Guide to the Gurney Harriss Kearns Papers, 1913-1970
[top]Descriptive Summary
TitleGurney Harriss Kearns Papers, 1913-1970
Creator
Kearns, Gurney Harriss, 1872-1962
Extent
12 Linear Feet
4,106 Items
Repository
4,106 Items
Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
Language
English.
[top]
Administrative Information
Access RestrictionsCollection is open for research.
However, patrons must sign the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library to use this collection.
Use Restrictions
The status of copyright interests in these papers is unknown. For further information, see the section on copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the Manuscript Department.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], The Papers of Gurney Harriss Kearns, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The papers of Gurney Harriss Kearns, a textile manufacturer, were a gift to the Manuscript Department in 1977 by Crown Hosiery Mills, High Point, N.C.
Processing Information
Processed by: Duke University Special Collections Staff
Completed ca. 1977
Encoded by Stephen Douglas Miller
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
[top]
Biographical Note
| 1872 | Gurney Harriss Kearns born Sept. 12 on family farm in Guilford County near High Point, N.C. |
| 1890s | Attended Trinity College, later Duke University |
| 1900 | Associated with brother Oscar E. Kearns to establish Kearns Furniture Co., High Point |
| 1906 | Married Katherine Whittier Ragan of High Point |
| 1913 | Founded Crown Hosiery Mills at High Point |
| 1934 | Became trustee of High Point College |
| 1935 | Initiated Gurney Harriss Kearns Fellowship in Religion at Duke University for graduate study |
| 1951 | Endowment at Duke University increased to $100,000 as the Gurney Harriss Kearns Foundation for Graduate Study in Religion |
| 1960 | Became trustee emeritus of High Point College |
| 1962 | Died November 19 at High Point |
Collection Overview
The papers of Gurney Harriss Kearns (1872-1962) date primarily during 1913-1962 but include items as late as 1970. There are eight series: Information; Correspondence; Everett, Zane and Muse; American Trust Company; Duke University; High Point College; Miscellaneous; and Crown Hosiery Mills. The collection relates mostly to the operations of Crown Hosiery Mills and to Kearns' real estate investments, membership on the board of directors of High Point College, and his endowment of fellowships at Duke University for graduate study in religion. Numerous references to his immediate family appear in various letters. There are occasional references to the Methodist Church, especially to Wesley Memorial at High Point of which Kearns was a member.
The Information Series contains reference material about Gurney H. Kearns, his family, and Crown Hosiery Mills.
The Correspondence Series (1959 items) contains the incoming letters and copies of the outgoing letters of Gurney H. Kearns during 1923-1963. Most of the correspondence from June, 1927, to April, 1931, is missing, and the quantity declines after 1943. The principal topic is Kearns' personal financial business. References to Crown Hosiery Mills are scarce. During 1923-1927 Kearns' real estate investments are the predominant topic. They include buildings, apartments, rental property, land and related transactions with real estate agents and insurance companies. Activity was considerable in North Carolina, especially in Greensboro and High Point, but also elsewhere, notably in Washington, D.C., and during 1926-1927 in Florida. During 1931-1943 the Depression's effects are evident, as Kearns' business is more concerned with managing debts, loans, and property than with acquisition. After 1943 the letters relate more to personal and family matters. Items of note concern Oak Ridge Institute (1925-1926), Springfield Friends Church (Dec. 18, 1936), Concord Methodist Church in Randolph Co. and Methodist churches in High Point (1937), church indebtedness in the Western N.C. Conference (Nov. 17, 1938), and Christianity and business (May 22, 1938).
The Everett, Zane and Muse Series (450 items) contains their letters to Gurney H. Kearns and copies of his replies during 1932-1952. Everett, Zane and Muse, an accounting firm located in Greensboro, N.C., handled business for both Crown Hosiery Mills and for Kearns personally, and the correspondence represents both interests. There are references to a variety of loan, tax, insurance, property, accounting, and other legal and financial matters. Many of the same transactions can be found in the Correspondence Series.
The American Trust Company Series (196 items) consists of their letters to Kearns and copies of his replies during 1939-1944. The American Trust Company, a bank in Charlotte, N.C., handled business for both Crown Hosiery Mills and for Kearns and other members of his family. The principal topics are loans and related insurance and property matters. These letters are sometimes more informative about transactions than the correspondence with Everett, Zane and Muse. There are occasional references to economic conditions.
