Beaumert Whitton Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS0117

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Beaumert Whitton owned and managed the Southeastern Construction Company, a family-owned enterprise established by his father Earle Whitton. The collection contains correspondence related to the operation of the business as well as communications with his friends and family members. There are also several papers related to the Southeastern Construction Company, including annual statements, yearly examination of accounts, incorporation charters and seven volumes of minute books of the Board of Directors from 1947-1971. There is also some material related to other businesses, such as the Independence Realty and Loan Company, the Juno Construction Partnership and Whitton Brothers Associates. In addition to managing the family business, Whitton was integrally involved in a wide variety of activities in his community. These activities are reflected in his collected papers, and included such things as the Boys Scouts, his membership in the Myers Park Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Historical Foundation and the Dan Brown Outdoor School for Boys. The Dan Brown Outdoor School was a precursor to the Boy Scout movement in the United States and was later folded into the Boy Scouts after the scouts became established in this country. This collection contains a rare booklet that documents the establishment and purpose of this school.

Atkins Library received parts of this collection at different times in the 1980s and 2000s, therefore, it was originally processed as the Beaumert Whitton Papers, Part I and Part II. In July 2016, the two parts were combined to form the single collection of Beaumert Whitton Papers and original order was maintained.

Dates

Creation: 1908 - 1984

Creator

Whitton, Beaumert (Person)

Language of Materials

English

Access to Collection

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Beaumert Whitton papers are the physical property of J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections. Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Biographical note

Beaumert Harrison Whitton was born in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, on July 3, 1910 to Agnes Winchester and Earle Whitton. The family moved to North Carolina in 1916 and he grew up in Charlotte. Whitton attended Charlotte public schools and UNC at Chapel Hill (1928-1930). He was graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1933 with a degree in construction engineering. He joined his father, Earle Whitton, as a field engineer in the family construction business, Southeastern Construction Company, after his graduation from MIT. He became president of the firm in 1959.

Between 1945 and 1950, Whitton served as a member and as chair of the Charlotte Planning Board. During this time, he helped establish a master plan, draft the city's original zoning law, and create Independence Boulevard. In addition, Whitton belonged to a number of civic organizations, including the Charlotte Rotary Club, Charlotte Country Club, and Charlotte City Club. As an active member of the Democratic Party, he served as a Precinct Committee member. His philanthropic activities included financing trips abroad for black students, as well as actively recruiting African-American students for the engineering program at MIT.

He married Daphne Amelia Clark of Clarkton, N.C., on July 10, 1937 and they had three children: Margaret (born 1942), Robert (born 1944), and Mary, (born 1945). The Whittons attended Myers Park Presbyterian Church, where Beaumert served as a deacon and an elder. He died in Charlotte on April 24, 1990.

Extent

8 Linear Feet

Additional Description

Abstract

Personal, family, and business papers of a long-time Charlotte resident and construction company executive. Includes his diaries as a high school student (late 1920s); family correspondence and photographs; some records of the Southeastern Construction Company, the family firm, including photographs of projects in Cuba (circa 1917) and in North Carolina and South Carolina (1920s-1960s); records of other businesses the family owned; and files concerning his civic activities, including minutes and scrapbooks (circa 1948) of the Charlotte Planning Board.

Organization of the Collection

The collection is arranged into the following series and subseries:

I. Correspondence II. Business materials, 1914-1978 i. Non-Southeastern Construction Company ventures, 1925-1978 ii. Southeastern Construction Company, 1922-1977 a. Bylaws and Meeting Minutes of the Board of Directors III. Personal materials, 1908-1984 i. Photographs, 1914-1968, undated ii. Colleges and Universities, 1954-1984 iii. General, 1922-1977 iv. Organizations, 1948-1950, 1960-1984 a. Presbyterianism v. Family records, 1908-1977

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Beaumert Whitton (1980 and 1986), Bill Huffman (1984) and Robert Whitton (2007).

Related Materials

Louis Humbert Asbury Papers (MS 145). J.A. Jones Construction Company (MS 340). James Norman Pease Papers (MS 97). Waddell Construction Company Records (MS 418). See the following collection materials for more examples of rationing supplies: Winifred Barbour Simpson (MS332) box 1:8 ; Arthur and Farrar Families (MS65) box 7:9 ; and Frederick Alexander (MS91) box 44:16-17 ; World War II Ephemera collection (MS0539).

Processing Information

The Beaumert Whitton papers were originally processed in 1986 by Special Collections staff. When Beaumert Whitton's son Robert donated additonal material to the Special Collections in 2007, it was processed as the Beaumert Whitton Papers, Part II by Robert McInnes in 2009. In July 2016, Andrew Pack integrated Part I and II together to form the single collection of Beaumert Whitton papers.