South Atlantic Quarterly

uabassettaffair Inventory of the Bassett Affair Collection, 1903 - 2003 Processed by: Linda Daniel; machine-readable finding aid created by: Linda Daniel University ArchivesDuke University

Durham, N.C., U.S.A.

Aleph Number: 003258668

Machine-readable finding aid derived from automated markup system. Date of source: July 21, 2003 Processed by Linda Daniel July 21, 2003; Finding Aid encoded by Linda Daniel, University Archives, Duke University, July 21, 2003 Description is in English. 05-01-2006 PUBLIC "-//University Archives//TEXT (US::NDD::::Bassett Affair Collection)//EN" uabassett.xml converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).Also, the top level of the finding aid (above the dsc) was changed to conform to the NC EAD Best Practice Guidelines. Within the dsc, dates for series were normalized. Inventory of the Bassett Affair Collection, 1903 - 2003 University Archives Duke University Durham, North Carolina 27708-0202 USA

Descriptive Summary Bassett Affair Collection, 1903 - 2003. Duke University. University Archives. 2.0 Linear Feet, 300 Items University Archives, Duke University For current information on the location of these materials, please consult University Archives, Duke University. The Bassett Affair is a celebrated case that helped establish the concept of academic freedom in higher education in the United States and is a benchmark incident in race relations in the South. John Spencer Bassett, a Trinity College professor, published a series of articles in the South Atlantic Quarterly (1903) that praised the accomplishments of African Americans and offered views on how to improve race relations. A campaign to remove Bassett from the faculty was thwarted by a vote of support for Bassett from the University's Board of Trustees on Dec. 2, 1903. The collection contains essays, articles, clippings, correspondence, reminiscences, and other published and unpublished matter including Bassett's article, Stirring Up the Fires of Race Antipathy (1903); a scrapbook, 1903-1904, kept by Trinity College officials with newspaper clippings documenting national coverage the case received; copies of letters by Theodore Roosevelt to Owen Wister (1906) commenting on the case and on Trinity; manuscripts of My Recollections of the Bassett Trial, by Robert Lee Durham (1936), The Bassett Affair: A Play in Six Acts, by Baird Straughan (1975), and Crisis at Trinity a play by John Merritt (1989); lists of related materials in other collections; various shorter articles and speeches including comments by Richard L. Watson and an address to the Academic Council by Terry Sanford; and materials from the centennial celebration of the Bassett Affair, collected by University Archives staff. English. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.

No restrictions.

Use Restrictions

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.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Bassett Affair Collection, Duke University Archives, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Provenance

The Bassett Affair Collection was received by the University Archives as a transfer in 1979 (A79-39), 1996 (A96-2). University Archives staff added material about the centennial celebration of the Bassett Affair in 2003.

Processing Information

Processed by Linda Daniel

Completed July 21, 2003

Encoded by Linda Daniel, July 21, 2003

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.

Historical Note

The Bassett Affair is a celebrated case that helped establish the concept of academic freedom in higher education in the United States and is a benchmark incident in race relations in the South. John Spencer Bassett, a Trinity College professor, published a series of articles in the South Atlantic Quarterly (1903) that praised the accomplishments of African Americans and offered views on how to improve race relations. A campaign to remove Bassett from the faculty was thwarted by a vote of support for Bassett from the University's Board of Trustees on Dec. 2, 1903.

Collection Overview

The collection contains essays, articles, clippings, correspondence, reminiscences, and other published and unpublished matter including Bassett's article, Stirring Up the Fires of Race Antipathy (1903); a scrapbook, 1903-1904, kept by Trinity College officials with newspaper clippings documenting national coverage the case received; copies of letters by Theodore Roosevelt to Owen Wister (1906) commenting on the case and on Trinity; manuscripts of My Recollections of the Bassett Trial, by Robert Lee Durham (1936), The Bassett Affair: A Play in Six Acts, by Baird Straughan (1975), and Crisis at Trinity a play by John Merritt (1989); lists of related materials in other collections; various shorter articles and speeches including comments by Richard L. Watson and an address to the Academic Council by Terry Sanford; and materials from the centennial celebration of the Bassett Affair, collected by University Archives staff.

Subject Headings

These and related materials may be accessed under the following subject headings in the Duke University Libraries online catalog.

Academic freedom. Bassett, John Spencer, 1867-1928. College teachers--North Carolina. Daniels, Josephus, 1862-1948. Duke University. Durham, Robert Lee, 1870-1949. Freedom of speech--North Carolina. Historical drama, American--North Carolina--Durham. Racism--North Carolina. Trinity College (Durham, N.C.) Contents of Collection Container List 1 1 John S. Bassett, Stirring Up the Fires of Race Antipathy, South Atlantic Quarterly, Oct. 1903, (copy) 2 Description of the John Spencer Bassett papers at the Library of Congress, 1995 3-5 Bassett Affair Scrapbook, 1903-1904, (copies) 6 Robert Lee Durham, My Recollections of the Bassett Trial, 1936 7 E.C. Perrow, Report on the meeting of the Board of Trustees held on Dec. 1, 1903 8 Baird Straughan, The Bassett Affair: A Play in Six Scenes, [1975] 9 John Merritt, Crisis at Trinity: A Play in Two Acts, 1989 10 Theodore Roosevelt's letters to Owen Wister, 1906, (copies) 11 Harry Jackson's Reason Against Racism: A Primer on Academic Freedom, [1978], (manuscript) 12 Correspondence and speeches 13-14 Clippings 15 Related material 16 Centennial Celebration, 2003

The centennial celebration of the Bassett Affair included a number of events held on the Duke University campus. This folder includes material collected by University Archives staff. It includes an article from the Herald Sun; a five part series of articles published in the Chronicle; a calendar of events; and speakers' notes from Robert Durden and William Chafe, who were part of a panel discussion entitled The Bassett Affair After a Century, sponsored by the History Dept.

2 Scrapbook of clippings related to the Bassett affair, 1903-1904, 62 pages Related Material John Spencer Bassett Papers. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. John Spencer Bassett Papers. University Archives, Duke University. B.N. Duke Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. John C. Kilgo Papers. University Archives, Duke University. James Southgate Papers. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.