State Agency Finding Aids

A

• Adjutant General's Department (PDF only)
• Administration, Department of (PDF only)
• Agriculture, Department of (PDF only)
• Alcoholic Control, Board of (PDF only)
• America's Four Hundredth Anniversary Committee
  Between 1984 and 1987 North Carolina commemorated the four hundredth anniversary of the Roanoke Voyages. Supported by Sir Walter Raleigh with the assistance of Queen Elizabeth I, the first expedition was sent to explore the coastal and sound regions of what is now North Carolina. Subsequent voyages attempted to found a military colony on Roanoke Island and an ongoing civilian settlement. While these objectives were only partially realized (the settlement is remembered as the Lost Colony), the voyages led the way for England to establish permanent colonies in America in the following century. Through a joint resolution, the General Assembly of 1955 laid the foundation for a three-year celebration of the historical events. A body known as America's Four Hundredth Anniversary Commission was established to initiate plans toward a commemoration on the scale of a national or world's fair exposition, or as deemed appropriate. In 1973 the legislature repealed the resolution creating the anniversary commission and established America's Four Hundredth Anniversary Committee in its place. Charged with advising the secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources in planning and implementing the commemorations, the anniversary committee consisted of four ex officio members and ten gubernatorial appointees who served staggered terms.
• Archives and History, Department of (PDF only)
• Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Company, General Records, 1858-1970
  The Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Company (ANCRR) was incorporated by the 1852 General Assembly. The service area of the ANCRR ran from Morehead City to Goldsboro, where it connected with tracks of the North Carolina Railroad Company (NCRR). This series includes minutes of stockholders meetings (1904-1928), annual reports (1905-1949), statements of operations (1938-1939), certificates of stock, accounting ledgers, correspondence, leases, agreements, maps, board minutes, and other general administrative and financial records.

B

• Banking Department (PDF only)
• Barber Examiners, North Carolina Board of (PDF only)
• Blind, School for the (PDF only)
• Superintendent for Public Buildings and Grounds (PDF only)

C

• State Capitol Planning Commission (PDF only)
• Carolina Charter Tercentenary Commission (PDF only)
• Chiropractic Examiners, Board of (PDF only)
• Colonial Court Records Group, 1665-1787
  The Colonial Court Records contain information regarding the court records of North Carolina during the colonial period (late 1600s through the 1700s) when the colony was controlled by the proprietors and later the crown. Researchers will find materials that would have passed through the court system or is related to court proceedings including civil and criminal cases from the General Court and later the Supreme Court, and other various court documents such as administrative materials including appointments, oaths, commissions, and other noncriminal court proceedings. Cases from the Admiralty Court, Court of Chancery, General Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery, Supreme Court, Court of Assize and Palatine Court, estate and land records, wills, court minutes and dockets, tax and account information and various correspondence and receipts are also part of this collection. There are additionally papers regarding specific subjects, such as enslaved persons and slavery, indenture servitude, and apprentices. A schematic of the court system and other explanatory materials are also available.
• Confederate Centennial Commission (PDF only)
• Conservation and Development, Dept. of; Travel Information Division Photographs, 1937 - 1973
  In 1930 the Division of Commerce and Industry merged with the Division of Public Relations, an office that had previously functioned within the Department of Conservation and Development as a quasi chamber of commerce for the state. The Division of Commerce and Industry continued to promote the state through public relations until 1937, when the department was granted an appropriation that enabled it to create a separate Division of State Advertising. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Division of Travel Information (previously named the Division of State Advertising) worked in cooperation with the Division of Commerce and Industry, conducting "Get acquainted with North Carolina" events for newcomers to the state, including those transferred by out-of-state firms to branch operations in North Carolina. The two divisions also worked on a project initiated during the 1960s, locating welcome centers at interstate highway exits near the state's borders. The Division of Commerce and Industry subsequently established a Travel and Tourism Section that continued into the next decade. The photographs in this series are quite diverse and range in subject from pictures of governors of North Carolina to shots of naval personnel during World War II. The first 118 boxes of photographs usually contain both prints and original negatives. They are arranged numerically with print and accompanying negative numbers corresponding. Photographs found in boxes 119 through 128 are arranged alphabetically by subject. No index or classification system other than an alphabetical arrangement by subject exists for these photographs. (128 boxes, including photographs and negatives)
• Council on the Status of Women, 1955-1956, 1960, 1964-1994
  The Council on the Status of Women started as the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women on October 11, 1963, by executive order of Governor Terry Sanford. The Commission on the Status of Women was charged with reviewing and recommending changes in several areas where women were likely to suffer discrimination, including state labor laws, employment policies and practices, legal and property rights, family relations, education and counseling, vocational training and retraining, health and welfare programs, the welfare of disadvantaged women, and childcare. In 1971, the commission was renamed the Council on the Status of Women and became one of seven advocacy agencies under the Department of Administration. The work of the Council on the Status of Women is being continued today by the Council for Women and Youth Involvement. This record group consists of correspondence, reports, press releases, newspaper clippings, photographs, and reference materials.

