Collection Title: Lenoir (Dorothy D.) Collection

Collection Number: M111

Dates: 1856-1968

Volume: .25 cu. ft.

Provenance: Donated by Ms. Dorothy D. Lenoir on October 20, 1961.

Restrictions: Available for research use by the serious student and scholar.

Copyright: This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).

Biographical/Historical Sketch:

While biographical information regarding Dorothy Lenoir is limited, certain pertinent facts are available. Dorothy D. Lenoir was born on May 12, 1901. Her parents named her for Dorothy Dix, the most widely read female journalist of that time. She sometimes used the nick-name “Dona.” Dorothy had a younger brother named James Jefferson Lenoir. He was a professor of human rights law and policy at various colleges between 1946 and 1957 (University of Alabama, University of Mississippi, Sexton University, University of Georgia, etc.). She had a cousin, Mrs. Ada Lenoir Felder, who lived in Magnolia, Mississippi.

In the latter part of 1942, Dorothy enrolled in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC). She was stationed for a year at a training center in Ormond, Florida. While she was there, she met Mary C. Thornton and Edith Ames Stevens, with whom she corresponded for a time. From Florida, she was moved to Camp Edwards, Massachusetts.

In 1944, Dorothy Lenoir began working as the secretary for the Mississippi Educational Association in Jackson, Mississippi. She boarded with two sisters, Bertha Ricketts and Edwina Burnley, in a house on North President Street, for seven years. She became friends with Bertha Ricketts-Sumner (Bertha Ricketts’ daughter). Bertha "Cid" Ricketts-Sumner was a noted author whose major works include, Quality (later adapted to the screen and renamed Pinky), Withdraw Thy Foot, But the Morning will Come, Tammy and the Bachelor, Tammy Tell me True, Tammy and the Doctor, and Tammy and the Millionaire.

From approximately 1961 until 1963, Dorothy Lenoir was the Director of the Placement Bureau for the University of Southern Mississippi.

Dorothy Lenoir died in December 1973 in Meridian, Mississippi. Her brother, James Jefferson Lenoir died in June 1985.

Sources:

Contents of the Collection
University of Southern Mississippi Yearbook, The Southerner, 1961-63
List of USM Employee Birthdays
http://www.shs.starkville.k12.ms.us/mswm/MSWritersAndMusicians/writers/Sumner.htm (no longer online) – Bertha Sumner (Cid)
http://www.foxgal.com/info-history.shtml – Foxworth and Galbraith Lumber Company
The University of Alabama Law School Directory of Graduates, 1872-1970
Social Security Death Index

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of personal, historical and genealogical materials relating to Dorothy D. Lenoir, several of her friends, and the Foxworth family, to which she was related. The collection contains nine folders.

Folder 1, “Dorothy Lenoir” holds a variety of items. Included are a letter to Lt. JG Thomas P. Garraway from Dorothy (1946); a letter from Reba H. Brown to Dorothy (1962) concerning the Foxworth genealogy (The Foxworths married into the Lenoir family); and a family tree for the Lenoir family.

Folder 2, “Bertha Ricketts-Sumner (Cid)” contains a memoir written by Cid, telling about her schooling, and a memoir that was written by Edwina Burnley (Cid's aunt) and Bertha Burnley Ricketts (Cid's mother) telling of their lives before they went off to school. Also in this folder are Dorothy Lenoir's memories of stories told by the sisters, and excerpts from letters written by Cid to Dorothy. Cid's letters provide facts about her family. (1968)

Folder 3, “Mary C. Thornton” has three letters written to Dorothy Lenoir by Mary C. Thornton in 1943, after Dorothy had moved to Massachusetts from Florida.

Folder 4, “Edith Ames Stevens” contains a memoir of Mrs. G. Brooks Stevens, Edith’s youngest sister (Jessie), which tells about their father General Adelbert Ames. There are also ten letters written between Edith Ames Stevens and Dorothy Lenoir. (1943-1946)

Folder 5, “Walter L. Foxworth” contains twenty letters written to and from Walter L. Foxworth, John P. Foxworth (uncle), Mrs. Emma Foxworth (aunt) and Walter’s father. These letters concern money lent to Walter Foxworth and invested in real estate, windmills, and a lumber company (Foxworth–Galbraith Lumber Company). Most of the investments were made in or around Dalhart, Texas. (1901-1961)

Folder 6, “Foxworth – Receipts” holds the first three receipts of the investment that John P. Foxworth made in the Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber Company. (1901)

Folder 7, “Foxworth – Guardian's Bond” contains a bond for the guardianship of Joseph Franklin Ford and Felix Ford. (1860).

Folder 8, “Foxworth – Deeds and Land Grants” consists of deeds and land grants involving property in Mississippi. Included are two deeds for land in Marion County, four land grants for land in Covington County, and two land grant copies for Perry County and Adams County. The first deed is for A. M. Foxworth in 1864, and the second deed is for A. E. Foxworth and S. E. Foxworth in 1875. Four of the land grants are oversized, and were issued to Samuel Green Foxworth in 1856. The other two land grants are copies. One is a 1905 copy from an 1846 grant to Samuel Green Foxworth. The other is a 1905 copy from an 1819 grant to Allen Jenkins. (1864-1905)

Folder 9, “Foxworth – Widow Fund” contains a ‘widow fund upon death’ certificate purchased by Alexander E. Foxworth for his wife Sarah E. Foxworth in 1891. It was purchased through the Knights of Honor.


Other Finding Aids:

Box and Folder List

M111
Lenoir (Dorothy D.) Collection
Box and Folder List

Created by: Catherine Eddins
Prepared and maintained by
The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries Special Collections
http://www.lib.usm.edu/spcol/index.php
118 College Drive #5148   Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5148

Please send comments or questions to Ask-a-Librarian
Revised: October 5, 2005