James Holmes Carson Collection

Collection

Identifier: DC0316s

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection includes a variety of material related to members of Carson's extended family. His parents were Charles and Belle Carson of Charlotte. Paige Carter, later Mrs. John Carson was his aunt and Lucy Holmes Carter Haddow is her daughter. The Charlotte Milstead folder contains an invitation from the Merry Men and her 1923 Davidson College Senior Week booklet. The Lucy H. Carson Haddow folder contains letters she wrote as a child, her wedding invitation and a letter from the Library of Congress. The clippings folder contains news articles about women in the family. The manuscript folder has 4 items - a published speech on the South by Mrs Mildred L. Rutherford, a typed manuscript of a short story "Little's Joe," a handwritten manuscript of a poem by C.B. Milstead, and booklet of African Jungle Tales by C. J. Bender. There are 4 folders of family photographs and 3 oversize items: 2 UDC certificates and Carson's Davidson diploma.

Dates

Creation: Majority of material found in 1912 - 1939 and undated

Biographical / Historical

James Holmes Carson was born in 1895 and graduated from Davidson College in 1916. While a student he was the business manager for the Davidsonian, played varsity basketball and was a member of Kappa Alpha and Omicron Delta Kappa. His grandfather, James H. Carson graduated in 1853 and his son, John Carson graduated in 1963. He married Charlotte Milsted in 1928. After serving in World War I, he went into real estate in Charlotte, serving as president of the Charlotte Board of Realtors 3 times and was named Realtor of the Year in 1963. He also served as chair of the Mecklenburg Chapter of Boy Scouts, as vice-president and director of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, and as a member of the Lees-McRae College Board of Trustees. The library at Lees-McRae is named for him.