The Duke University Series (1066 items), 1931-1965, contains Kearns' incoming and outgoing correspondence, mostly 1935-1962, with faculty, officials, graduate students, alumni, and doctors at the University, and others. The principal topic is the endowment that he established in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for the support of graduate students in religion, especially those preparing to become college and seminary teachers. In 1935 Kearns began the Gurney Harriss Kearns Fellowship in Religion that was expanded in 1951 into the Gurney Harriss Kearns Foundation for Graduate Study in Religion with an endowment of $100,000. At the time of Kearns' death in 1962 there had been 62 Kearns Fellows. The correspondence concerns the founding and development of the endowment, the property supporting it, the Kearns Fellows, the Department of Religion, the Divinity School, Duke University, Kearns' church, and the churches and schools where some of the former Kearns Fellows located. The principal correspondent, 1935-1962, is Dr. H Shelton Smith, James B. Duke Professor of American Religious Thought. Other correspondents include Kearns Fellows, doctors whom Kearns consulted at Duke Hospital, businessmen involved with the endowment property, and various officials of the University, especially President Robert Lee Flowers in the 1930s and 1940s.
The High Point College Series (304 items) concerns this Methodist school where Kearns was a trustee from 1934 until he retired to emeritus status in 1960. The files include primarily letters to and from Kearns and officials of the college and minutes, reports, and memoranda from its board of trustees and subordinate committees. There is considerable information about fund raising, finances, development, and administration. Correspondents include Gideon I. Humphreys, president in the 1940s and a continuing correspondent, Dennis Hargrove Cooke, president in the 1950s, Wendell Melton Patton who assumed the office in 1959, trustees, and occasionally faculty and other persons. The papers are minimal before 1942, limited during most of the 1940s, and relatively numerous during 1949-1959.
The Miscellaneous Series contains a ledger, 1919-1935, for Gurney H. Kearns' personal finances. There is also a folder of letters and printed material, 1939-1960, concerning Wesley Memorial Methodist Church in High Point, including a sermon by its minister opposing the election of John F. Kennedy to the presidency because he was a Roman Catholic.
The Crown Hosiery Mills Series consists of minutes, financial papers, and extensive account books. The minutes (photocopies), 1913-1935, also include records of stock issued, 1913-1929, and dividends, 1916-1931. The financial papers, 1935-1939 and 1947, are varied and not numerous, but they contain some useful data. There are 94 account books including: the ledger, 1913-1917; inventories, 1913-1936; and trial balances, 1921-1933; index and profit and loss accounts 1921-1947; cashbooks, 1913-1921, including trial balances, 1934-1944; cash journals, 1921-1950; time books and payroll, 1913-1934; payroll, 1922-1927; order books for labels, bands, riders, and transfers, 1926-1930; sales commission book, 1937-1949; and voucher records, 1913-1921. These volumes include the earliest ledger and journal. Later ones are absent, but some summary figures can be found in the trial balances and in the profit and loss accounts. The time books and payroll provide names of employees, hours worked, and wages paid during the first two decades of the mill's operation.
[top]
Subject Headings
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
- Hosiery industry--North Carolina
- Real property
- Insurance, property
- Banks and banking
- Endowments--North Carolina
- Accountants--North Carolina
- Textile workers--North Carolina
- High Point College (High Point, N.C.)
- Duke University.--Dept. of Religion
- Methodist Episcopal Church, South--North Carolina
- Kearns family
- North Carolina--Industries
- American Trust Company (Charlotte, N.C.)
- Everett, Zane and Muse (Greensboro, N.C.)
- Crown Hosiery Mills (High Point, N.C.)
- Smith, H. Shelton (Hilrie Shelton), 1893-
Container List
Information Series
Reference Material
Correspondence Series
1923, Jan.-Dec.
1924, Jan.-May
1924, June-Aug.
1924, Sept.-Dec.
1925, Jan.-June
1925, July-Dec.
1926, Jan.-March
1926, April-June
1926, July-Sept.
Box 2
1926, Oct.-Dec.
1927, Jan.-May and 1927
1930, Dec.; 1931, May-Dec., 1932, Jan.-Nov.
1932, Jan.-Dec.
1934, Jan.-Dec.
1935, Jan.-Dec.
1936, Jan.-Dec.
1937, Jan.-June
1937, July-Dec.
1938, Jan.-June
1938, July-Dec.
Box 3
1939, Jan.-Dec.
1940, Jan.-Dec.
1941, Jan.-Dec.
1942, Jan.-Dec.
