Cyrus B. King Papers
MC 00173
Special Collections Research Center
7.4 Linear feet
1950-2012
The Cyrus B. King Papers contain correspondence, political campaign materials, newsletters from a variety of local and national organizations, flyers, clippings, membership rosters, fundraising information, invitations, precinct maps, journal articles, newspaper editorials, and reports and resolutions on political issues. The majority of the material was generated through Cyrus King's work to promote civil rights and racial justice and his work on political campaigns. There are also documents that relate to his time as a Librarian at North Carolina State University and a small amount of personal correspondence.
Cyrus Baldwin King, born in 1922, worked in the North Carolina State University Library for over twenty years and was active in a wide variety of efforts to promote civil rights and social justice. He was hired by N.C. State as an Acquisitions Librarian in 1963 and retired in 1984 as Assistant Director for Collection Management and Development. He was and remains very politically active, writing tirelessly in support of the causes that he has adopted, most notably racial justice, campaigns to promote peace and non-violence, and other civil rights causes.
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the
Special Collections Research Center Reference Staff.
11 archival storage boxes and 1 legal archival storage box
King, Cyrus B. (Cyrus Baldwin), 1922-
Restrictions to Access
This collection is open for research; access requires at least 24 hours advance notice.
Acquisitions Information
Gift of Cyrus B. King, 1984 (Accn. no. 1984-0013), 1989 (Accn. no. 1989-0007), 1992 (Accn. no. 1992-0005), 1996 (Accn. no. 1996-0005), ca. 2004 (Accn. no. 2004-0014), and 2008 (Accn. nos. 2008-0019 and 2008-0131).
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Cyrus B. King Papers, MC 173, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Copyright Notice
The nature of the NCSU Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NCSU Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections 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 must assume full responsibility for any use of the 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.
Proccessing Information
Processed by Steven Mandeville-Gamble,
2006 February 23
Encoded by Steven Mandeville-Gamble,
2006 February 23
Finding aid updated by Todd Kosmerick,
2008 June
Finding aid updated by Allyson Smally,
2011 September
Biographical Note
Cyrus Baldwin King, born 31 October 1922, worked in the North Carolina State University Library for over twenty years and was active in a wide variety of efforts to promote civil rights and social justice. He grew up in North Carolina in a pacifist Quaker family and served with the United States Army in Europe during World War II. His father, Edward Scull (E.S.) King, was also very active in the N.C. State University community, serving as the secretary of the campus chapter of the Young Men's Christian Association for over thirty years.
Cyrus King earned his Bachelor's Degree in History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1947 and his Master's Degree in History from the University of Kentucky in 1949. He worked for several years at the Student Supply Stores at North Carolina State College before joining the North Carolina State Archives as the Assistant State Archivist in 1960. In 1963, he was hired by N.C. State as an Acquisitions Librarian and was head of the department for many years. He eventually became the Assistant Director for Collection Management and Development before retirng in 1984.
King was and remains very politically active, writing tirelessly in support of the causes that he has adopted. He has worked through his church, the Community United Church of Christ, the Democratic party, and many local and national organizations. He spoke out in favor of of desegregation and other civil rights issues in the 1950s and 1960s and has remained active in support of a wide variety of efforts to promote social justice and non-violence. He has worked in support of greater voting rights, environmental issues, the abolishment of the death penalty, workers' rights, improving education in North Carolina, and many other civil rights causes.
Scope and Content Note
The Cyrus B. King Papers contain correspondence, political campaign materials, newsletters from a variety of local and national organizations, flyers, clippings, membership rosters, fundraising information, invitations, precinct maps, journal articles, newspaper editorials, and reports and resolutions on political issues. The majority of the material was generated through King's work to promote civil rights and racial justice and his work on political campaigns. Also included documents that relate to his time as a Librarian at North Carolina State University and a small amount of personal correspondence.
The correspondence series contains letters to and from a variety of local, state, and national political figures, including North Carolina governor Luther Hodges, North Carolina House of Representatives member Dan Blue, former mayor of Charlotte and Senatorial hopeful Harvey Gantt, U.S. Representative Fred Heineman, Congressman Brad Miller, journalist David Potorti, Senator Paul Simon, Janet Reno, David Price, Lauch Faircloth, W.W. Finlator, and more. The issues addressed in the political papers range from enviromentalism and gun control to international peace movements and campaign finance reform.
