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Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
[Identification of item], A. S. Brower Papers, University Archives, Duke University.
The A. S. Brower Papers were received by the University Archives as a transfer in 1960, 1972-1973.
Processed by Kimberly Sims, February 2008
Encoded by Kimberly Sims, February 2008
Accessions A60-35, A72-34, and A73-57 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory:
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
Alfred Smith Brower, known as "Sol" to his friends, was born March 23, 1892 in Brower's Mills [Randolph County], North Carolina to Rufus Alfred and Mary Lee Smith Brower. He received an A.B. degree from Trinity College [Duke University] in 1912.
Before coming to Duke in 1937 as Administrative Assistant, he held several state government posts, including serving as the first director of the Division of Purchase and Contract. He was also comptroller at N. C. State University and served as Director of the Division of Finance and Statistics and the Division of Finance of Teacher Certification. Brower was appointed business manager and comptroller at Duke in 1946 and ten years later was promoted to treasurer, a post he held until his retirement in 1962.
He served as a member of the board of directors of the Medical Service Association and was president of Highland Hospital in Asheville, N.C. for more than ten years. He was also a member of the board of directors of Central Carolina Bank for more than twenty years. Additionally, Brower served as a member of the State Board of Education for twelve years. He died in 1968.
The collection is divided into seven series: State Board of Education, Civil Pilot Training Program, Medical Service Association, U. S. Office of Scientific Research and Development, Duke Chapel Crypt and Oversize. The bulk of the collection pertains to the State Board of Education and the Civil Pilot Training Program and the types of materials include correspondence, reports, minutes, financial records, printed material, and photographs. Of note is the signed correspondence from architect Julian Abele in the Duke Chapel Crypt series.
Some of the paper is brittle and should be handled with care. A previous staff member attempted to remove staples from some of the material, resulting in tearing. They should also be handled with care.
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.
This series includes correspondence, reports, minutes and other documents which relate to such topics as segregation and desegregation in North Carolina public schools, school construction in North Carolina, teacher salaries, the consolidation of school systems in North Carolina, and state politics. Brower served on the Board for twelve years.
This program was run jointly between Duke and the Civil Aeronautics Authority of the United States. Its primary objective was to train young men and women to be private pilots. By 1942, women were no longer admitted to the CPTP, however, they could enroll for the ground school program as a regular college course and could obtain flying instruction at their own expense. Though civil in nature, the program became a preparedness movement. Duke was one of the colleges and universities chosen to offer the program. Serv-Air, Inc. of Raleigh, N.C. provided the actual flight instruction. By 1942, Included in the series are samples of applications, insurance forms, time (flight) logs, course certifications, personal information sheets, and flight reports and schedules. Other files in the series have correspondence, memoranda; bulletins, annual contracts for the program, printed material and photographs. Since the classes were not part of the student's permanent record, the grades are not protected by FERPA.
The Medical Service Association was a collaboration of several county medical societies in North Carolina. It was a non-profit association designed to provide a vehicle whereby members of employed groups could provide for themselves medical and surgical services on a monthly or periodic budgeting basis and allowed the individual complete freedom in choosing his/her physician. Brower served on the Board of Directors of the Association.
This series concerns research carried out at Duke under federal government contracts during World War II. Most of the material consists of circulars and regulations, and much of it is concerned with security of research and information. There is some information on individual faculty members who worked under these contracts and their projects. There is also a contract manual dated 1945.
This series contains correspondence and architectural drawings regarding the Duke Chapel crypt. The correspondence is largely between architect Julian Abele and President William P. Few and Brower (as Administrative Assistant). The correspondence is about the placement of James A. Thomas' cremains and marker as well as the grave marker for President Few. A copy of a letter, likely written by Few to Thomas' widow, is the only known direct statement indicating that Abele was responsible for designing Duke Chapel.
This series contains approximately 262 Dilbert cartoons produced and published by the U. S. Navy Training Division.