John Foster Potts, Sr. (1908-1998) Papers (1885-2005, bulk 1935-1991)

 

Avery Research Center Manuscript Number 1036

 

Biographical Note:

 

John Foster Potts, Sr., African American educator and author, was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas on April 18, 1908 to Leila Snead and John Moultrie Potts.  In 1916, the family relocated to their ancestral home in East Flat Rock, North Carolina.  Potts attended Lincoln Academy, Kings Mountain, NC, and Benedict College’s high school division, Columbia, SC.  He received a college degree from Benedict in 1930.  Potts began substitute teaching, eventually becoming assistant principal at Columbia’s Booker T. Washington High School.  In 1936, he moved to Gary, Indiana to teach at Roosevelt High School.  He received his Master’s degree from Cornell University in 1937. In 1939, Potts became Principal at Waverley Elementary School in Columbia, SC.  From 1942-45, he served in the United States Naval Reserve as Chief Petty Officer, Recruiting Specialist. After an earlier marriage and divorce, he married Muriel Logan in 1943, and raised five children; Leila, John Jr., Paula, Camille, and the adopted Alma Young.  In 1945, the American Missionary Association named Potts Director of the Avery Institute, Charleston, SC, where he served until the school closed in 1954. In the same year, Potts became President of Voorhees School and Junior College, Denmark, SC.  Under his administration, Voorhees became an accredited four-year liberal arts school in 1968.  Potts retired from Voorhees two years later.  From 1970-1973, he became Executive Director and Secretary of the Triangle Association of Colleges of South Carolina and Georgia, Columbia, SC and Director of the Moton College Service Bureau, Washington, D.C. He returned to Voorhees for a year, and then from 1974 to 1985 worked as an independent educational evaluator and consultant to several historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and authored two books, The History of South Carolina State College, and A History of the Palmetto Education Association. He returned to Voorhees as President Emeritus in 1983. In his third retirement (1985-86), Potts served as Director of Church Relations at Voorhees.  Potts served as president and/or vice president for several educational organizations including the Palmetto Education Association (PEA) (1946-1950); Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools (1952); and was a board member for numerous national organizations. Potts was awarded three Honorary Doctorates, Morris College, Sumter, SC (1956); Benedict College, Columbia, SC (1959); and Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, VA (1969).  He was a former Grand Basileus of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity (1953).  Potts died in 1998.

 

Scope and Content:  4.5 linear ft. (1885-2005, bulk 1935-1991)

 

The papers are divided into numerous series. Biographical papers include an unpublished autobiography and material re Potts’s service as a US navy recruiter.  Family papers include Potts’s narrative history of the family, with some correspondence, clippings, ephemera and related matter. Materials re Potts’s wife Muriel’s family and their children include data on the Logan family, including notes re dismissing Dr. William Miller Logan from military service (c. 1917) for being African American; sheet music autographed by Langston Hughes and school and other papers re her teaching career, along with report cards, programs, etc. of the children; and some personal correspondence that includes thank you notes from Elizabeth Avery Waring. Potts family property papers detail ownership and use of land in East Flat Rock, NC, putting it into the US Soil Bank program and a tree conservation program. Also included is Potts’s history of early black families in East Flat Rock, and his history of The Society of Necessity,  a mutual aid society for African Americans, and The Kingdom of Happy Land, a community established by emancipated slaves from Mississippi, as well as papers re his service as a historian at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. Charleston, SC real estate papers document Potts’s ownership and sale of two properties, one being 54 Montagu St., sold to Palmer College. Writings of Potts include speeches and articles on various educational, civil rights, religious and other topics, with many commencement speeches. Longer works include a draft of his master’s thesis  (1937) re growth of African American population in Gary, IN,  and drafts of his history of the Palmetto Education Association,  along with notes on that organization and date re the Palmetto State Teacher Association, as well. School materials document Potts’s education and teaching in secondary schools in Gary, IN, Columbia, SC and Charleston, SC. There is material, as well, re his directorship of Avery Institute, and his presidency of Voorhees School and Junior College (later Voorhees College), with some information on student unrest there (ca. 1969), employment of his wife Muriel, and loan of Edwin Augustus Harleston paintings. Other papers document his affiliation with the Triangle Association of Colleges of South Carolina and Georgia, the Moton College Service Bureau, and the Technical Assistance Consortium to Improve College Services (TACTICS), and other agencies for whom Potts consulted.  Civic and social organization papers include materials re Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, the Wolverine Social Club of Flat Rock, NC and some card clubs. Miscellaneous materials include plaques, awards, some photographs, newspapers, and printed matter.

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Potts-Suggested Subject Headings

 

Avery Institute, Charleston, SC

African Americans-education (Higher)—South Carolina

African American  -- universities and colleges---South Carolina—Demark--History

African American-teachers                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

African Americans-administrators

African American – Principals

SC-Education-high schools

SC-Education-colleges

SC-Education-segregated schools

SC-Education-private schools

College administrators—South Carolina

Education—South Carolina---History

 

African Americans – Indiana – Gary

African Americans – North Carolina – Flat Rock

African Americans – Soldiers – US Navy – Recruiters

African Americans – Soldiers – discrimination – WW I

African Americans – Mutual Aid Societies -- NC

African American – Fraternal Organizations

 

American Missionary Association

Voorhees School and Junior College--Denmark, SC

Voorhees College—Denmark, SC -- History

Waverly Elementary School--Columbia, SC

Palmer College—Charleston, SC

 

Hughes, Langston 1902-1967

Palmer, Charles E. 1920-1995

Potts, John 1908-1998

Potts, Muriel Rose Logan 1920-

Sandburg, Carl 1878-1967

Waring, Elizabeth Avery 1895-1968

Harleston, Edwin Augustus, 1882 – 1931

Logan family

.

