Skip to main content

John James and Mae Elizabeth Robertson Papers

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS217

Scope and Content

The business, civic, leisure, and social activities of the Robertson’s are documented, primarily from 1945 to 1960, through correspondence, greeting cards, invitations, newspaper clippings, postcards, programs, scrapbooks, ticket stubs and travel brochures. Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks relate to Mr. Robertson’s involvement in local and regional companies and organizations, including the Atlanta Real Estate Board, the Breakfast Club, the Capital City Club, the Jack T. Robertson Company (later the Strickland-Robertson Company, Inc.), the Rankin-Whitten Realty Company, the Southern Association of Ice Cream Manufacturers, and the Touchdown Club, from the 1950s and to the early 1960s. The scrapbooks, created and arranged by Elizabeth Whitten Robertson and her mother, Mrs. James Whitten, pertain to local and national events and news during the 1940s and 1950s (natural disasters, plane crashes, World War II, the Winecoff fire, the death of Eugene Talmadge, the election of Eisenhouser, the coronation of Elizabeth II), as well as Robertson and Whitten family information (through cards, ephemera, newspaper clippings, photographs, postcards, and programs affixed in and loose items from the scrapbooks), mainly related to family travels across North America and Europe during the 1950s.

Dates

  • 1932-1966

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. All requests to publish, quote, or reproduce must be submitted through the Kenan Research Center.

Administrative/Biographical History

John James (Jack) Robertson (1911-1991) married Mae Elizabeth Whitten (1911-1978) in 1937. Jack Robertson served as vice president of Rankin-Whitten Realty Company and was a former president of the Atlanta Real Estate Board. Elizabeth Whitten Robertson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Whitten, served in numerous civic organizations, including the Junior Flower Show Association and the Women’s Council.1 James H. Whitten was president of the Rankin-Whitten Realty Company. Additional biographical information on the Robertson family has yet to be determined.

Extent

1 linear ft.

Language

English

System of Arrangement

Collection is in alphabetical according to titles supplied by staff.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Mr. Jack Robertson, 1979 (1978.542)

General Physical Description note

Extent: 1 linear ft. (1 document case, 1 oversized box)

Description Control

Collection reprocessed in 2007

Title
JOHN JAMES AND MAE ELIZABETH ROBERTSON PAPERS ahc.MSS 217
Subtitle
An Inventory of Their Papers at the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center
Author
Inventory prepared by Wesley Chenault
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center Repository

Contact:
130 West Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta GA 30305
404-814-4040