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Benjamin Franklin Hubert collection

Benjamin Franklin Hubert collection

Descriptive Summary

Title: Benjamin Franklin Hubert collection
Creator: Unknown
Inclusive Dates: 1915-1986
Language(s): English
Extent: 4.5 Linear Feet 9 boxes
Collection Number: ms2926
Repository: Hargrett Library

Collection Description

Historical Note

An educator and advocate for fellow African Americans, Benjamin Franklin Hubert (1884-1958) was born in Springfield, Georgia. Like his brothers John Wesley, Zachary Taylor, Gaddus Johnson and James Henry before him, Benjamin attended Morehouse College, in Atlanta, Georgia. He did graduate work at Amherst Agricultural College and the University of Minnesota.

Upon leaving the University of Minnesota, Hubert spent several years at South Carolina State College, Orangeburg, South Carolina, as Director of Agriculture and Agriculture Extension; and supervisor of Vocational Teacher Training work. During World War I, he served as a special agent for the American Army Corp as Director of Agricultual Instruction among black soldiers in France.

After World War I, Benjamin served as the Chairman of the Department of Agriculture at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. In 1926, he became President of Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth, renamed Georgia State College in 1932 (now known as Savannah State College). Hubert remained there in Savannah, Georgia, from 1926 until his retirement in 1947.

Upon retirement, Benjamin returned to his beloved Hancock County, where he devoted his time and energy to managing his huge farm, which comprised of more than one thousand acres; and raising a herd of cattle which consisted of several hundred Herefords. He also supervised operation of the Log Cabin Center, a project which he and his brothers founded.

Education and land were the stimuli of Benjamin Hubert's life. He was always comfortable and confident when discussing either subject. He never married, but was the "father" to many children whom he helped to educate by finding jobs for them or giving the work while they were attending college at Georgia State College. He employed many of them out of his personal funds.

Bejamin Franklin Hubert died at Springfield, Hancock County, Georgia in 1958.

Scope and Content

This collection consists of the correspondence, personal papers, speeches, agricultural material, financial and business documents of Benjamin Franklin Hubert during his 1926-1947 tenure as President of Georgia State College (later Savannah State College), an agricultural college for African Americans in Savannah, Georgia. Some additional documentation is included for Hubert's time as Director of Agriculture and Agriculture Extension at the South Carolina State College; no documentation is available for his time at the Tuskegee Institute, however. Photos, clippings, and ephemera related to the Hubert and the Log Cabin Center are included as well. The correspondence in the collection predominately composed of correspondence between Hubert and his various donors, who provided advice and suggestions for the direction and programs at the Log Cabin Center. Notable donors/supporters included are Eleanor Roosevelt, George Foster Peabody, and Caroline Hazard. There is also some detailed correspondence between Hubert and his sharecroppers, the African-American community, and staff at the college. Benjamin Hubert's personal papers consist of some certificates, Hubert's court cases, recommendations for Hubert, and essays/speeches (most of which concern the history of future of the African-American citizen). The agricultural materials mostly relate to Hubert's work regarding the Association for the Advancement of Negro Country Life and their farming goals for African-American citizens. The financial documents encompass insurance policies; bills from personal expenses, running the college, the Log Cabin Center; and expenses from Hubert's sharecroppers.


Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Benjamin F. Hubert papers, ms2926, Hargrett Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, University of Georgia Libraries.


Related Materials and Subjects

Subject Terms

African American college administrators -- Georgia.
African American college teachers.
African American farmers -- Georgia
African American universities and colleges -- Georgia.
Georgia -- Agriculture -- Farms and farming.
Georgia State College of Agriculture
Hubert, Benjamin Franklin
Livestock -- Study and teaching.
Log Cabin Country Life Center (Mayfield, Ga.)