1943, Jan.-Dec.
1944, Jan.-1949, Dec.
1950, Jan.-1957, Dec.
1958, Feb.-1963, June
Undated
Everett, Zane and Muse Series
Correspondence
1932, Oct.-1937, Dec.
1938, Jan.-June
1938, July-Dec.
Box 4
1939, Jan.-Dec.
1940, Jan.-Dec.
1941, Jan.-Dec.
1942, Jan.-1952, June
American Trust Company Series
Correspondence
1936, Nov.-1938, Dec.
1939, Jan.-1940, Dec.
1941, Jan.-1944, May
Duke University Series
Correspondence
1931, May-1937, Dec.
1938, Jan.-Dec.
1939, Jan.-Dec.
1940, Jan.-Dec.
1941, Jan.-Dec.
Box 5
1942, Jan.-Dec.
1943, Jan.-Dec.
1944, Jan.-Dec.
1945, Jan.-Dec.
1946, Jan.-Dec.
1947, Jan.-Dec.
1948, Jan.-Oct.
1949, May-Dec.
1950, Jan.-1951, Dec.
1952, Jan.-Dec.
1953, Jan.-1954, Dec.
1956, Sept.-19-57, Dec.
1958, Jan.-April
1958, May-Dec.
Box 6
1959, Jan.-Dec.
1960, Jan.-Dec.
1961, Jan.-Dec.
1962, April-1965, March
High Point College Series
Correspondence
1934, June-1945, Dec.
1946, Jan.-1947, Nov.
1949, June-Dec.
1950, Jan.-May
1950, June-Dec.
1951, Jan.-June
1951, July-Dec.
1952, Jan.-Dec.
Box 7
1953, Jan.-April
1954-1957
1958, May-Dec.
1959, Jan.-May
1959, July-Dec.
1960, Jan.-Oct.
1961, April; 1970
Miscellaneous Series
Gurney Harriss Kearns' Ledger, 1919-1935
Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, 1939-1960
Crown Hosiery Mills Series
Minutes, 1913-1935(Including Stock Issued, 1913-1929,and Dividends, 1916-1931)
Financial Papers, 1935-1939, 1947
Account Books
Ledger, 1913-1917
Volume
2
Journal, 1913, July-1921, March
Volume
3
Balance Sheets, 1913, Dec.-1932, Dec.,and Inventories, 1913, Dec.-1936, Dec.
Trial Balances, 1921, Jan.-1933, Nov.
Volume
4
Index and Profit and Loss Accounts, 1921-1947
Volume
5
Cashbook, 1913, Aug.-1920, June
Volume
6
Cashbook, 1920, July-1921, March
Trial Balances, 1934, Jan.-1944, Nov.
Volume
7
Cash Journal, 1921, Jan.-1922, Oct.
Volume
8
Cash Journal, 1922, Nov.-1925, Oct.
Volume
9
Cash Journal, 1925, Oct.-1927, Aug.
Volume
10
Cash Journal, 1927, Sept.-1929, April
Volume
11
Cash Journal, 1929, April-1930, Sept.
Volume
12
Cash Journal, 1930, Sept.-1932, April
Volume
13
Cash Journal, 1932, May-1933, Dec.
Volume
14
Cash Journal, 1933, Dec.-1935, Jan.
Volume
15
Cash Journal, 1935, Feb.-1937, May
Volume
16
Cash Journal, 1937, June-1939, June
Volume
17
Cash Journal, 1939, July-1941, Feb.
Volume
18
Cash Journal, 1941, March-1942, Sept.
Volume
19
Cash Journal, 1942, Oct.-1944, April
Volume
20
Cash Journal, 1944, May-1945, Dec.
Volume
21
Cash Journal, 1945, Dec.-1947, Aug.
Volume
22
Cash Journal, 1947, Aug.-Nov.
Volume
23
Cash Journal, 1947, Dec.-1948, March
Volume
24
Cash Journal, 1948, March-July
Volume
25
Cash Journal, 1948, July-Nov.
Volume
26
Cash Journal, 1948, Nov.-1949, March
Volume
27
Cash Journal, 1949, April-Aug.
Volume
28
Cash Journal, 1949, Aug.-1950, March
Volume
29
Cash Journal, 1950, March-July
Volume
30
Time Book and Payroll, 1913, Aug.-1914, March
Volume
31
Time Book and Payroll, 1914, March-Dec.
Volume
32
Time Book and Payroll, 1914, Dec.-1915, Sept.
