Banker, lawyer, and legislator John Sprunt Hill (1869-1961) founded the Durham Loan & Trust with his father-in-law, George Washington Watts. A University of North Carolina alumnus, Hill was a major figure in Durham, N.C., business, politics, and philanthropy for almost 60 years. In addition to his business career, he served in the North Carolina Senate, 1933-1938. Much of his philanthropy was directed at the city of Durham and the University of North Carolina, including the donation of the Carolina Inn to UNC. The collection consists of correspondence, family materials, letterbooks, minutes, planning materials, clippings, maps, photographs, and other materials. Included are genealogical studies and correspondence about the Hill and related families in Virginia and North Carolina, including the Beal, Brownrigg, Buckner, Campbell, Dudley, Faison, Hill, Jennings, Lanier, Latham, Littlejohn, Major, McCulloch, Montfort, Sims, Snead, Stith, Watts, Wilcox, and Williams families. There are also a few 17th- through 19th-century family wills, deeds, and letters. Other items relate to John Sprunt Hill's service in the North Carolina Senate, specifically his work on liquor legislation and issues relating to the University of North Carolina. There are also letterbooks, correspondence, and other materials about Hill's legal and financial career in New York City and Durham, N.C. Businesses and organizations mentioned include the Durham Loan & Trust, Durham Bank & Trust, Home Savings Bank, farmers' co-operatives, the Home Security Life Insurance Company, the North Carolina Highway Commission, and Erwin Mills. There are also maps, correspondence, campaign advertising, voter lists, clippings, and other materials related to Hill's interest in New York City's Democratic Party, 1900-1902, and a number of personal and family materials, including information on Hill's estate and sympathy letters upon his death, answered by Hill's son George Watts Hill. A number of architectural drawings, some for building in Durham, are also included. The Addition of November 2008 contains correspondence, financial records, and other materials related to the personal and professional activities of John Sprunt Hill and Annie Sprunt Hill. Included are letters and other materials related to John Sprunt Hill's election to the North Carolina General Assembly in 1934; his work on the consolidation of the University of North Carolina system, 1934-1936; speeeches; clippings; and other professional materials. There are letterbooks containing business correspondence, mostly belonging to John Sprunt Hill, but with occasional letters from Annie Watts Hill, 1920-1925; a ledger listing stocks held by the Hills, 1906-1923; genealogies of the Watts family; photographic postcards of buildings around Durham, N.C., likely taken by Hill's son, George Watts Hill, in 1930; financial materials of Annie Watts Hill and her estate; and a scrapbook of undated photographs, likely taken sometime in the mid-to-late 19th-century in Scotland, England, and France.
