12 Research: Wharton notes from publications on Reconstruction

7-13 Research: Wharton notes from publications on Reconstruction

7-14 Research: Wharton notes from publications on Reconstruction

7-15 Research: Wharton notes from publications on Reconstruction

7-16 Research: Wharton notes from publications on Reconstruction; clippings on Southern Governors Conference, Oct., 1962 [3]

7-17 Research: "Constitutional Problems: No.2: Suffrage Provisions in Southern Constitutions", 1947 [excepts from state constitutions, Alabama - Virginia]; Wharton notes on constitutional issue handwritten

E. Speeches

1. Wharton

[most speeches are outlines; few complete texts]

7-18 Speech? [Wharton?]:

  • “Segregation in New Orleans,” 3 pp

  • “The Development of the Southern Caste System, 1865-1898,” 1 p

7-19 Speech: “Outline,” [talk on black history], 13 pp, handwritten

7-20 Speeches: education

  • Wharton?. “Improving Louisiana's Educational Product.” n.d., 6 pp; typed, carbon

  • “Education for a New World,” n.d.;. notes/outline

  • Wharton?: notes for speech on future college enrollments, n.d., 5 pp; typed

  • “Education in Crisis,” Lafayette Parish Teachers Association, May, 1957

  • Notes for a speech, 1 p., handwritten

7-21 Speeches: education

  • “Man,” very rough outline, 5 p;, handwritten

  • “To Foreign Student Advisors,” 2 Nov., 7 pp; handwritten

  • Speech to American Legion, n.d. 5 pp; typed

  • “Are Our Children Prepared for College?” outline, 5 pp, n.d.; handwritten

  • “Are Our Children Prepared for College?” outline, 5 pp, n.d. handwritten

  • “Parent-Teacher-Child Relationships

7-22 Speeches: Science Education:

  • outlines or text for speeches; research materials; 1 letter

7-23 Speech: "The People of Mississippi", [1950], 13 pp typed

  • flyer for Griffin, Helen. Dauntless in Mississippi: The Life of Sarah A. Dickey, 1838-1904

  • excerpts "From Woman's Voice", 12 September 1896, v.7, no.37 [about Sarah Dickey]

7-24 Speeches: TSCW and Millsaps talks

  • Texts: most handwritten, some typed; some fragments

7-25 Speeches: student groups, TSCW [most identified]

8-01 Speeches: on education given in Texas

  • “Strengthening Family Ties,” Texas 2 nd District PTA Conference (notes)

  • TSTA [Texas State Teachers' Association?], Decatur, TX, 12 Oct. 1952: handwritten notes; 3 pp

  • "To PTA, Bryant School, Sherman, [TX?], 5 Nov. 1952; 2 pp; handwritten

  • “Grading System and Practices,” Decatur [Baptist] College, 2 March 1953: handwritten notes; 3 pp

  • “Talk about TSCW [Texas State College of Women?],” Extension Chapter, TSCW Alumnae, Bryan, TX 2 Nov. 1955: handwritten notes, 1 p

  • “There Is More To Teaching Than a Book,” n.d. [TSCW] 2pp typed; fragment

8-02 Speeches: nursing, n.d. Correspondence, 1954; research materials

8-03 Speeches: education

  • Wharton speeches to student groups at SLI/USL [most identified]

  • Phi Kappa Phi Journal, Summer, 1956 with chapter announcement about speech by Wharton

8-04 Speeches: student groups; unidentified

8-05 Speeches: SLI

  • Texts for unidentified talks

8-06 Speeches: SLI

  • Texts for JLF speeches

  • JLF requests ideas for talk on Modern Trends in Higher Education; VLW's response, Dec., 1957

8-07 Speeches (notes): Welcomes [events mostly identified], 1953-1963, n.d.

