Guide to the Burkett Family Papers

Record Group 008

Date Span: ca. 1850-2002 

Extent:  78 volumes + 11 file folders

Biographical Sketch: Rev. Evander Vann Burkett, D.D. (1898 - 1967) joined A.M.E. Zion Church at a young age and later served as the local preacher at Birmingham's Payne Chapel.  He attended Payne University where he graduated from high school and the theological department.  He served as pastor for 10 years at John Chapel A.M.E. Church of Enterprise and was pastor of the Cherry Street AME Church of Dothan.  He was appointed to the Hartford Circuit in October 1966, while hospitalized.  He preached his last sermon at St. James on the Hartford Circuit, two weeks before his death in January 1967.  (Source: Funeral program for Rev. E. V. Burkett, D.D., found in collection)

Harriet Adelaide Coleman Burkett (1898-2001) graduated from Payne University High School, taught school for five years, then married Rev. E.V. Burkett on January 28, 1935 in Selma, Alabama.  The couple had three children: Evander Vann Burkett II, Verda (later Gentry) and Fountain Grant Burkett.  After the birth of her children, Adelaide graduated from Alabama State Teacher's College and taught for 32 years.  She retired from Montana Street Elementary School in Dothan, Alabama.  (Source: Newspaper Obituary for Harriet Adelaide Coleman Burkett, Dothan Eagle, Nov 23, 2001, page 2B)

Rev. and Mrs. Burkett developed a residential subdivision in northeast Dothan in 1960.

Their daughter, Verda Burkett Lawler Gentry (1927-2023), graduated high school as valedictorian of North Highland Colored School, Dothan, AL, received a Bachelor of Arts from Talladega College (AL) and a Master's degree from Univ. of Michigan.  She taught in Talladega, AL, New York, NY, and Detroit, MI.  She retired from Detroit Public Schools and returned to Alabama, living in Dothan and Montgomery.  Gentry was a founding member of the Charles H. Wright African American Museum, Detroit, MI, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and a board member of the Dothan Museum of Art.  (Source: "Obituary for Verda Burkett Lawler Gentry," Magnolia Cremations & Funeral Services, https://www.magnoliacremation.com/obituary/Verda-Gentry.  Accessed 3.18.2024)

Scope / Content:  The original accession in 2008 consisted of 58 books donated from the family library by assigns of Verda Gentry.  The Wiregrass Archives received the Burketts' papers and a few extra books from a second accession in 2024.  The papers document Rev. Burkett's sermons, Mrs. Burkett's career as a teacher and her life (via diaries, 1964  -1990), and contain ephemera about their family and churches.

Organization:  Organized into  series:

Series 1: Rev. E. V. Burkett Sermon Notes, n.d., 3 file folders

Series 2: Mrs. Adelaide Burkett Correspondence from Students, 1964 - 1969, 1 file folder

Series 3: Mrs. Adelaide Burkett Diaries, 1964 – 1990, 17 volumes

Series 4: Ephemera,  1923 - 2001, 7 file folders

Series 5: Library, 1850 - 1969, 61 volumes

1.  

Processing: Order imposed by Wiregrass Archives Staff.  Library books encased in phase boxes.

Preferred Citation:  Burkett Family Collection, RG 008.  Wiregrass Archives, Troy University--Dothan Campus, Dothan, AL. 

Access/User Limits:  Open per gift agreements signed in 2008 and 2024.

 

Inventory

 

Series 1: Rev. E. V. Burkett Sermon Notes, n.d., 3 file folders

File I.D.                             File Label

008-24-0229-001-004     Sermon Notes - typed & hand written  [6-ring binder, black]

008-24-0229-001-005     Sermon Notes - typed   [3-ring binder, black] ; [WA note: cover of binder is gone]

008-24-0229-001-006     Sermon Notes - typed & hand written  [3-ring binder, black] ; [WA note: includes E.V.'s funeral program, newspaper clippings, telegrams, letters]

Series 2: Mrs. Adelaide Burkett Correspondence from Students, 1964 - 1969, 1 file folder

File I.D.                             File Label

008-24-0229-001-003     Letters from Children of Montana St. School, 1964-1969

Series 3: Mrs. Adelaide Burkett Diaries, 1964 – 1990, 17 items.  Arranged chronologically. Be aware that those covering 1984-86 and 1988 are stored in Box 1, so their File ID numbers are out of order.  

