Finding Aid of the Robert L. and Mary Lee (Swann) McMillan Papers, 1908 - 1980, PC.1677
Abstract
Robert L. McMillan (1888-1969) was born in Richmond (now Scotland County) to Mary Amanda (Johnson) and Archibald Alexander McMillan. Founder of the law firm, McMillan and McMillan, he was a leader in Wake County and state civic, patriotic, and political functions. A native of Kingstree, S.C., Mary Lee McMillan (1890-1981) was a daughter of Mary Frances (Lewis) and James Milan Swann. Like her husband, Mrs. Swann was a leader of state and local organizations, long active in her church and community. The McMillan papers include circular letters, reports, publications, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, and so forth. These date from the year 1908 to the year 1980 and relate to their private lives and their activities in a number of organizations. The papers also include material relating to Mr. McMillan's political activities.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Robert L. and Mary Lee (Swann) McMillan Papers
- Call Number
- PC.1677
- Creator
- McMillan, Robert Leroy
- Date
- 1908 - 1980
- Extent
- 19.00 boxes
- Language
- English
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Series Quick Links
- Mary Lee McMillan: Personal Papers,1908-1980
- Mary Lee McMillan's Papers of Organizations,1925-1977
- Robert Leroy McMillan : Personal Papers,1934-1967
- Robert L.McMillan's Papers Relating to Organizations and Agencies,1928-1969
- Robert Leroy McMillan: Political Papers,1935-1967
- Oversized Materials,1935-1967
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
Available for research.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], P.C.1677, Robert L. and Mary Lee McMillan Papers, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Collection Overview
The McMillan papers include circular letters, reports, publications, newspaper and
magazine clippings, photographs, American Legion materials and constitute the papers
of Robert Leroy McMillan and Mary Lee (Swann) McMillan. These date from the year 1908
to the year 1980 and relate to: their private lives; their activities in the American
Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary, the Clan mcMillan Society, Inc., in American,
the Garden Club of North Carolina, the National Council of State Garden Clubs, the
North Carolina Camellia Society, the Rlaeigh Garden Club, the Olla Podrida Club, the
North Carolina Office of Civilian Defense, the State Recreation Commission, and so
forth. The papers include also material relating to Mr. McMillan's political activities.
Additionally, there are approximately 43 cubic feet of material stored at the Old
Records Center. These are client files of Mr. Robert L. McMillan and as such remain
for an undetermined period as privileged records. Researchers wishing to consult these
files must place a request for consideration and obtain the consent of the State Archivist
to examine the papers. No interior description of the papers and their contents is
available.
Arrangement Note
Series include: Mary Lee (Swann) McMillan Personal Papers: Correspondence, 1980-1980 and Biographical Materials; Mme. Paderewski Papers; American Weekly Papers; Robert L. McMillan Papers: Personal Materials: Correspondence, 1934-1967 and Biographical Material; Organizations; Political Papers; Oversized Materials. These are arranged topically and chronologically therein.
Biographical and Historical Note
Robert Leroy McMillan
Robert Leroy McMillan (1888-1969) was born in Richmond (now Scotland County) to Mary Amanda (Johnson) and Archibald Alexander McMillan. He was graduated from Spring Hill High School at Wagram, N.C. (1904); Wake Forest College (A.B. in 1909 and M.A. in 1910); Columbia University School of Law, NYC (LL.B. in 1917). Before pursuing his study of law in New York City, McMillan had been an educator with the Philadelphia (N.C.) schools, teaching English, Latin, and higher mathematics.
In early 1917 McMillan enlisted in the U.S Army following the country's entry into World War I. After training and service at Camp Jackson, S.C. he was sent to Hoboken, N.J. where he was promoted to sergeant first class. Later McMillan was selected as a candidate for a commission in the infantry and sent to officers training school at Camp Lee, Va. There he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in Infantry and assigned as an instructor. Following discharge in January 1919, he was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the Infantry Reserve Corps. Thereafter, McMillan remained active in the American Legion, holding various leadership positions in the legion's Post 1, at Raleigh, and the state and national organizations.
In 1918 McMillan was married to the former Mary Lee Swann, a native of Kingstree, S.C., who had spent several years in New York City as a student, writer, and private secretary. Eventually the McMillans became parents of two sons, Archibald Alexander and Robert LeRoy, Jr.
McMillan was admitted to the N.C. Bar in 1919 and in August of that year began practicing in Raleigh in the area of general civil and trial law. Throughout most of his law career, he was associated as a partner with the Raleigh firm of Douglass and McMillan. During the course of his career, McMillan was a member and former president of the Wake County Bar Association, and member of the N.C. Bar Associaton, the N.C. Bar, Inc., and the American Bar Association. During the early years of his legal career, he had been a Professor of Law at Wake Forest College and a special instructor in business law at N.C. State College at Raleigh.
Throughout McMillan's adult life, he also played a strong leadership role in various civic, college alumni, groups and church. As an example, he served for a number of years on the board of trustees of the N.C. Institution for the Blind in Raleigh, and the board of the Salvation Army. Other activities during the decade of the 1940s and possibly beyond included working with the Boy Scouts of American, fund raising for the American Red Cross in Wake County, the YMCA of Raleigh, and the Greek War Relief Fund, and serving as state director of Civilian Defense in North Carolina. He was also a Mason and a long term member of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, McMillan's commitments there included service twenty-five years as superintendent of the Sunday School, teacher of the men's class, and service as a trustee of the Baptist State Convention of N.C.