Series Descriptions and Folder Listing

 

1. Correspondence

boxfolder
11Ab-Au, 1931-1944
12Bab-Bau, 1919-1944
13Baird, David, 1942 June-1943 June
14Baird, David, 1943 July-1946 June
15Battle, Gordon, 1933-1946
16Bea-Ber, 1934-1944
17Bil-Bow, 1933-1949
18Bra-But, 1917-1944
19Cal-Car, 1915-1946
110Cen-Chu, 1934-1944
111Ciz-Coc, 1933-1943
112Coh-Cur
113Dah-Dye, 1932-1946
114E, 1936-1944
115Edwards, R. E., 1934-1935
116Edwards, R. E., 1936
117Edwards, R. E., 1937-1938
118Edwards, R. E., 1939-1940
119Edwards, R. E., 1942-1943
boxfolder
21F, 1919-1949
22G, 1933-1946
23Green, Margaret, 1937-1944
24Hazard, Caroline, 1932-1935
25Hazard, Caroline, 1936
26Hazard, Caroline, 1937
27Hazard, Caroline, 1938-1939
28Hazard, Caroline, 1940-1941
29Hazard, Caroline, 1942
210Hazard, Caroline, 1943-1944
211Hazard, Caroline
212Hal-Haz, 1918-1945
213Hazen, Ella, 1935-1944
boxfolder
31Hea-Hil, 1938-1944
32Hodge, Caroline, 1932-1944
33Hogue, Caroline, 1937-1944
34Hog-Hur, 1916-1944
35Hubert, Charles Du Bois, 1936-1944
36Hubert, James T.; Hubert, Zach T., 1916-1944
37Hughes, J. M. (court cases), 1928-1943
38I, 1935-1944
39J, 1932-1944
310Kel-Kuh, 1935-1944
311Lam-Luc, 1916-1944
312MacLean, Marie, 1934-1946
313Man-Met, 1915-1944
314Mil-My, 1919-1944
315N, 1937-1944
316National War Work Council, 1919
317O, 1934-1943
318Pac-Pur, 1919-1945
319Peabody, George Foster, 1931-1932
boxfolder
41Peabody, George Foster (some printed material), 1933-1937
42Prichard, Josephine S. (will), 1935-1941
43Ran-Rus, 1923-1944
44Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1934-1935
45Sal-Smo, 1919-1949
46Skeel, Emily, 1932-1935
47Skeel, Emily, 1936-1938
48Skeel, Emily, 1939-1944
49Sol-Sut, 1930-1949
410Spelman Fund, 1930-1937
411Stoiber, Louis (printed material), 1935-1938
412T, 1932-1949
413Up-Vin, 1934-1943
414Warren, Callie, 1934-1944
415Warren, Isaiah, 1934-1937
416Warren, Isaiah, 1938-1940
417Warren, Isaiah, 1941-1944
418Warren (J.S., Nettie, Kelly, Minnie, Robert, Roman), 1936-1944
boxfolder
51Wai-Wet, 1933-1944
52Wha-Wri, 1916-1944
53Willcox, Henry, 1934-1935
54Willcox, Henry, 1936-1940
55Willcox, Sydney, 1930-1942
56Willcox (Mary Otis, Walter, William), 1921-1933
57X, Y, Z, 1933-1944
58Miscellaneous
 

2. Personal

boxfolder
59School materials (grades, test), 1923, 1930
510Real estate documents, 1927, 1936
511Moses Hubert death certificate, Benjamin Franklin Hubert (BFH) teaching association certificate, BFH freedom association certificate, 1938, 1933, 1943
512Benjamin Hubert nominations/recommendations, 1932-1935
513Investigation on BFH's fitness run Georgia State College (GSC), 1938-1945
514Eula Graham suit: petition, statements, correspondence, summons, 1933-1937
515BFH defense
516Writings- family name, statement of facts, prize essay
517Writings/speeches
518Writings/speeches- the Negro church
519"Negroes Succeed in Georgia" articles
520Miscellaneous poems/songs
521Soldiers Social Service of Savannah (SSSS)- objective, schedules, weekly social reports, attendence, 1944
522SSSS- payroll, expenditures, 1939-1944
523SSSS correspondence, 1941-1944
 