D

• District Superior Courts, 1722-1865
  The District Superior Court Records contain the court records of North Carolina from the later colonial period (1750s) to the early nineteenth century (1800s) with a small crossover from the Colonial Court Records. Researchers will find materials that would have passed through the court system or is related to court proceedings, including civil and criminal cases from the District Superior Courts of Edenton, Fayetteville, Halifax, Hillsborough, Morgan, New Bern, Salisbury, and Wilmington Districts; Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery,; and the Supreme Court. Other vario.us court documents, such as court minutes and dockets, jury lists, court costs, pardons, licensures, county accounts, tax records and other non-criminal court proceedings, are also present within this collection. Criminal cases include treason, assault, debt to the crown, large debts, murder, counterfeit, and forgery. Noncriminal cases and court proceedings concern small debt, suits in equity, land and property disputes, land ejectments, custody, estates disputes, and wills.

E

• Employment Security Commission, Unemployment Insurance Division, 1937-1957
  Following the nation's entry into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt requested that states' separate employment services be centralized into one federal agency responsive to the demands of national defense. Effective 1 January 1942, the records of the State Employment Service Division and various other personnel under the North Carolina Unemployment Compensation Commission (UCC) were transferred to the United States Employment Service under the Social Security Board. The following year, the General Assembly empowered the UCC to cooperate with other unemployment compensation agencies and to make reciprocal arrangements with agencies of the federal and other state governments. In 1947 the General Assembly changed the name of the State Employment Service Division to the Employment Security Commission (ESC) and vested it with all powers and duties previously granted to it as the Unemployment Compensation Commission. These materials include correspondence, financial reports, speeches, articles and other documents relating to the Unemployment Insurance Division of the Employment Security Commission. The correspondence concerns the merger of unemployment compensation funds for over forty railroads and the administration of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944. Other miscellaneous records include status reports from various divisions, reports on group layoffs in North Carolina, delinquent employers, procedure for charging proportional benefits to former employers, and resources available through the Unemployment Compensation Commission in North Carolina. (3 Fibredex boxes)

G

• GIS Data Collection, 1947 - 2009, bulk 1999-2009
  The GIS Data Collection is a product of the Geospatial Multistate Archive and Preservation Partnership (GeoMAPP) project, which aims to address the preservation of "at risk" and temporally significant digital geospatial content. The collection currently consists of "demonstration" datasets or purposely identified datasets to capture as part of the demonstration portion of the project. As such, these datasets are currently not available online. (27 datasets, approximately 739 gigabytes) [Finding aid temporarily unavailable]
• Governor's Efficiency Study Commission, bulk 1973-1975
  This collection contains correspondence, minutes, memoranda, notes, forms, reports, statistical data in a variety of formats, press materials, printed matter, some published materials and a few photographs along with other manuscript materials specific to a variety of government functions. Ranging from 1951 to 1978, the collection is broken into three series. The Commission Files Series contains the materials pertaining to the creation and administration of the Commission. The Summaries Series includes summaries and Final Reports from study teams. The Working Files Series contains the materials accumulated and created by the study teams throughout the course of the study. The bulk of the materials are from 1973 to 1975. Those materials dated prior to 1973 are most often materials accumulated by the teams for their research. Materials dated after 1973 are from the Office of Administrative Management Analysis (before 1975) and the Office of Administrative Analysis (after 1975). There is a small amount of materials dated between 1975 and 1978, which generally refers to the overall results of the Commission and the progress of some of the implemented recommendations.

