1782-2011
Manuscript Collection #870
Portions of this collection are digitized (2 items)
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- Creator(s)
- Eagles, Connor; Reelife Motion Pictures; Kammerer, Roger E.
- Physical description
- 6.061 Cubic Feet, 10 boxes and 1 oversize folder, consisting of manuscripts, research clippings, notes, photocopies, photographic prints, programs, broadside, receipts, notebooks, Bible records, deeds, estate records, newspapers, slides and a 16mm film
- Preferred Citation
- Roger E. Kammerer, Jr., Collection (#870), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
- Repository
- ECU Manuscript Collection
- Access
- Access to audiovisual and digital media is restricted. Please contact Special Collections for more information.
Collection contains a variety of items relating to Eastern North Carolina especially including a photograph of East Carolina Teacher's College scene (ca. 1940's); a theater Program (ca. 1933/34) for a play presented by The Episcopal Junior Guild, Austin Building, East Carolina Teacher's College; and a Measles in Quarantine Keep Your Babies Away From Measles Broadside (4/7/1934) posted on the home of Ella Viola McGowan when she had the measles. Also included are photographs (some unidentified) of World War II era of which several pertain to military bases such as the 657th Engineer Topographic Battalion (40th Infantry Division, U.S. Army), and one is of Cecil May in U.S. Marine corporal uniform; a photocopy of a letter (1913) containing reminiscences of Confederate veteran John W. Vernelson (of N.C. State Troops) war service and describing the Veterans Reunion at Gettysburg, PA; receipts (1909-1910) for sales by Crown Bottling Works in New Bern, NC; Pitt County, NC, land grants and deeds (1782-1837) related to the Boyd, Edwards, and Nobles families; Bible Records and birth and death records for the Eldridge, Wilder/Hatsell, Pittman, Moore, Sewell, and Davis families; and the book (2011) "One of the Lucky Ones," Edgar Cannon's Contributions in World War II. Other materials (1856-2001) consist of manuscripts, research clippings, notes, photocopies, photographic prints, programs, notebooks, and newspapers, relating to the history and genealogy of Eastern North Carolina, especially Robersonville and Williamston in Martin County, NC. Also included are a 1941 color silent 16mm film about Greenville and slides (ca. 1970) documenting tobacco and old houses in Pitt County, NC.
Biographical/historical information
Roger E. Kammerer, Jr., is a freelance artist and local historian living in Greenville, N.C. He was born in 1956 in Nebraska, but spent most of his early life in Swansboro, N.C. Under the mentorship of noted N.C. historian, Tucker Reed Littleton, Kammerer obtained a love for North Carolina history. After receiving a scholarship, Kammerer enrolled in the School of Art at East Carolina University in Greenville in 1974. To date, he has designed numerous book covers, has worked on television commercials and produced artwork for homes and businesses. Kammerer is also known for his oil portraits, historical paintings and numerous mural projects.
In 1984, Kammerer was among the charter members who organized the Pitt County Family Researchers, Inc., a local genealogical group. Currently, he is president of the group, and editor of its quarterly journal. In 2004 the Pitt County Genealogical Quarterly received the award from the North Carolina Genealogical Society for the best genealogical publication of the year. Since 1985 Kammerer has also written a column on Pitt County and Greenville history for the Greenville Times. He is a lifetime member of the Pitt County Historical Society, and in recent years has served on the board of the Village of Yesteryear, a complex of twenty-one historic buildings and extensive collection of farm life artifacts. In addition, Kammerer has led several walking tours of the historic downtown area of Greenville, and has authored, or co-authored, twenty-one books and booklets on local history and genealogy.
Administrative information
Custodial History
November 7, 2018 (unprocessed addition 5), 1.0 cubic feet; Included is a 16mm color silent film titled "Greenville in Reelife" filmed in Greenville, North Carolina, in June 1941 by E. V. Atkinson, director and cinematographer for Reelife Motion Pictures. The film, which needs extensive preservation work, has shots of city officials, city departments, industries, street scenes, churches, civic clubs, and beauty spots and was first shown at the Pitt Theatre. This addition also includes 3 carousels of slides documenting Pitt County, NC, taken by Connor Eagles around 1970; the slides in one carousel show tobacco fields and tobacco related shots, and the two other carousels of slides document old houses. Gift of Roger E. Kammerer, Jr.