3. Georgia State College

boxfolder
524GSC- purpose, address, commencement, reports, form
525GSC summer session- enrollment, finance, correspondence, schedule, 1941-1944
526Lesson plans- statistics, economics, 1937
527Teacher education, educational programs
 

4. Agricultural subject files

boxfolder
528"The Public Relations of Agriculture"
529Farm conservation plans, 1943
530Role of the rural community/small southern farm
531Writings- the Negro farmer
boxfolder
61Negro seniors tally, 1944
62GSC community "Food for Victory" survey, 1940-1942
63Negro farm statistics
64Responses to BFH's questionnaire on Negroes and farming, 1931-1933
65Writings- Negroes in farming
66"Economic status of the Negro" conference correspondence, 1932-1935
67Local agricultural reports and instructions
68Local agricultural reports- beef cattle, 1940-1941
69Cotton reports, 1935-1938
610Chatham County Homestead Corporation
611Division of Finance and Research- loans closed by banks as percent of farm mortgages, 1933-1934
612Memorandum on Senate Bill 1800 (to create the Farm Tenant Homes Corporation)
613Farm and Home Club constitution and by-laws
614Cooperative extension work in agriculture, 1932-1936
615Annual report extension service by Zach T. Hubert- Log Cabin Center
616Log Cabin Center printed material
617Writing on Log Cabin Center
618Log Cabin health center correspondence, 1938-1939
619Construction of the Mary Otis Willcox Health Center in the Log Cabin community (correspondence, bills, plan), 1934
620In terview with Virgina Tanner on the Log Cabin Center, 1940
621Association for the Advancement of Negro Country Life (AANCL) constitution and by-laws
622AANCL finances, donations, correspondence
623AANCL Negro Farm and Home Ownership Week, 1929
624Log Cabin Center Girl Scout Camp
 

5. Financial papers

boxfolder
625Donor names and addresses
626Bills, no date
627Bills, 1927-1934
628Bills, January-August 1935
629Bills, September-December 1935
boxfolder
71Bills, January-April 1936
72Bills, May-September 1936
73Bills, October-December 1936
74Bills, January-April 1937
75Bills, May-September 1937
76Bills, October-December 1937
77Bills, January-July 1938
78Bills, August-December 1938
79Bills, 1939
710Bills, 1940
711Bills, 1941
712Bills, January-August 1942
713Bills, September-December 1942
714Bills, 1943
715Bills, January-June 1944
boxfolder
81Bills, July-December 1944, 1946, 1949
82Sandersville Production Credit Association- correspondence and bills, 1934-1937
83Insurance B-O, 1934-1937
84Haines, Rankin and Company, Inc. insurance, 1935-1936
85New York Life Insurance Company, 1932-1937
86New York Life Insurance Company, 1937-1939
87New York Life Insurance Company, 1940-1941
88Insurance P-W, 1933-1943
89Farm credit/loan possibilities, rationing/revenue taxes (gasoline), 1937-1943
810Sharecropper accounts- general, 1930-1945
811Sharecropper accounts B-T, 1930-1943
812Sharecropper accounts- Warren, 1933-1943
813Sharecropper accounts- Skrine, 1930-1938
 

6. Photographs

boxfolder
814Log Cabin Center
815Members of community
816Benjamin Franklin Hubert
817Buildings and landscape
 

7. Clippings, magazines, ephemera

boxfolder
91Clippings
92Clippings on education
93Clippings on agriculture
94Clippings on Georgia State College
95Clippings about Hubert
96Clippings on racial issues
97Clippings on Log Cabin Center
98Montgomery Advertiser , 1935
99Ebony Magazine , July 1960
910Ephemera, 1935-1943
911Second Shiloh Missionary Baptist Association, 1938
912Dean West Education Center, 1986
913Research notes on BFH/collection