File I.D.                             File Label

008-24-0229-002-001     Diary, 1964   [black cover, comb bound, cover titled "The Minister's Day-by-Day workbook and 1961-1961 Planning Calendar"]

008-24-0229-002-002     Diary, 1970   [black cover, spiral bound, cover titled "1970"]

008-24-0229-002-003     Diary, 1971   [black cover, spiral bound, cover titled "1971"]

008-24-0229-002-004     Diary, 1972   [brown cover, cover titled “1972 Yearbook”]

008-24-0229-002-005     Diary, 1974   [brown cover, gold lock, cover titled “Five Year Diary”]

008-24-0229-002-006     Diary, 1975   [orange cover, cover titled “Diary”]

008-24-0229-002-007     Diary, 1976   [brown cover, spiral bound, cover titled “The Minister's Day-by-Day workbook 1975-1976”]

008-24-0229-002-008     Diary, 1978   [red cover, gold lock, cover titled “One-Year Diary”]

008-24-0229-002-009     Diary, 1979   [blue cover w/ tree, cover titled "Deluxe Edition Write Your Own Book"]

008-24-0229-002-010     Diary, 1982   [tan cover, cover titled “One Year Diary”]

008-24-0229-002-011     Diary, 1983   [red cover, cover titled “Diary"]

008-24-0229-002-012     Diary, 1984   [brown cover, cover titled "1984 Page-a-Day"]

008-24-0229-001-001     Diary, 1984-1986   [notebook, spiral bound, picture of cowboy boots on cover]

008-24-0229-002-013     Diary, 1987   [green cover, cover titled “One-Year Diary”]

008-24-0229-001-002     Diary, 1988   [written on legal pad]

008-24-0229-002-014     Diary, 1989   [green cover, gold lock, cover titled “Five Year Diary”]

008-24-0229-002-015     Diary, 1990   [White cover, gold lock, cover titled Diary”] ; [WA note: diary replevined to donor, digital copy available]

Series 4: Ephemera, 1923 - 2001, 7 file folders

File I.D.                             File Label

008-02-006-001-001        Papers found in various Library Books - Two Permits to register at Tennessee A&I College (1948) plus a one-page handwritten article announcing a sorority initiation.

008-02-006-001-002        Papers Found in Library Books

008-02-006-001-003        Adult Bible Study Guides

008-24-0229-001-007     Bios - obits, event programs, family tree, wedding announcements, poetry, student newspaper, loan statement w/ returned checks, property documents, 1923-2001

008-24-0229-001-008     Ninth Episcopal District Annual Conference program, 1937

008-24-0229-001-009     Cherry Street A.M.E. Church Directory, 1992

008-24-0229-001-010     A.M.E. Christian Recorder newspaper (partial), Mar 28, 1967

 

Series 5:  Library, 1850 - 1969, 61 volumes

Barclay, Robert. Apology for the True Christian Divinity; Being an Explanation and Vindication of the People Called Quakers. Philadelphia: Friends Book Store, 1880.

Barker, Eugene C., William Edward Dodd, and Henry Steele Commager. Our Nation's Development. Evanston, Ill: Row, Peterson and Company, 1937.

Beale, Charles E., and M. R. Gately. Gately's Universal Educator. An Educational Cyclopaedia and Business Guide. Boston: M.R. Gately, 1883.

Brueckner, Leo J., et al. The Triangle Arithmetics. Book One-[Three]. Philadelphia: The J.C. Winston Co, 1928.

Carroll, Franklin Bache. Understanding Our Environment. Book 1 of Interpreting Science Series. Philadelphia: Winston, 1947.