East Flat Rock, North Carolina – History

Flat Rock, North Carolina – History

The Society of Necessity--Flat Rock, NC

The Kingdom of Happy Land, Flat Rock,  NC

Palmetto Education Association—SC—history

Palmetto State Teacher Association

Technical Assistance Consortium to Improve College Services (TACTICS)

Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools

Soil bank program—United States

Triangle Association of Colleges of South Carolina and Georgia

Moton College Service Bureau

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity

 

Speeches

Land records

Thesis

 

 

 

John Foster Potts, Sr.

 

 

Avery Manuscript Number 1036

 

 

Inventory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Box #/

I

Biographical Papers

Folder#

 

 

 

1

Certified copy  (1945) of Potts's honorable discharge from US Naval Service as

1-1

 

as Chief Specialist Recruiter with clipping (1942) re Potts and other SC blacks joining

 

 the Navy

 

 

 

 

2

Bound autobiographical sketch (1990) Remembering and Reflecting: Memoirs of

1-2

 

John F. Potts, Sr.; and  photocopied vita (c. 1974)

 

 

 

 

II

Family History Papers

 

 

 

 

1

Handwritten draft (1990) by Potts, "A History of the Potts Family of Flat Rock, NC; "

1-3

 

typed draft (1990) of "The History of the Family of George and Lavinia Potts;" with

 

questionnaires completed by family members

 

 

 

 

2

Bound typescript (1990) by Potts, "A History of the George and Lavinia Potts Family

1-4

 

of Flat Rock, North Carolina," re his grandparents and their descendents

 

 

 

 

3

Memorandums, letters, questionnaires, mailing lists and handwritten notes (1979,

1-5

 

1990) re  "Back to the Roots Reunion" in East Flat Rock, NC. With  Potts's

 

handwritten remarks at reunion

 

 

 

 

4

Items re Potts's aunt, Martha R. Potts a/k/a Mattie Love, including teacher's second

1-6

 

grade certificates (1902, 1906, 1911) from Henderson County, NC; wedding

 

invitation (1912); and folding wooden fan with hand drawn designs (nd)

 

 

 

 

5

Laminated obituary (1964) of Potts's brother  Edwin Potts, [misidentified as

1-7

 

"Edward"]; photocopied newspaper clipping (2005) re Potts's uncle Fred Henderson

 

Potts

 

 

 

 

6

Summons and divorce decree (1940-42) of Potts from his first wife, Alma Forrest

1-8

 

 

 

7

Correspondence and certificate (1971) re Potts Coat of Arms with historiography;

1-9

 

and autographed Interview Magazine article (1991) featuring Potts's granddaughter

 

Sylver Logan-Sharp, singer and former member of music group Chic

 

 

 

 

III

Papers re Muriel Logan Potts's family and children

 

 

 

 

1

Photocopied Notice to Appear for Physical Examination (1917) for MLP's grand-

1-10

 

father, Dr. William Miller Logan; with later note re his dismissal from service for being

 

African American; obituary (1945) of Thomas Logan, MLP's great grandfather

 

 

 

2

Handwritten letters (1943, 45)  from Potts to wife, Muriel (1943, 45) proposing

1-11

 

marriage, planning wedding, and mentioning activities traveling throughout SC as a

 

Naval Recruiter

 

 

 

 

3

Letters and cards (1945-1975) to MLP from relatives and friends

1-12

 

 

 

4

Choral and sheet music (1921, 1930, 1943-45) used by Muriel Potts; includes

1-13

 

Hall Johnson sheet music autographed by Langston Hughes

 

 

 

 

5

Intermediate teacher's certificate (1952) for Muriel Potts in English, Public School

1-14

 

Music and Teacher Librarian, Charleston, SC; and grade reports (1951 - 52) from

 

State Agricultural & Mechanical College [SC]

 

 

 

 

6

Simonton Public School, Charleston, SC letter (1954) re MLP's daughter Leila;

1-15

 

Voorhees School and Junior College commencement invitation (1963); and letters

 

(1965- 67) written by Leila to her parents

 

 

 

 

7

Report cards (1952 - 53) for John Foster Potts, Jr. from Simonton School  and Kent

1-16

 

School, CT (1960)

 

 

 

 

8

Programs and photocopied clipping (1965) re MLP's daughter Paula's performance in

1-17

 

Virginia State College Choir, and University of SC commencement program (1975)

 

 

 

9

Report cards (1967-68) of MLP's daughter Camille from Denmark [SC] schools;

1-18

 

Demark-Olar High School commencement program (1968) and correspondence

 

(1970) re student loans

 

 

 

 

10

Black and white photographs (c.1970) of MLP;  her grandmother, Lavinia Potts

1-19

 

(c. 1900); and group photo of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority banquet (c. 1940) with

 

with MLP, Cynthia McCottry (later McCottry Smith) and Emily DeCosta

 

 

 

 

IV

Personal Correspondence

 

 

 

 

1

Handwritten letters (1945- 49, 1958) to Muriel and John Potts from relatives and

2-1

 

friends, including thank you letters (1949) from Elizabeth Avery Waring.

 

 

 

 

2

Carbons of letters (1958) from Potts to relatives; and handwritten letters (1963- 67)

2-2

 

from relatives and friends

 

 

 

 

3

Typed and handwritten letters (1970-74,1988) to the Potts from friends and relatives

2-3

 

 

 

V

East Flat Rock, North Carolina property papers

 

 

 

 

1

Handwritten agreement (1926-27) re James P.E. Love purchasing six and one quarter

2-4

 

acres from Jacob Goodwin

 

 

 

 

2

Carbons of typed letters (1954) by Potts to his brother Edwin and Aunt Martha Love

2-5