Robert Digges Wimberly Connor
{{Short description|American historian}}
{{Other people|Robert Connor}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Robert Digges Wimberly Connor
| image = Robert-dw-connor.jpg
| caption = R. D. W. Connor, first Archivist of the United States
| birth_date = {{birth date|1878|9|26|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Wilson, North Carolina, United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|1950|2|25|1878|9|26|mf=y}}
| death_place =
| president = Franklin D. Roosevelt
| office = 1st Archivist of the United States
| term_start = October 10, 1934
| term_end = September 15, 1941
| predecessor = Position established
| successor = Solon J. Buck
| spouse =
}}
Robert Digges Wimberly Connor (September 26, 1878 – February 25, 1950) was an American historian who served as the first state archivist of North Carolina from 1907 to 1921, and later as the first Archivist of the United States from 1934 to 1941.
Life and career
File:Carrons Funeral Home, Wilson.jpg
Connor was born to Henry G. Connor and Kate Whitfield Connor on September 26, 1878, in Wilson, North Carolina. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1899. He married Sadie Hanes of Mocksville, North Carolina on December 23, 1902.{{cite book |author1=Jones, H. G. |author1-link=H. G. Jones |editor1-last=Powell |editor1-first=William S. |title=Dictionary of North Carolina Biography |date=1970 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |isbn=0-8078-1329-X}}
In his role as the inaugural secretary of the North Carolina Historical Commission, Connor lobbied the North Carolina General Assembly for a building and funding for what became the State Archives of North Carolina.{{cite book |last1=Brundage |author-link=W. Fitzhugh Brundage |first1=W. Fitzhugh |title=The Southern Past: A Clash of Race and Memory |url=https://archive.org/details/southernpastclas00brun|url-access=limited|date=2005 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-674-01876-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/southernpastclas00brun/page/n124 110]-111}} He served as the first state archivist of North Carolina from 1907 to 1921.{{cite book |author1=Jones, H. G. |author1-link=H. G. Jones |editor1-last=Powell |editor1-first=William S. |title=Encyclopedia of North Carolina |date=2006 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-8078-3071-0}}
Connor left the North Carolina Historical Commission to become the Kenan Professor of History and Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.{{cite web |title=R. D. W. Connor Papers, 1890-1950 |url=https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/02427/ |website=finding-aids.lib.unc.edu |accessdate=9 March 2019}} He held that position until 1934, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him to head the National Archives.
Connor served as the third president of the Society of American Archivists between 1941 and 1943.{{Cite web|url = http://www2.archivists.org/history/leaders/presidents|title = SAA Presidents|date = 2014|accessdate = 14 August 2014|website = |publisher = |last = |first = }}
He died on February 25, 1950.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://docsouth.unc.edu/browse/bios/pn0000339_bio.html Connor in the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography]
- [http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/c/Connor,R.D.W.html R.D.W. Connor Papers]
- [http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/unc/ncday/browse_results_year.html?year=1950 North Carolina Collection]
- [http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,847169,00.html Time Magazine article from 1934]
- [http://www.ncmarkers.com/ North Carolina Historical Marker]
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{{s-gov}}
{{succession box |
before=--|
title=Archivist of the United States|
years=1934–1941|
after=Solon J. Buck
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connor, R. D. W.}}
Category:20th-century American historians
Category:National Archives and Records Administration
Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
Category:People from Wilson, North Carolina
Category:Presidents of the Society of American Archivists
Category:Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel
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