Inventory of the John C. Kilgo Records and Papers, 1888 - 1970 (bulk 1894-1920)

Arranged chronologically.

Subjects present in the Correspondence series include affairs at Wofford College, Kilgo's appointment to the presidency of Trinity, unification of the Methodist Church, fund-raising, educational reform, and Kilgo's election as Bishop. The items include Walter Hines Page's address at the dedication of the Trinity College Library (February, 1903) and Washington Duke's letters of December 1896, and April 1903 concerning his gifts to the College and the status of its women students. Correspondents include Joseph Gill Brown, Wallace Buttrick, William Preston Few, James H. Southgate, Washington Duke, and Robert Lee Flowers.

The correspondence is indexed in the University Archives card catalog.

Manuscripts and notes for sermons, mostly undated. Two notebooks list sermons and dates given; three volumes are titled "Sophomore Bible," "Junior Bible," and "Senior Bible" from 1895-1896, and may have been intended for those classes at Trinity College. Sermons and notes are hand-written or typed on loose papers and in a variety of bindings. Notebooks contain full sermons on particular topics with biblical passages, or sermon outlines. Some of the books contain miscellaneous notes.

Manuscript and typed lectures, articles, speeches, reports, and notebooks. Most of the materials are undated, some may have been titled by Kilgo, and some have supplied titles. Articles include The North Carolina Conference and the Twentieth Century Movement, The American Democracy, Physical Culture at Trinity College, and The Meaning of a Larger Endowment for Trinity College. Titled notebooks include: Development of American Methodism; Christology, 1895; Key to map of the Western North Carolina Conference, M.E. Church, South; and Slavery in America. Copies of published articles include: Christian Education: Its Aims and Superiority, [1896?]; Our Duty to the Negro, 1903; American Commercialism; The Silent South, [1907]; Francis Asbury, [1916]; A Plea for the Union of Methodism in America, 1906; The Value of Endowed Colleges. Other writings treat inter-collegiate athletics, the history of Vanderbilt University, educational philosophy, why he severed his connection with Trinity College, and talks to students and fellow Methodist clergy. Among the manuscripts are writings on Washington and B. N. Duke and eulogies for J. H. Southgate, Joseph F. Bivens and others. The notebooks contain material on a variety of subjects: notes for a lecture on Robert E. Lee; theology; genealogical notes on the Burton (or Bruton?) family; Washington Duke, and other subjects.

Board of Missions Financial Statements, 1915-1916 (6 vols.); newspapers; forms for recording minutes; resolutions, addresses, and related materials. Additional materials documenting Kilgo's involvement with the Methodist Church can be found in the Sermons and notes series and in the Lectures, addresses, and writings series.

Correspondence with Kilgo's descendants; biographical data on Kilgo; Moravian Church literature; postcards and memorabilia from a trip to Japan; a Greek Bible; bills, receipts, check stubs, ca. 1910 - 1920; newspaper and magazine clippings concerning the controversy over the Mecklenberg Declaration, Methodist Conference activities, Kilgo's speeches and articles, conditions at Trinity College, and other subjects. The series also consists of some anonymous poetry and miscellaneous printed matter.

Report of the Board of Trustees concerning the charges brought against Kilgo by Trustee Justice Walter Clark, 1898 (2 copies of a bound pamphlet); Trinity College Financial Statement, Inter-State Audit Company, Charlotte, 1917; Washington Duke Memorial Fund, subscription and donor books, 1905-1908 [2 vols.]; C. Hook and other architects' specifications for Kilgo's residence and for a new dormitory building at the College; report of the Board of Visitors, ca. 1900; program and seating chart from President Few's Inauguration; manuscript and typed copy of Kilgo's inaugural address, 1894. Miscellaneous printed matter, including a broadside on fraternity corruptions, debate programs, and ephemera.

Hearings at the Wake and Granville Superior Courts, and a North Carolina Supreme Court appellate brief, concerning the slander suit brought by Thomas J. Gattis against Kilgo, B. N. Duke, and W. R. Odell.

Scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings of articles, sermons, and other activities of Kilgo, including a 5-part article on female education, written in Spartanburg, pages cut from the Bible and hymnals, book reviews, and other items.

This series consists of materials added to the collection that describe Kilgo's records and papers, as well as materials written about Kilgo and Trinity College. These materials include a card catalog of the library of President Kilgo, which was presented to Duke University Library, and an early card inventory of the Kilgo records and papers created by the Manuscripts Department. Also included are reference notes compiled by Nannie Tilley in 1936, documenting the newspaper coverage (ca. 1891-ca. 1906) of the Bassett and Gattis cases and the relationships between Kilgo, Trinity College, and the Duke family.

Materials from the preceding series are stored in oversize containers: