EVANS, LETTIE PATE WHITEHEAD, 1872-1953
Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans family papers, 1881-1982

Restrictions on Access

Collection stored off-site. Researchers must contact the Rose Library in advance to access this collection.

Special restrictions apply: Series 2 and 3: Selected files are restricted until January 1, 2035.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Source

Gift, 2010.

Citation

[after identification of item(s)],Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans family papers, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Processing

Randy Gue and team, June 1, 2010

Funded by a grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

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Biographical Note

Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans (1872-1953), businesswoman and philanthropist, was born in Bedford, Virginia on February 21, 1872. She married Joseph Brown Whitehead, a lawyer practicing Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1894. They had two sons, Joseph B. Whitehead, Jr. (1895-1935) and Conkey Pate Whitehead (1898-1940).

Joseph B. Whitehead, Sr. and a partner acquired the rights to bottle Coca-Cola across the United States from Asa Candler, the president of The Coca-Cola Company, in 1899. Before this agreement with Candler, the soft drink was only available at soda fountains. Four years later, Joseph, Lettie and their two sons moved to Atlanta, because one of the provisions of the deal required Whitehead to open a bottling plant in Coca-Cola's hometown. After working tirelessly to sell bottling franchises across the South, Joseph B. Whitehead, Sr. died unexpectedly in 1906.

Lettie Pate Whitehead oversaw the Whitehead Coca-Cola bottling interests after her husband's death. She served as chairman of the Whitehead Holding Company and president of the Whitehead Realty Company. In 1913 she married Arthur Kelly Evans, a retired officer in the Canadian Army. She became one of the first female directors of a large American corporation when she joined the board of The Coca-Cola Company in 1934.

In addition to her business interests, Evans was a generous philanthropist. She established the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation, Inc. in 1945. She gave significant gifts to Emory University, including establishing the Conkey Pate Whitehead Surgical Pavilion at Emory University Hospital, Agnes Scott College and Georgia Baptist Orphans Home.

She died in her home at Hot Springs, Virginia on November 14, 1953.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of the papers of Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans and her family from 1881-1982 (bulk 1920-1953). It includes the papers of her two sons, Joseph B. Whitehead, Jr. and Conkey Pate Whitehead, as well as the records of the Whitehead Holding Company, the Whitehead Realty Company, the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, and the Lettie Pate Evans foundations. The papers include business records, correspondence, financial records, legal records, photographs, printed material and subject files. The collection documents the business and charitable activities of Lettie Pate Evans, Conkey Pate Whitehead, and Joseph B. Whitehead, Jr.

Series 1 consists of the Lettie Pate Evans papers, including correspondence, financial records, printed material and subject files comprise this series. Series 2 contains correspondence, financial records, legal files, personal papers, photographs, printed material and subject files related to Evans' youngest son, Conkey Pate Whitehead, his personal holding company, COPACO, Inc., and his third wife, Emma G. Whitehead. Series 3 includes correspondence, financial records, legal files, personal papers, photographs and subject files associated with Evans' oldest son, Joseph B. Whitehead, Jr.

Series 4 consists of the business records - correspondence, financial records and subject files - of the Whitehead Holding Company and the Whitehead Realty Company. Evans, Conkey Pate Whitehead and Joseph B. Whitehead, Jr. were the only stockholders in these companies.

Series 5 contains the records of the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation, Inc. and the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation.

Arrangement Note

Arranged into five series: (1) Lettie Pate Evans papers, (2) Conkey Pate Whitehead family papers, (3) Joseph B. Whitehead, Jr. papers, (4) Business records, and (5) Foundation records.