Robert L. and Mary Lee (Swann) McMillan Papers, 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, such as Mrs. McMillan's involvement with gardening clubs, and corresoondence from Mr. McMillan's roles in the American Legion and NC Office of Civilian Defense during World War II. 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
- 12.020 cubic feet
- Language
- English
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Quick Links
- Mary Lee McMillan: Personal Papers,1908-1980
- Mary Lee McMillan: Papers of Organizations, 1922-1977
- Robert Leroy McMillan : Personal Papers,1934-1967
- Robert L.McMillan's Papers Relating to Organizations and Agencies,1924-1969
- Robert Leroy McMillan: Political Papers,1935-1967
- Additional Correspondence, Photographs, Citations, and Programs, 1935-1975
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.
Arrangement Note
There are separate series' for papers of Mary Lee McMillan and Robert L. McMillan, and subseries for personal papers, papers relating to organizations Mrs. and Mr. McMillan were associated with, and Mr. McMillan's political activities. The series of additional correspondence, photographs etc., includes materials of both McMillans.
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
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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. Correspondence from well-known individuals was separated in the past for purposes of appraisal It was never reintegrated and is filed in container PC.1677.030.
Correspondence, 1908-1980, and Biographical Materials,1908-1980
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The pre-1920 materials are recommendations from Kingstree Graded Schools and Winthrop College, and letters concerning her employment by the Scudder School. The few letters dating from the 1930s include one from Gerald Johnson, a McMillan kinsman with whom she carried on a correspondence over the years. Letters from the 1940s include a small, but informative group written by her mother and her sister Elizabeth (Mrs. John D. Britton) in Kingstree. The letters by Mrs. Britton (Bessie), a professional writer, are not only descriptive and characterized by social comment, but shed light on race relations in her community. They also are revelatory of a mother's coping with the death of a son killed in battle.
Paderewski Papers, 1916-1974
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The obviously incomplete correspondence in this small body of papers includes an autograph letter from Helena Paderewska (from which the signature has been cut), a typed letter signed by Mme. Paderewski and dated May 14, 1922, and a typed transcription of part of an undated letter (original not present) from Mme. Paderewski to Mrs. McMillan. (The file concerning a recipe book being compiled by Miss Swann and Mme. Paderewski includes the first page of a typed letter from Helena Paderewska dated August 18, 1917.) Nearly one-third of the letters relate to the Paderewski Testimonial Fund, and another third (including letters from Bernice Kelly Harris) to Mrs. McMillan's projected book on Mme. Paderewski-published in 1972 as "My Helenka". Other files concern Polish Victims' Relief Fund, the Paderewski Foundation, Polish reference materials, drafts and research notes for "My Helenka", and typescripts of recipes for a cookbook projected by Mme. Paderewski.
American Weekly Test Kitchen, 1918-1946
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Mrs. McMillan commenced work with the Hearst chain of papers before America entered World War I as Mary Lee Swann, and continued publishing under her maiden name for 33 years. This file relates exclusively to her work with , and dates altogether from the 1930s and 1940s.For the magazine, Mrs. McMillan prepared menus for use in American homes in the coming week, and tested recipes submitted by readers (subsequently published with her comments). Some of Mrs. McMillan's weekly menus and tested recipes, though generally undated, were preserved by her. In this file, too, will be found a small group of recipes in typescript that might be a surviving fragment of Mary Lee Swann's My Favorite Recipes (Milwaukee, Wis.: C.N. Caspar Co.; Raleigh, N.C.: Edwards and Broughton, 1930, 316 pages). The correspondence for the years 1938 and 1939 is fairly full and provides a good sampling of letters addressed from women across the country to Mary Lee Swann at The American Weekly. In a file separated from the rest of the correspondence will be found letters from the advice columnist, Dorothy Dix, some of which relates to a foreword to a cookbook proposed in 1945, but which was never published, apparently.
2. Mary Lee McMillan: Papers of Organizations, 1922-1977
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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.
American Legion Auxiliary, 1936-1948
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With a husband who was a veteran of World War I and active in the American Legion, and two sons who were soldiers in World War II, Mrs. McMillan found it natural to involve herself in the programs of the American Legion Auxiliary. She was elected president of Raleigh Unit No.1 in 1937, and remained active through the 1940s. The file which is very incomplete, includes a smattering of correspondence, but is made up for the most part of printed ephemera concerning the Auxiliary and its activities.
