George T. Whitley Papers
Scope and Contents
The materials in the collection consist mainly of scrapbooks Whitley kept during his years as an educator in Johnston County. Of particular interest is a copy of the 1913 Soil Survey of Johnston County. A school lesson plan book from 1916-1917 and numerous clippings relating to World War I (including letters from Johnston County soldiers published in local newspapers), agriculture, taxation, and local government in Johnston County would also prove valuable to the local history researcher.
Dates
- Record Keeping: 1991 October 28
- 1913-1935
Creator
- Whitley, George T., 1883-1975 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Please send requests to heritagecenter@johnstonnc.com or through the ArchivesSpace request form.
Conditions Governing Use
The nature of the Johnston County Heritage Center’s various collections means that copyright and other information about restrictions on the use of materials may be difficult or even impossible to determine. The Heritage Center claims only physical ownership of most materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility in the use of materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal, state, county or municipal right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which Johnston County and the Johnston County Heritage Center assumes no responsibility.
Researchers are advised that the Heritage Center maintains physical stewardship of these collections under varying terms and agreements. To more fully understand use restrictions for particular collections please consult with the Archivist or Director.
Biographical / Historical
George T. Whitley (1883-1975) was a Johnston County farm boy and one of nine children born to Adam Jackson Whitley and Abigal Casey Whitley. He taught school at Yelverton Grove School and Pleasant Hill School in Johnston County before entering the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1904. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1908 and a master's degree in 1909 and then studied for the next four summer sessions at Columbia University. In 1910 he began his professional teaching career as a principal at Clayton, where he stayed four years. In the 1914-1915 school year, he taught at Nashville High School. Then he served as principal at Smithfield's Turlington Graded School from 1915-1923. While not an athelete himself, Whitley was one of Smithfield's first basketball coaches. At the time he took the principal's job, the sport had only recently become popular, and the school did not have a coach. So he learned the rules of the game from a guide book and enlisted the help of local men who knew the game well enough to assist him in working with the students. During his tenure there, Smithfield won the Eastern Basketball Championship and came within one point of winning the state championship.
In 1923, Whitley transferred to Kenly, where he was principal for 15 years. In 1938, he and his wife left Johnston County and he took a position at Rutherford College Elementary School, serving one year there. J. Burke Long, who had been principal there, transferred to the Kenly School at that time. After a two-year leave from teaching, Whitley went to Collettsville High School in Caldwell County, where he taught until his retirement in 1956. He was married to Johnston County native Bessie Coates, sister of UNC Institute of Government founder Albert Coates. The couple was honored by the Rutherford College community in 1966 in a special observance called "Whitley Appreciation Day". Their portraits were hung in Abernethy Memorial United Methodist Church in Rutherford College as well.
Mr. Whitley died in Aiken, SC in 1975 and his wife died the following year.
Extent
.5 Linear Feet (1 long box)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The materials are stacked in a single box. The order seems to be loosely chronological with some materials grouped due to being the same genre, i.e. the two scrapbooks.
Other Finding Aids
Two printed finding aids are kept in the collection file. The original finding aid can be found on the main webpage for the Johnston County Heritage Center. From the main page navigate to "Image Archives" then "View the Online Collections". It can be found here,
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The George T. Whitley Papers is one of the original collections that were accumulated in the Johnston County Room of the Public Library of Smithfield and Johnston County. The library has put these collections on permanent loan and physically transferred the materials to the Heritage Center upon its creation.
Processing Information
Finding aid completed by Todd Johnson, November 1991. Machine readable finding aid typed and entered, April 2002. Preliminary resource record created by Bennett Chapman, November 2019. Finding aid reviewed and updated by Bennett Chapman, July 2020.
Creator
- Whitley, George T., 1883-1975 (Person)
- Title
- Finding Aid to the George T. Whitley Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Todd Johnson. Machine readable finding aid created by Bennett Chapman.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the The Johnston County Heritage Center Repository
241 E Market St, Smithfield, NC 27577
Smithfiled North Carolina 27577 United States
(919) 934-2836