Mary Lee (Swann) McMillan
A native of Kingstree, South Carolina Mary Lee Swann McMillan (1890-1981) was a daughter of Mary Frances (Lewis) and James Milan Swann. She attended Winthrop Normal and Industrial College of South Carolina, Rock Hill (later Winthrop College, then University), receiving a Commerical Department certificate there in 1913. She did further study at Teachers Collge of Columbia University and the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (Parsons' School). In 1915 she was given charge of the home economics department of the Bernard School of Household Arts in New York. During the course of her residence in New York, Miss Swann taught in the Scudder School of Household Arts and the Barnard School of Household Arts, and began writing a weekly homemaking column for American Weekly. Around 1917-1918 she served as personal secretary to Madame (Helena) Paderewski, the wife of Ignace Jan Paderewski, pianist and Polish patriot, and in that capacity began working with the Polish Victim's Relief Fund, and helped organize the Polish White Cross.
In 1918 Mary Lee Swann was married to Robert Leroy McMillan, Jr. A native of Richmond (now Scotland) County, N.C., McMillan had recently received a LL.D from his course of study at Columbia University, New York City. In 1919, he was admitted to the North Carolina bar, and the young couple moved to Raleigh, their home for the remainder of their lives. Eventually the McMillans became parents of two sons, Archibald Alexander and Robert LeRoy, Jr., both of whom saw military service during World War II in the United States Marine Corps. In 1966 Mrs. McMillan was named North Carolina's Mother of the Year.
Mrs. McMillan held offices, including the presidency, in various civic and service organizations such as the Woman's Club of Raleigh, the Raleigh Garden Club, the N.C. Garden Club, the N.C. Camellia Society, the March of Dimes, the American Legion Auxiliary, Raleigh Unit, Johnston Pettigrew Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Parent-Teachers Association. She was author of several books, including , (joint author with Ruth Dorval Jones, 1979), and (joint author with Ruth Dorval Jones, 1972).
Like her husband, Mary Lee McMillan was long an active member of the community and of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church. For over forty years she made from 800 to 1,000 pillow corsages each year for hospital and nursing home patients. In her neighborhood she was known for years as because numerous children flocked around her and played in her yard. Once when the circus came she hosted a clown and neighborhood children at a breakfast at her home. Her obituary listed many accomplishments, but began with the statement that she was known for her love of children and flowers.
Sources: (Raleigh), May 10, 1969; (Raleigh), May 10, 1969; October 8, 1981; biographical material within the papers.Contents of the Collection
1. Mary Lee McMillan: Personal Papers,1908-1980
scopecontent:
The personal correspondence is not complete, but does includes family and other correspondence of interest. The few surviving letters from the 1960s and until 1975 are from friends, while nearly all from 1975 to 1979 are from family members. The correspondence is followed by Mrs. McMillan's designs for the family's Christmas card, 1918-1925, 1930-1937 (except for 1931 and 1932, which are lacking), and 1940-1944. The remainder of the files in this box are biographical in nature and include citations, commissions, part of a 1939 desk diary, the 1964 John Charles McNeill Bookclub program based on Mrs. McMillan's life, the Mary Lee McMillan Memorial Garden dedicated in her honor in 1973, her 1966 selection as North Carolina's and personal newspaper clippings. The last three folders include Mrs. McMillan's general writings, including part of the text of a four act play, Japonica, written by Mr. and Mrs. McMillan.
Note concerning Mrs. McMillan's Papers. Autographs of well-known individuals were separated in the past for purposes of appraisal and placed in flat box numbered PC. 1777.19.
2. Mary Lee McMillan's Papers of Organizations,1925-1977
scopecontent:
The organizations represented in this collection are as follows: American Legion Auxiliary, Garden Club of North Carolina, National Council of State Garden Clubs, N.C. Camellia Society, and Raleigh Garden Club, and other organizations, including the Woman's Club of Raleigh and the Caswell-Nash Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Reflecting Mrs. McMillan's strong interest in gardening, there are three organizations with a central emphasis on gardening and flowers.
3. Robert Leroy McMillan : Personal Papers,1934-1967
scopecontent:
Includes personal correspondence dating from 1934-1936 and 1950-1966, biographical files, and files of information of his family and on Spring Hill Baptist Church, Scotland County, founded by his maternal grandfather (Daniel White) in 1807.
4. Robert L.McMillan's Papers Relating to Organizations and Agencies,1928-1969
scopecontent:
The organizations represented in this collection are as follows: American Legion, 1928-1960; Clan McMillan, 1959-1969; Various Organizations and Agencies, including the state's Office of Civilian Defense, 1935-1960.
5. Robert Leroy McMillan: Political Papers,1935-1967
scopecontent:
The majority of Mr. McMillan's political papers were deposited in the Archives in 1974. This is a small, but valuable, addition.
6. Oversized Materials,1935-1967
scopecontent:
The oversized materials are from the papers of both Mr. and Mrs. McMillan.
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
Gift, Robert L. McMillan, Jr., Raleigh, 1993.