The material ranges in date from 1950 to 2011, although the majority of the material dates from after 1980.
Organization of the Collection
This collection is arranged into four series:
-
[Series 1. Correspondence](ref13)
-
[Series 2. Political Papers](ref85)
-
[Series 3. Professional Papers](ref147)
-
[Series 4. Personal Papers](ref154)
ACLU of Wake County.
Blue, Daniel Terry, 1949-
Clinton, Bill, 1946-
Democratic Party (N.C.).
Faircloth, Lauch, 1928-
Finlator, William Wallace, 1913-
Gantt, Harvey B. (Harvey Bernard), 1943-
Heineman, Fred
King, Cyrus B. (Cyrus Baldwin), 1922-
North Carolina State University. Libraries.
Potorti, David
Price, David Eugene
Reno, Janet
Simon, Paul, 1928-
Academic libraries--North Carolina
Capital punishment
Civil rights
Employee rights
Environmentalism
Gay rights
Human rights
Letters (correspondence)
Newsletters
Peace movements
Political campaigns
Race relations
Video tapes
Correspondence
MC 173 Series 1
12
5
1.75 Linear feet
1950-2009
Scope and Contents note
The correspondence contains copies of outgoing letters, incoming letters, printed copies of emails, and telegrams. It includes clippings and other enclosures that accompanied both the incoming and outgoing correspondence. The final two folders in the series contain letters addressed to Cyrus King's wife, Carolyn King. The material ranges in date from 1950 to 2009, but the majority dates from after 1985.
The vast majority of the correspondence was generated through Cyrus King's work to promote civil rights and his work on local, state, and national political campaigns for Democratic politicians. The chronologically arranged correspondence also contains some letters of a personal and professional nature, including some related to King's work at the North Carolina State University Library.
Arrangement note
The correspondence is arranged chronologically and thereafter alphabetically by correspondent or by topic. There is a great deal of overlap between the two groupings - correspondence can be found from the same individuals in both the chronologically and the alphabetically arranged materials.
Correspondence
1
1
1950-1959
Correspondence
1
2
1960
Correspondence
1
3
1961
Correspondence
1
4
1962
Correspondence
1
5
1963
Correspondence
1
6
1964
Correspondence
1
7
1967-1968
Correspondence
1
8
1969-1970
Correspondence
1
9
1971
Correspondence
1
10
1972
Correspondence
1
11
1973
Correspondence
1
12
1974-1976
Correspondence
1
13
1977-1980
Correspondence
1
14
1981
Correspondence
1
15
1982
Correspondence
1
16
1983
Correspondence
1
17
1984
Correspondence
1
18
1985
Correspondence
1
19
1986
Correspondence
1
20
1987
Correspondence
1
21
1988
Correspondence
1
22
1989
Correspondence
2
1
1990
Correspondence
2
2
1991
Correspondence
2
3
1992
Correspondence
2
4
1993
Correspondence
2
5
1994
Correspondence
2
6
1995
Correspondence
2
7
1996
Correspondence
2
8
1997
Correspondence
2
9
1998
Correspondence
2
10
1999
Correspondence
3
1
2000
Correspondence
3
2
2001
Correspondence
9
1
2004-2005
Correspondence
9
2
2005-2006
Correspondence (1 of 2)
9
3
2007-2008
Correspondence (2 of 2)
9
4
2007-2008
Correspondence
9
5
2008-2009
Archives records
3
3
1996-2004
Blue, Dan
3
5
1989-2003
City of Raleigh
3
6
1993
Coble, Ran
3
7
1998-2003
Edwards, John
9
6
2005-2007
Faircloth, Lauch
3
8
1995-1997
Finlator, W.W.
3
9
1996-1997
Goodman, Jim
3
10
2003-2004
Heineman, Fred
3
11
1996
Helms, Jesse
3
12
1996-1997
Holt, Joe
3
13
2004
Holt, Joe
9
7
2005-2006
Hooker, Michael, UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor
3
14
1995-1996
Kerry-Edwards Campaign
3
15
2003-2004
Miller, Brad (1 of 2)
3
16
2003-2004
Miller, Brad (2 of 2)
3
17
2003
Miller, Brad
9
8
2005-2008
Neeley, Charles B., Jr.