Carroll, Franklin Bache. Understanding Our World. Book 2 of Interpreting Science Series. Philadelphia: Winston, 1947.

Childebert, John Walters. The Golden Treasure, or a World of Knowledge. St. Louis: W.H. Ives & Co, 1891.

Cressey, George Babcock. Asia's Lands and Peoples: A Geography of One-Third the Earth and Two-Thirds Its People. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co, 1944.

Dougherty, James Henry. Elementary School Organization and Management. New York: Macmillian Co, 1950.

Eells, Harry L., Hugh C. Moeller, and Carl C. Swain. Rural School Management. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1924.

Goode, William. The Doctrine of the Church of England As to the Effects of Baptism in the Case of Infants.  New York: Protestant Episcopal Society for the Promotion of Evangelical Knowledge, 1857.

Goodwin, William Watson. Greek Grammar. Boston: Ginn & Co, 1897.

[Grammar] n.d.   [Latin Grammar]

Guizot, Francois. A Popular History of England: From the Earliest Times to the Reign of Queen Victoria, Vol. 3. Boston: Aldine, 1886.

Guizot, Francois. A Popular History of England: From the Earliest Times to the Reign of Queen Victoria, Vol. 4. Boston: Aldine, 1886.

Haggerty, Melvin E., and Dora V. Smith. Reading and Literature: Book Three. Yonkers-on-Hudson, N.Y.: World Book Co, 1928.

Hamilton, Samuel. The Purpose, Preparation and Methods in the Recitation; Being a Revised and Reset Edition of The Recitation. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott co, 1923.

Henty, G. A. The Queen's Cup: A Novel. Chicago: M.A. Donohue, 1898.

Herrick, Virgil E., and Leland B. Jacobs. Children and the Language Arts. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1955.

Holmes, Ernest, and William H. D. Hornaday. Help for Today: How to Achieve Security by Using the Power Within You. Los Angeles, CA: Science of Mind Publications, 1969.

Hooker, Worthington. The Child's Book of Nature: For the Use of Families and Schools : Intended to Aid Mothers and Teachers in Training Children in the Observation of Nature : in Three Parts. Part I. Plants. New York: Harper & Bros, 1869.

Holy Bible. [black cover, gold lettering “Rev. E. Vann Burkett”]

The Home Counsel Library. Vol. 4. Personal Help for Girls. ed.  Louise F.  Spaller. Cincinnati: S.A. Mullikin Co., 1924.

The Home Counsel Library. Vol. 5. Personal Help for Boys. ed. Thomas W. Shannon. Cincinnati: The S.A. Mullikin Co., 1924.

The Human Interest Library: Visualized Knowledge. Vol. 1. The Wonder World. Chicago: Midland Press, 1922.

The Human Interest Library: Visualized Knowledge. Vol. 2. Popular Science and Industry.  Chicago: Midland Press, 1922.

Keniston, Hayward. Learning Spanish. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1954.

Kidder, Daniel P. A Treatise on Homiletics; Designed to Illustrate the True Theory and Practice of Preaching the Gospel. New York: Methodist Book Concern, 1892.

Kiekhofer, William H. Economic Principles, Problems, and Policies. New York and London: D. Appleton-Century Co, 1946.

Landman, J. H. New Outline - History of the World Since 1914. 6th Ed. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1946.

Livingstone, David. Livingstone's Africa: Perilous Adventures and Extensive Discoveries in the Interior of Africa. Philadelphia: Hubbard, 1872.

Lytton, Edward Bulwer. The Last Days of Pompeii. People's Edition. New York: American News Co, 1850.

The Outline of Knowledge. ed. James Albert Richards. Vol 1. The Romance of Evolution. ed. Frederick Herman Martens. New York: Richards, 1924.

The Outline of Knowledge. ed. James Albert Richards. Vol 4. The History of the World. ed. Arthur D.  Innes. New York: J.A. Richards, 1924.

The Outline of Knowledge. ed. James Albert Richards. Vol 6. Geology. ed. Harold E. Slade, et al.  New York: J.A. Richards, 1924.

