Inventory of the Fannie B. Rosser Papers, [1860s]-1973
[top]Descriptive Summary
TitleFannie B. Rosser Papers,
[1860s]-1973
Creator
Rosser, Fannie B.
Extent
1.0 Linear
Feet
750 Items
Repository
750 Items
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special
Collections Library, Duke University
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 copyright interests in this collection have
not been transferred to Duke University. For more
information, consult the copyright section of the
Regulations and Procedures of the Rare Book, Manuscript,
and Special Collections Library.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Fannie B. Rosser
Papers, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections
Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The Fannie B. Rosser Papers were received by the
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library as a
purchase in 1976.
Processing Information
Processed by Ginny Daley; Jennifer Morgan
Completed January 3, 1991
Encoded by Joshua A. Kaiser
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
[top]
Biographical Note
Fannie B. Rosser, a native of Lynchburg, Virginia, was the daughter of Edmond and Callie Rosser and sister of Maggie, Pansy, Joseph Irvin and James Boyd Rosser. Edmond Rosser was a porter for the Pullman Palace Car Company and the Rosser family apparently occupied a position of status and influence in the African American community of Lynchburg.
Rosser moved to Durham, North Carolina after being offered a position by the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company in September of 1914. For thirty-two years she was employed by the Mutual, owned rental properties in both Durham and Lynchburg, and lived in Durham for the remainder of her life.
Although she never married, Rosser was a foster mother to Mattie Douglas Burton, and a guardian aunt to her brother's daughter, June Rosser. Burton married Dr. Earl Randolph Meyers of Fresno, California in 1946. They had five children, and Mattie Meyers became a leader in the Fresno chapter of the NAACP where she served as president for some time. June Rosser married Eugene Hudson Penick in 1961. She had a least three children and remained consistently financially dependent on her aunt until Rosser's death.
[top]Collection Overview
The papers of Fannie B. Rosser, [1860s]-1973,
document the personal and professional life of a black
business woman within a fiscally sound African American
community. Correspondence, legal and financial papers, and
photographs reflect both her business activities and her
relationships with close friends and family members from
the turn of the century to the 1960s.
The bulk of the correspondence until the 1950s
pertains to Rosser's business ventures in regard to the
maintenance of her property, personal loans made to family
and friends, and her investments in government stocks and
bonds. Letters from her lifelong friend and business
partner, Virginia Randolf of Lynchburg, Va., document the
process of maintaining Rosser's rental property over the
course of thirty years. They highlight, among other things,
the apparent ghettoization of the neighborhood in which her
houses were situated, and Randolf's personal and financial
response to that process.
Friends and family members often deferred
financial matters to Rosser, a careful and respected
business woman, and were often dependent on her for
monetary support. The correspondence illustrates Rosser's
financial acumen and demonstrates the extent to which her
personal relationships and business activities overlapped.
Of particular interest is an exchange with the Wilhoite's,
a couple to whom she loaned $1000, during the Depression.
Their correspondence illustrates the personal nature of her
business dealings and the difficulties Rosser had in
balancing finances and friendships.
Later correspondence centers around Rosser's
relationships with her daughter Mattie and niece June.
There are scattered references to the political climate of
the 1960s, and correspondence from Mattie mentions her work
with the NAACP. However, the letters perhaps are more
valuable in providing a window to the relationships between
these women.
The series of photographs in the collection date
back to the early 1860s and are mostly individual portraits
and group photographs of the family members and friends. An
unidentified ambrotype of an African American woman dated
prior to the Civil War indicates that the family might have
been free.
[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.
- African Americans--Virginia.
- African American businesspeople.
- African Americans--Correspondence.
- African American families.
- African Americans--Housing--North Carolina.
- African Americans--Housing--Virginia.
- African American business enterprises.
- African American women--Virginia.
- African American women--North Carolina.
- African American women--California.
- Businesswomen.
- Mothers and daughters.
- Self-employed women.
- Real estate management--Virginia.
- Real estate management--North Carolina.
- Women--Correspondence.
- Women--Photographs.
- African Americans--Photographs.
- Interpersonal relations.
- Single women.
- Photographs.
Detailed Description of Collection
Box 1-2Correspondence Series, 1909-1968 and undated
(.6 lin.
ft.)
Correspondence concerning management of real
estate properties in Durham, N.C. and Lynchburg, Va., and
other business matters; personal correspondence with
friends and family in Lynchburg, Va., Fresno, Ca., and
Philadelphia, Pa. Arranged chronologically.
Box 2
Legal Papers Series, 1895-1967 and undated
(1 folder)
Deeds and assessments of property owned by
Rosser in the 1920s to 1950s; stock certificates; codicils
to Rosser's will; power of attorney notices from brothers
James and Irvin; personal and property insurance forms;
Irvin and Goldie Rosser's 1962 divorce papers. Arranged
chronologically
Box 2
Financial Papers Series, 1867-1969
(1 folder)
Promissory note dated 1867; loan forms from
First National Bank to Rosser; loan forms from Rosser to
other individuals; financial statements on Rosser and
others; tax forms and receipts; lists of outstanding
personal loans due Rosser as of 1966. Arranged
chronologically.
Box 2
Newspaper Clippings Series, 1893-1961 and undated
(1 folder)
Scattered articles and editorials on race
relations; obituaries and wedding notices of family and
friends. Arranged chronologically.
Box 2
Printed Material Series, 1920-1973 and undated
(1 folder)
Church programs from
St. Joseph's A.M.E. Church
in Durham, 1960s; miscellaneous invitations;
1920 Ballot list; Program from black
"Benevolent Order,"
undated; 1973 Food
Stamp allotment form.
Box 2
Miscellany Series, undated
(1 folder)
Three essays (author unknown) on education and
"Training the Negro for
Social Powers"
; speech notes for an honorary dinner
for
C.C. Spaulding; list of
Rosser's death instructions.
Box 3
Photographs Series, ca. 1860s-1960s
(.2 lin.
ft.)
Cabinet cards,carte-de-visites,
mounted
albumen prints,tintypes, black and
white and color snapshots, chiefly of Rosser's family and
friends. Most prints ca. 1870s-1910s are unidentified but
were taken by photographers in Lynchburg and Richmond, Va.
Included are an ambrotype of woman ca. early 1860s; a
tintype of Rosser's grandmother; albumen prints of Rosser
as a young woman during the 1920s; and snapshots of her
daughter Mattie Burton Meyers' family in the 1950s.
Arranged by family group, then chronological therein.