3
18
1996-1997
News and Observer editorial
3
19
2004
North Carolina Humanities Center
3
20
1996
North Carolina Legislature
9
10
2005-2007
North Carolina State Government
3
21
2001-2004
North Carolina Museum of History
3
22
2000-2001
Perdue, Beverly
3
23
2003-2004
Potorti, David
3
24
2003-2004
President, United States
3
25
1993-2003
Price, David
3
26
1989-1991
Price, David
4
1
1992-1994
Price, David
4
2
1996-1997
Price, David
9
9
2005-2008
Reno, Janet
4
3
1993
United Nations Association
4
4
1990-1999
United States House of Representatives
4
5
1993-2003
United States Senate
4
6
1993-2004
United States Senate
10
1
2005-2008
Voss, Carl Hermann
4
7
1992
Wicker, Tom [New York Times]
4
8
1991
Y.M.C.A. Blue Ridge Assembly
4
9
1997
Correspondence to Carolyn King
4
10
1985-1991
Correspondence to Carolyn King
10
2
1990-1991
Correspondence
2013.0039
12
4
2003-2012
Political papers
MC 173 Series 2
1.5 Linear feet
1964-2004
Organization of the Collection
This series is arranged chronologically and thereafter alphabetically by subject. There is some overlap between the topics covered in the two sets of material.
Scope and Content Note
This series contains material generated from Cyrus King's involvement with political campaigns and his work on a wide variety of efforts to promote social justice and civil rights. The issues he worked for range from enviromentalism and gun control to international peace movements and campaign finance reform.
Included is a large amount of political campaign materials, newsletters from a variety of local and national organizations, flyers, clippings, membership rosters, fundraising information, invitations, precinct maps, reports and resolutions on political issues, and some correspondence. The materials range in date from 1964 to 2004, but the majority are from the 1980s and 1990s.
Politics
4
11
1986-1987
Politics (1 of 2)
4
12
1988
Politics (2 of 2)
4
13
1988
Politics
4
14
1989
Politics
4
15
1990
Politics
5
1
1991
Politics (1 of 2)
5
2
1992
Politics (2 of 2)
5
3
1992
Politics (1 of 2)
5
4
1993
Politics (2 of 2)
5
5
1993
Politics (1 of 2)
5
6
1994
Politics (2 of 2)
5
7
1994
Politics
5
8
1996
American Civil Liberties Union
5
9
1997-2002
American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina
10
4
1985-2001
American Civil Liberties Union - Wake County Chapter
10
5
1985-1998
Anti-Ballistic Missle Treaty
5
10
2002-2003
Anti-war rallies, vigils for gun violence victims
10
3
2000-2003
Athletics and Claude Sitton
5
11
1989-1990
Berrigan - Plowshares (1 of 2)
5
12
1993-1994
Berrigan - Plowshares (2 of 2)
5
13
1993-1994
Black Cultural Center
6
1
1993
Britt Campaign
6
2
2002
Brown for President
6
3
1992
Campaign Finance Reform
6
4
1998
Campaign Finance Reform/Tax Reform
10
20
1979-2001
The Carolinian
11
10
15 September 1994
The Carolinian
8
22
2008
Certificates
8
7
1990-2002
Clippings
8
14
1981-2001
Crabtree Creek Greens
10
17
1990
Death Penalty
6
5
1992-2004
Democratic National Convention (1 of 2)
11
4
1972
Democratic National Convention (2 of 2)
12
1
1972
Democratic National Convention - clippings
11
11
1972
Editorials by Cyrus King
8
2
1982?, 1995
Environmental Federation of North Carolina
11
2
1994-1999
Free Speech
6
6
2001
Franklin, Anne
6
7
1993
Gantt, Harvey
6
8
1991
Gantt, Harvey
6
9
1996
Gay and Lesbian issues
6
10
2003
Governor's Criminal Justice Summit
10
6
1990
Gun control
6
11
1984-1995
Haiti
6
12
1995
Hazardous Waste Reduction
10
15
1990
Human Rights Planning Group
6
13
1989-1995
Iraq
6
14
2003
Israel
6
15
2000
Junior ROTC
6
16
2002
The Man From Hope : with a special personal message from Bill Clinton / prepared exclusively for Clinton Team Members and their guests [VHS]
Number 24371
8
15
ca. 1991
1 videotape (VHS) : sd., col.