I

• Indian Affairs Record Group, 1972-2016 (bulk 1972-1980)
  The North Carolina State Commission of Indian Affairs was created by the 1971 General Assembly in response to the requests of concerned Indigenous citizens. In 1977 the General Assembly re-created the commission with the same name and formally transferred it to the Department of Administration for administrative purposes. The commission retained its previously granted statutory powers and duties, although it came under the direction and supervision of the department's assistant secretary for advocacy programs. The records of the Commission of Indian Affairs include administrative subject files; records on conferences and workshops; subject files related to American Indian tribal organizations in North Carolina; public relations files, including publications, news releases, and clippings related to the commission; project files related to the commission's functions; incoming and outgoing correspondence; and records related to federal Title XX capacity building. (47.6 cubic feet)

J

• Justice/Attorney General Record Group:
  • Central Files Section: Correspondence for State Agencies
    Correspondence, attorney general's opinions, and attorney general's "no opinion" correspondence with state agencies. The opinions provide written interpretations of the law as well as listing procedures for the agencies to follow. The original requests for an opinion are attached to the opinions when applicable. (All official opinions have been published by the office as abstracts or full-text inNorth Carolina Attorney General Reports.) For opinions prior to 1939, see the series, Central Files: Attorney General's Office Correspondence File.
  • Education and Corrections Section: Wilmington Ten Case File
    Briefs, transcripts, petitions, judgments, and related legal materials created or received by the attorney assigned to the Wilmington Ten case.

L

• Labor Administration Division, Dept. of, Commissioner's Office: Special Subjects File, 1932-1954
  Correspondence and reports concerning agencies or organizations to which the commissioner of labor belonged or in which he had an interest. Also includes correspondence with other labor commissioners, governors, and state officials.

M

• Marine Fisheries Slides, Division of, ca. 1970 - 1985
  The Marine Fisheries Commission and the Marine Fisheries Division have their origins in agencies established during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. North Carolina's coastal fishing industry enjoyed a brief period of rapid growth following the Civil War; however towards the end of the century, commercial fishermen were experiencing a marked reduction in the catch rates for striped bass, shad, and oysters. By the decade of the 1890s, it was apparent that North Carolina's fisheries and oyster beds were continuing to decline. In response, different legislatures of that era enacted laws to more effectively conserve and manage the fishing industry. The General Assembly of 1907 established the Fish Commission and directed it to report its activities to the Geological and Economic Survey Board. By a legislative act of 1927, the Department of Conservation and Development and the Fisheries Commission were consolidated. Under the Executive Organization Act of 1971, the Department of Conservation and Development and many of its components were transferred for administrative purposes to the newly established Department of Natural and Economic Resources. Under the Executive Organization Act of 1973, the Department of Natural Resources and Community Development took over such divisions as Commercial and Sports Fisheries, and the Department of Conservation and Development became defunct. In 1989 the General Assembly abolished the Department of Natural Resources and Community Development and transferred the Marine Fisheries Commission and its corresponding division to the new Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources. The division was placed under the department's assistant secretary for the Division of Environmental Protection. It monitored marine fisheries resources; provided law enforcement for regulations established by the Marine Fisheries Commission; conducted scientific research; and developed artificial reefs and programs for shellfish rehabilitation. Includes slides assembled by the Office of Public Information, North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, Morehead City, North Carolina, as a part of its governmental duties under the State Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources. Subjects include artificial reefs, reef fish and natural habitat, the Dan Moore (ship), and law enforcement. (7 volumes)
• Medical Care Commission, Hospital Construction Section: Hospital Photographs, 1947-1972 finding aid
  Photographs and negatives of state and county hospitals, nurse's schools and residences, and county health, treatment, and rehabilitation centers located throughout North Carolina. (4.4 cubic feet)

N

• Natural and Economic Resources Recreation Commission, Dept. of, 1944-1980
  Since its inception in June 1943, the Recreation Commission has provided for the recreational needs of the state, maintained a clearinghouse of recreational ideas, and provided consulting services for recreation opportunities throughout North Carolina. Contains correspondence, reports, agendas, photographs, news clippings, minutes, biographical sketches of commission members and other materials pertaining to commission activities from 1944 to 1980.
• Natural Resources and Community Development, Dept. of; Division of Forest Resources Information and Education Photography, 1916 - 1949
  In 1905 the General Assembly established the North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey, the state's first agency charged with examining natural resources both in terms of economic potential and of conservation needs. In 1925 the General Assembly replaced the Geological and Economic Survey with the Department of Conservation and Development, giving it a broad mandate to expand all services currently offered by the state in the conservation, utilization, and development of natural resources. In the area of forest resources, the department had overall responsibility for forest maintenance, fire prevention, reforestation, and custody of state forests and parks. Under the Executive Organization Act of 1971, the Department of Natural and Economic Resources was created and placed under the direction of a cabinet-level secretary appointed by the governor. This act assigned to the new agency more than twenty different entities, including the Department of Conservation and Development and its divisions (including the forest service). By provision of a legislative act of 1977, the department was reorganized and renamed the Department of Natural Resources and Community Development. This collection was compiled by the Division of Forestry for use in information and education programs on the state of the timber industry in North Carolina. It includes photographs and negatives arranged in alphabetical order by subject matter. (15 boxes, includes photographs and negatives with extensive moisture damage.)