The Outline of Knowledge. ed. James Albert Richards. Vol 7. Botany. ed. Marion E. Latham. New York: J.A. Richards, 1924.

The Outline of Knowledge. ed. James Albert Richards. Vol 11. English Poetry. New York: J. A. Richards, 1924.

The Outline of Knowledge. ed. James Albert Richards. Vol 16. Herodotus, Cicero, Utopia, Plutarch's Lives.  New York: J.A. Richards, 1924.

The Outline of Knowledge. ed. James Albert Richards. Vol 17. Drama. New York: J.A. Richards, 1924.

Merrill, Stephen Mason. Christian Baptism: It's Subjects and Modes. Cincinnati: Hitchcock and Walden, 1876

Morris, Herbert W. Science and the Bible; Or The Mosaic Creation and Modern Discoveries. Philadelphia, Pa: Ziegler & McCurdy, 1871.

Morris, S.S., Jr.  An African Methodist Primer.  A.M.E. Sunday School Union Press.

Morton, Robert Lee, and Merle Grey. Making Sure of Arithmetic. New York: Silver Burdett, 1946.

Northrop, Henry Davenport. Life and Works of Charles H. Spurgeon; Being a Graphic Account of the Greatest Preacher of Modern Times. Chicago: Monarch Book Co, 1890.

Perkins, Clarence. Man's Advancing Civilization. New York: Rand, McNally & Co, 1934.

Plautus, Titus Maccius, and C. S. Harrington. T. Macci Plauti Captivi, Trinummus, Et Rudens. With English Notes, Critical and Explanatory. By C.S. Harrington. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1887.

Rathbone, Josephine Langworthy, et al. Foundations of Health. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1932.

Sharpless, Isaac, and G. M. Philips. Astronomy for Schools and General Readers. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co, 1892.

Sorenson, Grace. "Lively Plays for Boys and Girls"; A Collection of Fifteen One Act Plays. Minneapolis: Northwestern Press, 1934.

Stories of Fact and Fancy. Vol. 2 of Childcraft. [Chicago]: W. F. Quarrie Co., [1937].

Thackeray, William Makepeace. The History of Henry Esmond. Roslyn, N.Y.: Published for the Classics Club by Walter J. Black, 1942.

Tomas, Navarro Tomas, et al. A Primer of Spanish Pronunciation. Chicago: Benj. H. Saubom, 1926.

Touchstone to Zwingli. Vol. 10 of New Standard Encyclopedia: Systematized Information, Clear, Concise, Complete. Chicago: Standard Education Society, 1954.

Tressler, Jacob C., and Marguerite B. Shelmadine. Junior English in Action. Book Three. Boston: D.C. Heath, 1933.

Tupper, Martin Farquhar, and Alfred. Proverbial Philosophy ; A Modern Pyramid ; and the Poems of King Alfred. Philadelphia: E.H. Butler & Co, 1851.

The University Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Knowledge. ed. Henry M. MacCracken. Vol. 4, England to Herrera. New York: Co-operative Publication Soc, 1902.

The University Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Knowledge. ed. Henry M. MacCracken. Vol. 5, Herrick to Lombok. New York: Co-operative Publication Soc, 1902.

Van Doren, Carl. An American Omnibus. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Company, inc, 1933.

Wells, Webster, and Walter W. Hart. Progressive Second Algebra. Boston: D. C. Heath and Co., 1934.

Witt, Hattie E. Bryant.  Institute Handbook for use in the Leadership Training Institute of the Ninth Episcopal District A.M.E. Church.  Birmingham: Forniss Printing Co., n.d.

Young, Andrew W., and Salter S. Clark. The Government Class Book: A Youth's Manual of Instruction in the Principles of Constitutional Government and Law. New York: Clark & Maynard Publishers, 1882.

 

Contact Us

Wiregrass Archives
Troy University Dothan Campus
Everett 128
502 University Dr.
Dothan, AL  36303

Phone: 334-983-6556 x21327
Email: wiregrassarchives@troy.edu