Other Organizations: American War Mothers, Wake County TB Seal Sales, DAR, Etc., circa, 1922-1974
Other Organizations: Woman's Club of Raleigh, Junior Woman's Club,, circa, 1922-1974
Garden Club of North Carolina, 1925-1939
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These files are fairly full for the period from 1934 to 1939and include the papers, not only of Mrs. McMillan who was president from 1937 to 1939, but include as well papers of her predecessors, Mrs. Wesley Taylor, 1934-1935, and Mrs. H. R. Totten, 1935-1937. The papers contain a copy of the club's 1925 constitution, minutes from 1925/26 to 1938, reports from 1933 to 1938, yearbooks of federated local clubs from across the state, correspondence from 1934 to 1939, publications, newspaper articles, and a few of Mrs. McMillan's speeches and writings about the club.
There is material in folders about the following Federated Clubs: Aberdeen, 1936/37; Bath, 1938/39; Candler, 1938/39; Chapel Hill, 1937/38; Clinton, 1838/38; Greenville, 1936/37; Leaksville, 1936/37; Raleigh (Club for Shut-ins); 1937/38 Ramseur, 1936/37;Reidsville 1937/38; and Wake Forest, 1936.
National Council State Garden Clubs, 1929-1964
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Organized in 1929 to bring into one mutual-aid society all the various state federations of garden clubs, the council divided the continental U.S. into seven regions, published a monthly bulletin, and engaged in national fund raising projects (such as the publication of a recipe book). Materials in Mrs. McMillan's papers include minutes of national and some regional meetings, essentially for the 1930s, issues of the Bulletin, and yearbooks and publications of federated state clubs from across the country.
Box PC.1677.012 includes material on the following Federated Clubs (A-Z):California, 1934-1936; Colorado, 1935-1937; Connecticut, 1934; Florida, 1935-1937; Georgia, 1932-1938; Illinois, 1935-1937; Iowa, 1934; Kentucky, 1935-1936; Louisiana, 1937-1938; New Hampshire, 1935; Oregon, 1936-1937; South Carolina, 1936-1942; Texas, 1934-1935; Virginia, n.d.. There is some material designated as Miscellaneous.
North Carolina Camellia Society, 1944-1967
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The dates for each of the two organizations is as follows: N.C. Camellia Society, 1944-1967, and Raleigh Garden Club, 1929-1977. Mrs. McMillan served as president of the Raleigh Garden Club from 1934 to 1936, and chairman of the club's Camellia Study Group in 1947. When the North Carolina Camellia Society was organized in 1949, shewas made honorary life president. The present group of papers contain a smattering of materials relating to Mrs. McMillan's love of camellias, the first two yearbooks of the N.C. Camellia Society, the registration book for the 1950 Camellia Day event, and miscellaneous reference materials relating to camellias. The papers concerning the Raleigh Garden Club include minutes from 1929 to 1932, correspondence from 1931 to 1937, materials on the flower schools organized by Mrs. McMillan and mounted by the club in 1934 and 1935, some yearbooks from 1932/33 through 1966/67, and miscellaneous materials.
Raleigh Garden Club, 1929-1967
Gardens - Miscellaneous, 1937-1973
3. Robert Leroy McMillan : Personal Papers,1934-1967
Correspondence and Other Material, 1934-1966
4. Robert L.McMillan's Papers Relating to Organizations and Agencies,1924-1969
American Legion, 1924-1960
Scope and Content:
Roy McMillan was an active member of the American Legion at local, state, and national levels. He was a member of Raleigh Post No.1 and in 1931 he was elected Post Commander. In 1941, he was elected Department Commander of North Carolina, and in 1944 he ran for National Commander. These records, which are primarily correspondence to and from McMillan, reflect all aspects of McMillan's membership of the Legion. Folder names and grouping of records generally follow McMillan's and this may result in "bleeding" of records across files and/or containers and no cross checking of records across files was undertaken.
Clan McMillan Society, 1959-1969
N.C. Office of Civilian Defense, 1942-1945
Scope and Content:
On January 1, 1943, Roy McMillian was appointed State Director of Civilian Defense by Governor Broughton, and he held the role until the CD office was closed on June 30, 1945. These records stem mostly from McMillian's service as State Director.
Other Organizations and Agencies, 1935-1960
5. Robert Leroy McMillan: Political Papers,1935-1967
6. Additional Correspondence, Photographs, Citations, and Programs, 1935-1975
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The oversized materials are from the papers of both Mr. and Mrs. McMillan.
Correspondence - Public Figures
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Correspondence from well-known individuals that was separated in the past for purposes of appraisal.
Photographs, Citations, Programs
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
Gift, Robert L. McMillan, Jr., Raleigh, 1993.