Noroma Benz papers
Content Description
Most of these materials belonged to Tennessee Polytechnic Institute (TPI) class of 1948 alum Albert "Al" O. Carr (unknown-2008) and his wife, TPI class of 1942 alumni Juanita Elizabeth Smith Carr (1922-2016). This accession is named for Noroma Benz, Al and Juanita's daughter. Materials include black-and-white photographs, yearbooks, diplomas, commencement programs, class reunion handouts, issues of the Tech Oracle newspaper, class rings, a class pendant, and a letter "T" patch. In 1948, at the age of nineteen, Juanita Carr graduated with honors from TPI with a B.A. in Human Ecology. She was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority and was named to Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. She also earned a master's degree in nutrition and hospital dietetics from the University of Tennessee, where she worked as a nutrition researcher until Al returned home from fighting in World War II, at which point they moved to Cookeville to allow Al to complete his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Arts from TPI. They were married for sixty-one years until Al's death in 2008. Juanita died in 2016 and was survived by the couple's only daughter, Noroma Benz. One of the included yearbooks belongs to Ben Milton Sidwell (1910-1986), a resident of Clay County, Tennessee. Some of the photographs depict Hettie Bennett Smith (1900-2004) and Paula Sidwell (1900-1995).
Acquisition Type
Gift
Provenance
These materials were donated to the Tennessee Tech Crawford Alumni Center by Noroma Benz, the daughter of Albert and Juanita Carr, and the Alumni Center gave them to the Tennessee Tech Archives and Special Collections.
Restrictions Apply
No
Dates
- Creation: 1917 - 1998
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1940 - 1948
Inventory
TPI diploma of Al Carr (1948); TPI diploma of Juanita Carr (1942); The Eagle TPI yearbook (1941); two The Eagle TPI yearbooks (1940); two TPI commencement programs (1942); TPI class photograph that includes Sara Jane Oakley Smith; TPI class photograph that includes Juanita Carr (1942); TTU Memory Book (1948); three TPI class rings (1923, 1943, 1948); TPI class pendant; purple letter "T" patch; photograph of Juanita Carr sitting in the sidecar of a motorcycle; photograph of Al Carr and another man building a front stoop on a mobile home; photograph of a mobile home in the snow; photograph of Al and Juanita Carr sitting on the front stoop of a mobile home; two photographs of a mobile home park in the snow; photograph of the TPI class of 1921 (1921); The Eagle TPI yearbook (1933); photograph of TPI building (1917); photograph of Henderson Hall; two photographs of TPI buildings; three photographs of Paula Sidwell and Hettie Bennett Smith; two photographs of Hettie Bennett Smith (1917); Tennessee Tech Class of 1948 Reunion handouts (1998); TPI Commencement Program (1942); two issues of the Tech Oracle newspaper (1941 and 1942)
Source
- Benz, Noroma (Person)
Subject
- Carr, Juanita Elizabeth Smith, 1922-2016 (Person)
- Carr, Albert "Al" O., unknown-2008 (Person)
- Smith, Sara Jane Oakley, 1921-1951 (Person)
- Sidwell, Ben Milton, 1910-1986 (Person)
- Smith, Hettie M. Coffman Bennett, 1900-2004 (Person)
- Sidwell, Paula E., 1900-1995 (Person)
- Tennessee Polytechnic Institute (Organization)
- Tennessee Polytechnic Institute. Cottage Grove (Organization)
Cultural context
Genre / Form
- Newspapers
- School yearbooks
- breast pins
- diplomas
- jewelry
- rings (jewelry)
- souvenir programs
- yearbooks