Volume
33
Time Book and Payroll, 1915, Sept.-1916, May
Volume
34
Time Book and Payroll, 1916, May-Dec.
Volume
35
Time Book and Payroll, 1916, Dec.-1917, June
Volume
36
Time Book and Payroll, 1917, June-Dec.
Volume
37
Time Book and Payroll, 1917, Dec.-1918, June
Volume
38
Time Book and Payroll, 1918, June-Dec.
Volume
39
Time Book and Payroll, 1918, Dec.-1919, July
Volume
40
Time Book and Payroll, 1919, July-Aug.
Volume
41
Time Book and Payroll, 1919, Aug.-1920, May
Volume
42
Time Book and Payroll, 1920, May-1921, April
Volume
43
Time Book and Payroll, 1921, May-Nov.
Volume
44
Time Book and Payroll, 1921, Nov.-1922, May
Volume
45
Time Book- and Payroll, 1922, May-Nov.
Volume
46
Time Book and Payroll, 1922, Nov.-1923, May
Volume
47
Time Book and Payroll, 1923, May-Nov.
Volume
48
Time Book and Payroll, 1923, Nov.-1924, June
Volume
49
Time Book and Payroll, 1924, June-Nov.
Volume
50
Time Book and Payroll, 1924, Nov.-1925, March
Volume
51
Time Book and Payroll, 1925, March-June
Volume
52
Time Book and Payroll, 1925, June-Oct.
Volume
53
Time Book and Payroll, 1925, Oct.-1926, Jan.
Volume
54
Time Book and Payroll, 1926, Jan.-April
Volume
55
Time Book and Payroll, 1926, April-July
Volume
56
Time Book and Payroll, 1926, Aug.-Nov.
Volume
57
Time Book and Payroll, 1926, Nov.-1927, Feb.
Volume
58
Time Book and Payroll, 1927, Feb.-May
Volume
59
Time Book and Payroll, 1927, May-Aug.
Volume
60
Time Book and Payroll, 1927, Aug.-Nov.
Volume
61
Time Book and Payroll, 1927, Nov.-1928, Feb.
Volume
62
Time Book and Payroll, 1928, Feb.-May
Volume
63
Time Book and Payroll, 1928, May-July
Volume
64
Time Book and Payroll, 1928, July-Oct.
Volume
65
Time Book and Payroll, 1928, Oct.-Dec.
Volume
66
Time Book and Payroll,1929.Jan.-April
Volume
67
Time Book and Payroll, 1929, April-June
Volume
68
Time Book and Payroll, 1929, July-Sept.
Volume
69
Time Book and Payroll, 1929, Sept.-Dec.
Volume
70
Time Book and Payroll, 1929, Dec.-1930, Feb.
Volume
71
Time Book and Payroll, 1930, Feb.-May
Volume
72
Time Book and Payroll, 1930, May-Aug.
Volume
73
Time Book and Payroll, 1930, Aug.-Nov.
Volume
74
Time Book and Payroll, 1930, Nov.-1931, Feb.
Volume
75
Time Book and Payroll, 1931, March-June
Volume
76
Time Book and Payroll, 1931, June-Sept.
Volume
77
Time Book and Payroll, 1931, Sept.-Dec.
Volume
78
Time Book and Payroll, 1931, Dec.-1932, March
Volume
79
Time Book and Payroll, 1932, March-July
Volume
80
Time Book and Payroll, 1932, July-Oct.
Volume
81
Time Book and Payroll, 1932, Oct.-1933, Jan.
Volume
82
Time Book and Payroll, 1933, Jan.-April
Volume
83
Time Book and Payroll, 1933, April-Aug.
Volume
84
Time Book and Payroll, 1933, Aug.-Nov.
Volume
85
Time Book and Payroll, 1933, Nov.-1934, Feb.
Volume
86
Time Book and Payroll, 1934, Feb.-July
Volume
87
Payroll, 1922, July-1925, May
Volume
88
Payroll, 1925, May-1927, Oct.
Volume
89
Order Book for Labels, Bands, Riders, and Transfers, 1926-1930
Volume
90
Sales Commission Book, 1937-1949
Volume
91
Voucher Record, 1913, March-1915, Sept.
Volume
92
Voucher Record, 1915, Oct.-1917, Oct.
Volume
93
Voucher Record, 1917, Nov.-1919, Oct.
Volume
94
Voucher Record, 1919, Nov.-1921, March
