Lottie D. Hamby Papers

The Hamby papers are comprised chiefly of the records of the Bradley, Graham, & Hamby Advertising and Public Relations Agency. The papers, primarily 1954-1974, consist of 6 linear feet of material arranged into five series: General, Clients, Clippings, Audiovisual, and Oversized.

General papers (.25 linear feet) consist chiefly of correspondence with clients, kept separately by Miss Hamby from client folders in the Clients series. She kept letters from James Byrnes, Robert McNair, and Strom Thurmond, among others, complimenting the agency on their talents and indispensability in coordinating the advertising for their political and business campaigns. The series also includes speech notes and biographical and agency information.

The Clients series (3.25 linear feet) constitutes the bulk of the collection. This series is divided into two sub-series: General and Persons. The files in both sub-series are arranged alphabetically by client name. The General sub-series consists of accounts for businesses or issues of public interest. The Recommendations for Clients folders within this sub-series consist of client advertising and public relations recommendation packets prepared for clients not otherwise documented in the collection. The Persons sub-series documents campaigns for public office.

The firm's involvement in the controversy with Badische Anilin and Sodafabrik (BASF) is the most well-documented of accounts in the Clients series. The firm represented opponents of the proposed construction by BASF of a plant in Beaufort County to manufacture dyes, plastics and petro-based products. Citizens groups, concerned over the potential environmental impact of the plant, began to form in opposition to BASF in late 1969. South Carolinians for a Better Environment, South Carolina Environmental Action, Inc., and the Citizens Association of Beaufort County are the three main groups documented in this collection for their opposition to BASF. According to “Fight with a Giant: A thumbnail synopsis of the BASF controversy,” the firm worked to "outline and guide its [the groups] efforts to inform the public of the threat posed by the proposed location of BASF in estuarine waters" [8 Feb. 1972]. Since the agency worked with several citizens groups on this issue, their records for each group overlap. About a third of the BASF records are not attributable to one citizen group and are filed in general folders under BASF.

Newspaper Clippings (.5 linear feet) document roughly half of the agency's clients. Folders typically include examples of the clients’ newspaper advertisements not already documented in the Clients series.

Audiovisual Materials (2 linear feet) include photographs, five audio recordings, and a sizable number of slides. Highlights of the slides include McNair’s 1966 gubernatorial campaign, Nixon’s visits to South Carolina in 1960 and 1973, the 1968 Southern Governor’s Conference, and a Bradley, Graham, and Hamby open house in 1967. Four of the audio recordings (1/4-inch reels) are radio spots from the 1972 “minibottle” campaign. The final recording (a 2-inch reel) is Strom Thurmond's September 16, 1964 speech announcing his switch from the Democratic to Republican Party.

Oversized Materials consist of advertisement prints.