Robert M. Ward Photograph Collection - Accession 502

The Robert M. Ward Photograph Collection consists of approximately 400 prints and 900 negatives from the photographs that he took in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Most of the events and individuals pictured are from the York County, SC area and include the Latta House in York, South Carolina, downtown Rock Hill, parades, baseball, military, aviation, sports, and other York County buildings and scenes. Also included are photographs of Landsford Canal State Park, York Technical College, Winthrop University, Catawba Indian chieftain King Haigler’s memorial, Andrew Jackson State Park, Kings Mountain State Park, Hall of Fame Golfer Sam Sneed's visit to Rock Hill, SC, and Charleston, South Carolina. The collection also contains newspaper articles from the York Observer, dated from 1988 to 1992, which helped to identify some of the people and events in the pictures.

Zadock Darby Smith Diary- Accession 243

The Zadock Darby Smith Diary includes information about weather conditions, death and burial of family members and about Confederate troops in the Civil War. The collection consists of photocopies of the original. Zadock Darby Smith was a captain in the Confederate Army. He was born in Mecklenburg County, NC, May 13, 1822 and died in York County, SC on November 25, 1884. Zadock Smith is buried at the Union Baptist Church cemetery in Yorkl, SC. His first wife was Martha Jane Glenn Smith (1828-1862) and his second wife was Jane Thomasson Smith (1838 - 1918). They owned a plantation on King’s Mountain Road.

Marguerite Dawson King Papers - Accession 280

Mrs. Marguerite Dawson King (1901-1979) was a very active and civic minded woman and the collection of her papers attests to the valuable contributions which can be made by women and by senior citizens. The King Papers are a valuable source of information on women in politics and on the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). The collection consists of correspondence, minutes, bylaws, reports, agendas, yearbooks, handbooks, newsletters, brochures, speeches, legislative bills, program notes, newspaper clippings, awards, and certificates concerning Mrs. King’s activities as chapter chairman and assistant state director of the AARP; as district chairman of the United Daughters of the Confederacy; as the first woman County Chairman of the democratic party in S.C. and as a member of the Democratic Women’s Council of S.C., the York County Democratic Women’s Club, Partners of the Americas, and the Order of the Eastern Star. Also included in the collection is information on the development of the city of Rock Hill, S.C.

Bratton Family Papers - Accession 202 - M89 (114)

This Bratton Family Papers consist of a Yorkville Enquirer account (1903) of the unveiling of a monument by the King’s Mountain Chapter of the D.A.R. in commemoration of the Battle of Huck’s Defeat at Brattonsville, a newspaper account concerning the influence on Thomas Dixon and his writing the Klansman(Charlotte Observer, July 14, 1963); a biographical sketch of James Rufus Bratton, and a description of Brattonsville.

Battle Of King's Mountain History - Accession 44 - M19 (29)

Written by Helen Deane Chandler, the history describes the battle fought in York County, South Carolina on October 7, 1780, gives brief accounts of previous celebrations of the battle, contains illustrations showing the battlefield and monuments, and has information concerning the 150th anniversary celebration that took place in 1930.

Alexander Samuel Salley Letters - Accession 45 - M20 (30)

The Alexander Samuel Salley Letters consist of a 1930 letter concerning Salley’s comments on the exchange between South and North Carolina of two strips of land that led to the King’s Mountain becoming a part of South Carolina in 1772, eight years before the battle and a 1921 letter in which Salley addresses various historical songs of South Carolina and his reputation as an historian.