P

• Photographic Examiners, North Carolina Board of, 1935-1949
  This collection consists of general correspondence, divided into two sets of files; the first is a subject file, in no particular order, and the second is a general file in alphabetical order. The collection also contains approximately 350 applications for photographer and an additional two cubic feet of applications for examination, filed alphabetically by name, with pertinent correspondence from, to, and about the applicant.
• Public Welfare, Board of, R. Eugene Brown Papers, 1959-1966 finding aid

R

• Refrigeration Examiners, Board of (PDF only)
• Revenue, Department of, Secretary and Deputy Secretary's Office: Subject Files, 1940-1983, Bulk, 1955-1980
  Correspondence, memoranda, newsletters, legal materials, fiscal records, federal and state taxation documents, publications, news clippings, other states' taxation materials, information pertaining to tax administrator organizations as created or accumulated by the department, corporate tax case files, and other administrative documents. (16.0 cubic feet/48 fibredex boxes)
• Rural Rehabilitation Corporation (PDF only)

S

• Sanford, Terry, Governor's Papers, 1959 - 1965
  Terry Sanford was born in Laurinburg, N.C. on August 20, 1917 to Cecil L. Sanford and Elizabeth Martin Sanford. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, he work for two years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and then served in World War II as a member of the 517th Parachute Combat Team. Sanford returned to the University of North Carolina for his law degree and, after two years as assistant director of the Institute of Government, began practicing in Fayetteville in 1948. He served as president of the North Carolina Young Democratic Clubs in 1949 and as a state senator from 1953-1955. The following year he managed former Governor W. Kerr Scott's campaign for the United States Senate. On June 25, 1960, he was nominated as the Democratic candidate for governor; he won the election and served as governor from 1961-1965. This collection contains the official records of Governor Terry Sanford and his office, including general correspondence, speeches, statements, reports, extraditions and requisitions documents, and commissions of appointments. It also includes the records of several special offices, commissions and committees.
• Speaker Ban Law Study Commission (PDF only)
• Symphony Society, North Carolina (PDF only)
• Ship and Water Transportation Commission, General Correspondence of, 1922-1924
  Folders contain recommendations for creation of Commission, General Assembly bill to that effect, statistics on current volume and needs of North Carolina shipping, studies of other states' ports authorities, recommendations regarding state-owned ships, report of Commission to the Governor, information on campaign to pass bond issue for state-owned port, letters pro and con state-owned port, blueprints for ships and ports, and ledger sheets.

T

• Tile Contractors, North Carolina Licensing Board for (PDF only)

U

• United States Bureau of Land Management, August 1988 - April 2010 (Federal Records)
  In 1812 the General Land Office was established to superintend and execute all transactions involving public lands except the work of surveying and mapping. In 1849 the General Land Office was transferred to the Department of the Interior. The functions of the Office were to supervise the survey, management, and disposition of the public domain and generally to execute all laws relating to public lands. In 1946 the General Land Office was consolidated with the Grazing Service of the Department of the Interior to form the Bureau of Land Management. (1 Box)
• University of North Carolina Board of Governors Record Group, 1950-1981 [Formerly Board of Higher Education]
  The first step towards a unified administration of state-supported institutions of higher education came in 1931 with the consolidation of the University of North Carolina (chartered in 1789), North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (1887), and the North Carolina College for Women (1891). Under the Consolidation Act, the trustees of the three institutions would operate as a consolidated board until the legislature elected a new board of one hundred members, at least ten of whom were to be women. The governor was instructed to appoint twelve commissioners to assist him in drafting a plan for consolidation which would provide unified executive control, a coordinated education program, and the most functional location of schools and departments. The report of the commission would constitute the rules by which the consolidated university operated until amended by the new board of trustees. This board governed the Consolidated University of North Carolina from 1931 until 1971. Collection consists of administrative files, correspondence, planning files, and more. (119 cubic feet)

W

• Watchmaking and Repairing, Board of Examiners in (PDF only)