C. D. Jones letter to S. H. McKibben regarding American Cotton Picker Co. cottonseed
Content Description
This file contains a handwritten letter on American Cotton Picker Co. stationary from C. D. Jones at the Demonstrating Plant, Westdale Plantation in Louisiana to Dr. S. H. McKibben in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, dated January 28, 1906. The stationary lists Pittsburgh as the location of the company's manufacturing plant. In the letter, Jones informs McKibben of the poor condition of their cottonseed from excessive rain, and recommends McKibben order seeds from Russell Big Boll Prolific Cotton Seed, a company based in Alexander City, Alabama.
In addition to the handwritten note, Jones enclosed a copy of a letter from J. L. Thornton of Russell Big Boll Prolific Cotton Seed to the American Cotton Picker Co. regarding their seed order, as well as a form letter advertisement by J. L. Thornton about the product, in the envelope for McKibben. Both items are dated January 1906. The letterhead for J. L. Thornton contains a photograph of unnamed Black women and children laboring in a cotton field. The image is undated and captioned "A field of Russell Big Boll Prolific Cotton."
Dates
- Creation: 1906 January
Creator
- Thornton, J. L. (Person)
- Jones, C. D. (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is housed off-site and requires 48-hours' notice for retrieval. Contact Special Collections for more information. The collection is open for use.
Conditions Governing Use
Single copies may be made for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions. It is not necessary to seek our permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that we have made available for use, unless Johns Hopkins University holds the copyright.
Biographical / Historical
No additional information is known about the women and children featured in the J. L. Thornton letterhead photograph, or about C. D. Jones, S. H. McKibben, and the American Cotton Picker Company.
Russell Big Boll Prolific Cotton Seed was founded in approximately 1895 by J. T. Russell of Alexander City, Alabama.
J. L. Thornton worked in the cotton industry from 1895 until 1913, during which time he also served out the unexpired term of Alexander City Mayor W. M. Welch in 1906. Upon his retirement from business, Thornton served nine years as postmaster of Alexander City. From 1922-1930, he worked as a secretary to Alabama Senator J. Thomas Heflin. Heflin's racist political legacy includes disenfranchising Black voters in Alabama, supporting convict leasing, opposing federal child labor regulations, and his involvement with the Ku Klux Klan.
Sources:
The Alexander City Outlook, September 18, 1930. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-alexander-city-outlook/140525307/.
Ware, J. O. (2023). Origin, Rise and Development of American Upland Cotton and Their Status at Present. Second edition, ed. by F.M. Bourland. Research Reports and Research Bulletins. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/aaesrb/57
Extent
0.167 Cubic Feet (1 legal size folder)
Language of Materials
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from McBlain Books, November 2014.
Processing Information
This file was previously part of collection MS.0845, the Johns Hopkins University collection of African American history and culture. The file was reprocessed by Kristen Diehl in August 2024 to revise dealer-supplied description in compliance with Johns Hopkins Guidelines for Inclusive and Conscientious Description (2023). A copy of the original description is available upon request.
Subject
- American Cotton Picker Co. (Organization)
- McKibben, S. H. (Person)
- Russell Big Boll Prolific Cotton Seed (Organization)
- Title
- C. D. Jones letter to S. H. McKibben regarding American Cotton Picker Co. cottonseed
- Author
- Kristen Diehl
- Date
- August 2024
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Repository
The Sheridan Libraries
Special Collections
3400 N Charles St
Baltimore MD 21218 USA
specialcollections@lists.jhu.edu