James A. Hutchins Jr., an alumnus of the University of North Carolina, grew up in Winston-Salem, N.C. He came to Chapel Hill on a scholarship to play tennis, but wound up playing football instead, becoming a star fullback for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. In 1939, he accepted his first job with the United States Department of Agriculture. Hutchins served in the United States Navy during World War II, after which he returned to the Department of Agriculture. At the Department of Agriculture, Hutchins worked against rural and urban hunger and helped create one of the nation's first school lunch programs. He also served as the chief of the Department of Agriculture's Direct Distribution Branch, where he coordinated programs in 84 countries, and as the head of the federal government's Commodity Credit Corporation, where he helped stabilize and protect domestic prices and farm income. Hutchins married Marguerite Hutchins in 1940; the couple had three children: Julia, Alex, and Glenn. The collection contains a scrapbook and other materials chiefly chronicling the college football and United States Navy career of James A. Hutchins. Included are photographs, letters, ticket stubs, game programs, and clippings relating to the University of North Carolina football seasons, 1934-1936; photographs and other materials from Hutchins's time in the United States Navy; and other items, some of which relate to pre-flight schools established in the 1940s, including the one at the University of North Carolina.