September 24, 2019, (unprocessed addition 6), 0.25 cubic feet; Included is a copy of an 862-page journal (1887-1895) said to have been kept by Willis R. Williams (1826-1910 or 1828-1909), a Pitt County, North Carolina, legislator and planter. The location of the original journal is unknown. Gift of Roger E. Kammerer, Jr.
Source of acquisition
Gift of Roger E. Kammerer, Jr.
Gift of LaRue Evans via Roger E. Kammerer, Jr.
Gift of Estate of Clarice Mills via Roger E. Kammerer, Jr.
Processing information
Legacy collection guide encoded by Apex Data Services. Conservation and digitization of the film "Greenville in Reelife" was made possible with grant funding from the National Film Preservation Foundation, a grant-giving public charity, affiliated with the Library of Congress's National Film Preservation Board.
Copyright notice
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Existence and Location of Originals
Special Collections retains four physical copies of the film, "Greenville in Reelife." The original and intermediate negative master are stored in the Conservation Department freezer. The answer print master and the access print are stored in the closed stacks. Because a digitized version of the film is available through Digital Collections, access to the originals is granted on a case by case basis.
Key terms
Personal Names
Cannon, Edgar
May, Cecil
Peirson, Joseph
Vernelson, John W.
Corporate Names
East Carolina Teachers College
Topical
Historic buildings--North Carolina--Pitt County
Land grants--North Carolina--Pitt County
Measles--North Carolina--Greenville
Motion pictures--North Carolina--Greenville
Tobacco--North Carolina--Pitt County
World War, 1939-1945
Places
North Carolina--Genealogy
Robersonville (N.C.)--History
Williamston (N.C.)--History
Container list
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Measles in Quarantine
Box 1 Folder c Sloops to Subchasers: A History of Ship/boatbuilding in North Carolina, by William N. Still, Jr. & Richard Stephenson (n.d.) Photocopy typescript mss. 1 item. ca. 300 p. (ca. 0.10 cubic feet)
Box 2 Collection (ca. 1900-1980) of research clippings, notes, photocopies, programs, and notebooks, etc. on Eastern North Carolina genealogy. ca. 300 items. 1500 p. (ca. 1.0 cubic feet)
Box 3 Collection (ca. 1965-2001) of research clippings, notes, photocopies, photographs, programs, and notebooks, etc. on Eastern North Carolina genealogy. ca. 350 items. 2000 p. (ca. 1.0 cubic feet)
Box 4 Martin County, NC newspapers, (1856, 1859, 1867), including Williamston Democratic Banner, Williamston Expositor, and Williamston Mercury newspapers. Incomplete & partial copies. 6 items. ca. 500 p. (ca. 0.62 cubic feet)
Box 5 Williamston Enterprise, Martin County, NC newspaper, (ca. 1969-1974, 1978, 1981), Incomplete & partial copies. ca. 100 items. ca. 600 p. (ca. 0.62 cubic feet)
Box 6 Robersonville Weekly Herald, Martin County, NC newspaper, (ca. 1969-1974, 1978, 1981), Incomplete & partial copies. ca. 100 items. ca. 600 p. (ca. 0.62 cubic feet)
Box 7 Greenville Daily News (January - March 1919) Bound volume. 1 item. ca. 270 p. (ca. 0.32 cubic feet)
Box 8 Unprocessed addition
Box 9 Unprocessed addition
Box 10 Unprocessed addition
Box 11 Unprocessed addition
Conditions Governing Access
Because a digitized version of the film is available through Digital Collections, access to the originals is granted on a case by case basis. Please contact specialcollections@ecu.edu to inquire about access to the original film. Items being removed from the freezer require at least 24 hours to acclimatize to room temperature.
Existence and Location of Originals
Special Collections retains four physical copies of the film. The original and intermediate negative master are stored in the Conservation Department freezer. The answer print master and the access print are stored in the closed stacks.
Processing Information
Conservation and digitization of this film was made possible with grant funding from the National Film Preservation Foundation, a grant-giving public charity, affiliated with the Library of Congress's National Film Preservation Board.
Item b12-i2 Original film
This 16mm acetate reel contains a silent, itinerant film that was captured by [Reelife Motion Pictures]. The footage includes scenes of Greenville, North Carolina including East Carolina University. Conservation and digitization of this film was made possible with funding from the National Film Preservation Foundation, a grant-giving public charity, affiliated with the Library of Congress's National Film Preservation Board.
Item b12-i4 Negative copy
Box 12 Positive access copy
Box 12 Positive master print
