Richard C. Barnett Papers
Richard Chambers Barnett was a WFU alumnus (1954) and longtime University professor of British history.
Biographical and Historical Note
Richard Chambers Barnett was a WFU alumnus (1954) and member of Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society, Delta Sigma Phi, and the college debate team.
Barnett was a professor of British history at WFU (1961-1994), serving as department chair (1968-1975) during his career as well as acting dean of the Graduate School in 1979. He wrote Place, Profit, and Power: A Study of the Servants of William Cecil, Elizabethan Statesman (University of North Carolina Press,1969). He was active in professional associations including the Southern Conference on British Studies and the Carolinas Symposium on British Studies.
Barnett also participated in many campus organizations and efforts, including the Humanities Club, the WFU Retirees Association, the University Senate and other forms of faculty governance, and the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). He was a charter member of Wake Forest Baptist Church upon its move to Winston-Salem in 1956 and an active congregation member.
He was married to Betty Tribble Barnett (1932-2022), also a Wake Forest alumna (1955) and daughter of University president Harold Wayland Tribble.
Barnett passed away on October 10, 2025, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Collection Overview
This collection documents the professional life and some of the personal life of history professor Richard C. Barnett. Materials include correspondence files and subject files.
Correspondence, sometimes organized into incoming and outgoing but often together in folders, is dated approximately 1967-1995. Some correspondence is about on specific topics, like professional associations and prize nominations.
Subject files generally are related to University and History department committees and events, professional papers, book reviews, and conference and association work. One folder contains memorial and eulogy materials. Notable topics include AAUP's work related to the University's relationship with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC); the University area Property Owners Association; Barnett's book Place, Profit, and Power: A Study of the Servants of William Cecil, Elizabethan Statesman; University Senate meeting minutes and memorandums (1976-1979); and History department meeting minutes (1968-1987). One folder contains materials that were not sorted, dated 1990s.
Collection Arrangement
Materials are in original order, with the bulk of the correspondence in the first box and subject files at the end of the first box and the second.
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by Stephanie Bennett, 2019
- Revision Description
- Revised by Maeryn Mannix and Sam Sfirri, 2025 November
- Revision Description
- Collection inventory and revision by Robert Blythe, 2026 June
- Conditions Governing Access
- Collection is open for researchers.
- Copyright Notice
- The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.