Mt. Olive Pickle Company
6
17
1998-2002
Mt. Olive Pickle Company
6
18
2003
Mt. Olive Pickle Company
6
19
2004
Mt. Olive Pickle Company - Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO
6
20
1999-2003
Mt. Olive Pickle Company - letter from Cy and Carolyn King
6
21
1999
Mt. Olive Pickle Company and Community United Church of Christ
6
22
1999-2003
Mt. Olive Pickle Company - National Farm Worker Ministry
6
23
1998-2003
Mt. Olive Pickle Company - Bill Bryan
7
1
2000-2004
Mt. Olive Pickle Company - Triangle Friends Farm Workers
7
2
2000-2004
Mt. Olive Pickle Company - Duke University
7
3
2002-2004
National Rifle Association
7
4
2002
Newsletters - Center for Reflection on the Second Law
11
7
1986-1998
Newsletters - Church World Service/Crop
11
6
1986-1988
Newsletters - Miscellaneous
11
9
1987-2002
Newsletters - North Carolina Peace Network
12
2
1983-1986
Newsletters - Notes from under the Fig Tree
11
5
1991-2002
Newsletters - Wake County Peace and Justice Groups
12
3
1986-1998
Newsletters - Sierra Club
11
8
1987-1993
No Child Left Behind
7
5
2001
North Carolina Alliance for Democracy / Wake County Deomcratic Party
10
9
1995-1999
North Carolina Democratic Party Periodicals
10
7
1997-2002
North Carolina General Assembly
10
13
1989
North Carolina Lottery
7
6
2000-2001
Northgreen Country Club
8
19
1983
New Party
10
16
1995
Paul, Mack
7
7
1995
Peace Action Education Fund
7
8
2004
Peace Action Education Fund Award dinner (1 of 2)
7
9
25 April 2002
Peace Action Education Fund Award dinner (2 of 2)
7
10
25 April 2002
Peace Campaigns/Abolition of Death Penalty
10
19
1983-2001
Peace Guide
11
1
1991-1992
Political Action Committees
10
8
1980-1987
Political Campaigns
10
12
1964-1990
Precinct 29 minutes
7
11
1985-1993
Price, David - campaign material and reports
10
11
1986-2002
Program named for Sam Ervin Jr.
8
18
1980-1982
Racial justice (1 of 3)
7
12
1989-1994
Racial justice (2 of 3)
7
13
1989-1994
Racial justice (3 of 3)
7
14
1989-1994
School prayer
7
15
1992-1993
Smith, Dean - beer advertising ban
7
16
1993
Tobacco Growers
8
21
undated
Tributes to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
11
3
1987-2001
U.S.A. Patriot Act
7
17
2004
Voter Guides
10
14
1990-2000
Wake County Board of Education
8
11
1981
Wake County Democratic Party
10
10
1986-2002
Williams, Malcolm
8
1
undated
Women's Organizations
10
18
1981-1999
Professional Papers
MC 173 Series 3
0.25 Linear feet
1960-2000
Scope and Contents note
This series contains material relating to King's professional activities, mostly from his time as a librarian at North Carolina State University. The material ranges in date from 1960 to 2000.
Articles by Cyrus King
8
8
1963,1978
Certificates and Awards
8
9
1964-2000
Correspondence, Memorandum, and Reports
8
17
1971-1984
Race relations seminar
8
6
1979
Retirement from NCSU Libraries
8
15
1984-1985
State Department of Archives and History
3
4
1960-1963
Student Supply Store and State Archives [articles]
8
3
1960
Personal Papers
MC 173 Series 4
1957-2003
Scope and Content Note
This series contains personal photographs and correspondence as well as material related to King's involvement with NC State's Libraries after his retirement. The material ranges in date from 1957 to 2003.
Clippings
8
4
1969-1984
Correspondence
8
23
1975-1989
Cyrus King Endowment to NCSU Libraries
8
10
2003
Friends of the Library/Friends of the College
8
5
1983-1989
Interview with Cyrus King
8
12
2000s
Photographs
8
13
1957-1958, 1964, 1971, 1990s?
Clippings, Awards
2013.0039
12
5
1984-2012
Correspondence
2013.0039
12
6
2008-2012