8-08 Speeches: Commencement addresses; Honors Convocations

  • includes: letter, program [Lafayette High School, 1959]; fragments

8-09 Speeches: education

  • education and segregation: outline for talk; notes

8-10 Speeches: to civic clubs

  • includes: correspondence; newsletter

8-11 Speeches: church groups [most identified], 1951-1958, n.d.

  • topics include: students, alcohol, religion, societal change

  • text for talk by J. A. Ward given on a Sunday morning

8-12 Speeches (notes): on delinquency

  • delivered to church groups and schools

  • includes clippings

8-13 Speeches: sociology

  • “Security in a Continuing Crisis” (notes) 2 pp

  • Small towns v. Big city

  • Note for speech on freedom, 1 p, handwritten

8-14 Speeches: U.S. as World Power (events identified and unidentified); correspondence

8-15 Speeches (notes): on human nature; humanism (unidentified); some partial

8-16 Speech: “Inflation, Insurance, and Insurance Against Inflation,” text/notes, 6 pp, n.d.

8-17 Speeches: family

  • includes: correspondence, 1954; research materials

2. Speeches of others; publications, and research materials on topics covered by speeches

8-18 Speeches: Education - others

  • Crisler, Robert M. “A Liberal Arts View of the Function of Higher Education,” n.d., draft 3 pp, typed

  • Hutchins, Robert M. “Remarks on Academic Freedom before American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1955

  • several Ben Kaplan speeches

  • Moore, L. H. “The Place of the Woman's College in a State System of Higher Education,” n.d., typed

  • Teagle, Raphiel. “Louisiana's High School Curricula,” 28 March 1958, 8 pp, mimeograph

8-19 education: research materials

  • Includes articles, clippings, newsletters, statistics, etc.

8-20 education: research materials - publications

  • President's Committee on Education Beyond the High School, “Education, Beyond the High School - Needs and Resources,” Jan., 1956

  • Ransom, Harry Huntt. “The Education Machine,” for SLI Phi Kappa Phi, 19 April 1960

8-21 education: research materials - publications

  • First National City Bank Monthly Letter, Business and Economic Conditions, January, 1958

  • Stahr, Jr., Elvis Jacob. “Inaugural Address,” 14th

  • Keys to Greatness , Center for Southern Education Studies, George Peabody College for Teachers, 1961

  • clipping

8-22 education: research materials publications

  • Southern Association Reporter , v.6, no.2, (Oct., 1953)

  • American Council on Education. Statement of President Arthur S. Adams, Before the Special Committee of the House of Representative to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations, June 17, 1954, 12 pp

  • Hunter, E. C., “Science teachers and teaching in Louisiana,” Louisiana Schools, v. e5, # 4 (Dec., 1957): 9-12; reprint

  • Hunter, E. C., “Mathematics teachers and teaching in Louisiana,” Louisiana Schools, v.36, no.4, (Dec., 1958): 9-11, 25-26; reprint

  • Ginn and Company, “What the Colleges are Doing,” #111, (May, 1958)

  • School and Society, v.87, no. 2148, 28 Feb. 1959

  • "What Should We Expect from our High Schools?” PAR Analysis, no. 103, (March, 1962)

8-23 sociological issues: research materials

  • population statistics

8-24 Publication and speech on foreign policy

8-25 Social studies research: Hemleben, Sylvester John articles

  • “The Special Report in History Teaching,” Education, June, 1939, 1-4

  • “Can We Teach Cultural History?” Social Education, Oct., 1939

  • “High School History and the Activities Program,” The Social Studies, v. 30, # 6 (Oct., 1939), 250-253

  • “History: A Study of the Past or the Present?” Social Education v. 6, # 2 (Feb., 1942), 80-82

F. Lecture Notes: [handwritten, most in notebooks or tied together, n.d.]

9-01 Lecture notes on U.S. history, 1931 [UNC graduate school]

9-01 Lecture notes on U.S. history, 1931 continued

9-03 Lecture notes: U.S. Rise of the New West, 1789-1932

9-04 Lecture notes: U.S. Reconstruction

9-05 Lecture notes: U.S., 1898-1941

9-06 Lecture notes: Medieval Europe

9-07 Lecture notes: England/Great Britain, Tudor - Stuart

9-08 Lecture Notes: Europe and Industrial Revolution, n.d.

