EVANS, LETTIE PATE WHITEHEAD, 1872-1953
Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans family papers,
1881-1982
Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans family papers, 1881-1982
Emory University
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Atlanta, GA 30322
404-727-6887
rose.library@emory.edu
Permanent link: http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/8z8tb
Collection Stored Off-Site
All or portions of this collection are housed off-site. Materials can still be requested but researchers should expect a delay of up to two business days for retrieval.
Descriptive Summary
Creator: | Evans, Lettie Pate Whitehead, 1872-1953 |
---|---|
Title: | Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans family papers, 1881-1982 |
Call Number: | Manuscript Collection No. 78 |
Extent: | 30 linear feet (63 boxes), 1 oversized papers box (OP), 17 bound volumes (BV), and 3 oversized bound volumes (OBV) |
Abstract: | Papers of Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans, businesswoman and philanthropist from Atlanta, Georgia, and her family, including business records, correspondence, financial records, legal records, photographs, printed material, and subject files. |
Language: | Materials entirely in English. |
Administrative Information
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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Collection Description
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.
Selected Search Terms
Personal Names
- Whitehead, Conkey Pate, 1898-1940.
- Whitehead Jr., Joseph B., 1895-1935.
- Whitehead Sr., Joseph B.
- Whitehead, Emma G.
- Whitehead, Laura G.
- Portman, John Calvin.
Corporate Names
- Whitehead Realty Company.
- Whitehead Holding Company.
- Coca-Cola Company.
- COPACO, Inc.
- Lettie Pate Evans Foundation, Inc.
- Coca-Cola Bottling Company.
Topical Terms
- Philanthropy--United States.
- Real estate business--Georgia.
- Business enterprises--Georgia.
- Soft drink industry.