Guide to the Larry Holmes Papers, 1923-1947

This is a finding aid, or a guide to this collection. It is a description of archival material held by The McCall Library at USA. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web.

Descriptive Summary
Creator: Larry Holmes
Title: Larry Holmes Papers
Dates: 1968-2003 (Bulk 19723-1947
Quantity: 0.75 Cubic Feet
Abstract: Handwritten and typed loose manuscripts and notebooks containing articles on Mobile's history, legends, streets, and prominent families.
Accession: 94-09-279

Biographical Note
Dr. Larry E. Holmes is a former professor of Russian history at the University of South Alabama. In 1972, the university attempted to deny him tenure and relieve him of his position. Holmes attributed the university’s actions to his participation in and arrest stemming from a protest against the Junior Miss pageant in 1969, to his support of an underground campus newspaper entitled Rearguard, to his support for migrant workers, to his progressive attitude toward civil rights for African Americans, and to his active involvement with a student group known as Genesis, a group the university believed "engaged in disruptive campus activities." Holmes filed suit against the university and its board of trustees on February 7, 1973, alleging that they were denying him his civil rights, that he had been intimidated and harassed, and that his dismissal was politically-
motivated. At one point the university offered Holmes $21,000 to drop the suit and leave the university. Holmes declined the offer, and, finally, in August 1973 the school and Holmes reached an out-of-court settlement in which Holmes retained his position, was granted tenure, and received back pay. The issues involved with his firing were complex but reflect the political / ideological immaturity of a new university’s administrative process and the societal changes taking place at the time of the events.

Genesis was a student group formed in 1970 that billed itself as an organization "to provide a forum for students for community and campus projects of liberal orientation." Holmes was the faculty advisor. It aimed to show films discussing the presence of ROTC on campus, to aid voter registration, and to support more student involvement in the administration of the university.

Scope and Content
This collection contains materials amassed during the course of an administrative and legal battle between Larry E. Holmes and the university over tenure. Includes a chronology of events, documents related to the FBI and its concern with Holmes’ activities, correspondence, memoranda, briefs, interrogatories, affidavits, newspaper clippings, reports, and depositions. The collection also includes a CD of an interview conducted in August 1973 with Holmes by Mike Sloan of the local radio station WABB and Don Henry of the Alabama Education Association. A later donation made by Holmes was added to the end of this collection and contains correspondence, grant awards and applications, newspaper clippings and other material related to Holmes’ professional career, and a copy of Holmes’ 1997 article on Moscow School No. 25 that appeared in the Slavic Review.

Related Material
See also the April 17, 2002, oral interview with Holmes conducted by graduate student John Lyle. The John LeFlore Papers and the Records of the Non-Partisan Voters League also have material on the protest against the Junior Miss Pageant. In addition, we have an entire run of the alternative paper Rearguard.

Access Restrictions
This material is open to research

Use Restrictions
None

Preferred Citation
Larry Holmes Papers, The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL.

Guide prepared by:  Carol Ellis

Guide last updated:  2012/01/09

Box Inventory

Box 1

File A: Holmes’ USA Application, 1968

File B: 1). Black Student Union protest / sit-in of November 10, 1970. Black Student Union meeting with President Whiddon, November 13, 1970.

2). Board of Trustees, information on March 9, 1973, meeting and revised minutes of January 19, 1973, meeting.

File C: Correspondence with Alabama Education Association, response from Holmes to university grievances, and chronology of events.

File D: 1). Correspondence with business consultant George De Hueck. 2). History department faculty member affidavits.

File FZ: 1). Flagpole incident. 2). Committee on Foreign Study / Study Abroad.

File G: 1). Genesis. 2). Proposal for Graduate Study in History.

File H: Faculty Handbooks, 1970, 1971.

File IJ: "Thporth" columns from Rearguard.

File L: 1). Lowdown, 1971-72. 2). In Dixieland (December 3, 1972) article "In the Woods, A New Unity: Black and White Woodcutters Band Together in Alabama, Mississippi." 3). Correspondence.

File M: Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (New York: Southwind Music, Inc., 1969) [Johnny Cash songbook].

File N: Newspaper clippings.

File P: 1). Promotions policy, 1972. 2). Governor’s Cost Control Survey, 1972

File R: Russian Area Studies.

File S: 1). Student evaluation information. [Restricted] 2). Student letter/notes of congratulations. 3). Holmes’ responses to congratulatory letters.

File T: [Restricted]

File UV: Personal vitae.

File XYZ: Memorandum Brief of the Plaintiff in Civil Action No. 7533-73-P.

File AA: Bail bond receipt, May 3, 1969.

File BB: "Thporth" articles from the Rearguard. Special: Security intelligence.

File CC: Correspondence, 1993-1999.

File DD: Correspondence, 2000-2003.

File EE: Grant applications and awards.

File FF: History department checks.

File GG: Miscellaneous material [newspaper clippings, programs, etc., related to Holmes’ teaching career].

File HH: "Part of History: The Oral Record and Moscow’s Model School No. 25, 1931-1937," Slavic Review 56:2 (Summer 1997).

Box 2

File A: Deposition of Dr. Frederick Palmer Whiddon.

File B: 1). Chronology of events. 2). Freedom of Information Act request and results

File C: 1). Dothan Eagle article "Dr. Whiddon Sees Progress in the 70s. 2). Typescript of an ad placed in the Mobile Press Register that precipitated a speech by Mylan Engel. 3). Typescript of a Channel 10 interview with Mylan Engel. 4). USA Student Government resolution on academic freedom. 5). Typescript of a 1967 Whiddon speech to the Student Government Association. 6). Letter from Bill Shirley, August 5, 1973.

File D: Memorandum to the Committee of Nine and Memorandum Brief of the Plaintiff and Defendant.

File E: Pivotal documents, including: 1). USA academic contract, 1971-1972. 2). Correspondence, 1972-1973. 3). Change in rank. 4). Statement of grievance committee submitted to the Faculty Senate, May 3, 1972. 5). Letters from Dr. Herbert Ellison at the University of Washington [Holmes’ mentor]. 6). Letters from Whiddon and others to Dr. Ellison. 7). Papers related to the court case. 8). Correspondence from the Alabama Education Association. 9). Minutes of a general faculty meeting.

File F: Rebuttal of the charges against Holmes.

Administrative hearing testimony.

CD of August 1973 interview with Holmes by Mike Sloan of the local radio station WABB and Don Henry of the Alabama Education Association.