9-09 Lecture notes: Europe, 1648 - 1939

10-01 Lecture notes: Europe, 1789 - 1914

10-02 Lecture notes: European history, 1870 - 1939

10-03 Lecture notes: European colonialism

10-04 Lecture notes: Spain/Latin America

10-05 Lecture notes: Hispanic America

10-06 Lecture notes: Latin American History

  • clippings on Wilson peace proposals

  • outline of Roosevelt - Churchill peace aims (1 p.)

  • Wharton notes on US war preparations in 1930s, 1 p.

10-07 Lecture notes: Latin America, 1830s - 1930s

10-08 Lecture notes: Latin America, 20 th century

10-09 Lecture notes: ancient history

11-01 Lecture notes: U.S. sociology

11-02 Lecture notes: U.S. sociology

11-03 Lecture notes: sociology [Chapter 15 - ]

11-04 Lecture notes: Rural - Urban Sociology

11-05 Lecture notes: Rural - Urban Sociology

11-06 Lecture notes: Sociology - Farm life

  • student paper on mechanization of cotton farming, n.d.; 4 pp

  • clippings

  • test for Economics 12 class [more cultural geography]

11-07 Lecture notes: Sociology - Family

11-08 Lecture notes: Sociology - The Family

11-09 Lecture notes: Economy - family

12-01 Lecture notes: criminal justice

12-02 Lecture notes: criminal justice

12-03 Lecture notes: Social Problems, health

12-04 Lecture notes: Social problems

12-05 Lecture notes: Social problems

12-06 Lecture notes: U.S. political science

12-07 Lecture notes: international relations

12-08 Lecture notes: Political economy; sociology

13-01 Lecture notes: psychology

13-02 Lecture notes: religion

G. Miscellaneous

13-03 Pamphlets :

  • The American Sociological Society, n.d.

  • General Board of World Peace of the Methodist Church, “The Meaning and Foundations of World Peace,” Chicago, Illinois, n.d.

  • Peace Action of the National Council for Prevention of War, v.12, no.1, January, 1946

  • McGraw Hill Publishing Company. “In the Field of Education…Who Are Today's Capitalists?” 1957

13-04 Miscellaneous: Millsaps College, 1952 - 1953, n.d.

  • Tougaloo College, 1950

  • Porter, Kenneth W. “Tentative Suggestions for Studies in American Negro History,” 23 Oct. 1946, 3 pp, mimeograph

13-05 Miscellaneous: TSCW

13-06 SLI: Military, AF ROTC Summer Training Unit folder, 1959

13-07 Lafayette Methodist Church [now First United Methodist Church], 1960, n.d.

H. Tapes

13-08 Tape #1 - Founder's Day Speech at Millsaps College, by Wharton, Vernon L., Speech on Education in Colleges and Millsaps College, n.d.

13-09 Tape #2 - Trahan Recital - K.V.O.L., 9 June 1957

I. Volumes

14-01 Yearbook: Millsaps College, The Bobashela , 1928

14-02 The Bobashela , 1942

14-03 The Bobashela, 1946

14-04 The Bobashela, 1952

15-01 Yearbooks: Texas State College for Women, Daedalian , 1956

Diplomas and Certificates (Map Case 43-03)

  1. Millsaps College Diploma, Bachelors, May 1928

  2. Letter of appreciations, Community Chest and the Council of Social Agencies of Jackson, MS, 12 June 1952

  3. Phi Beta Kappa Admission Certificate, 27 November 1956

  4. University of NC Diploma, Ph. D., 11 June 1946

  5. University of NC Diploma, Masters, 21 August 1937

  6. Certificate: Texas State College for Women