Tryon's Palace (New Bern, N.C.), 1938-1944

This small sub-subseries is comprised of correspondence detailing Kimball's involvement with an unrealized plan for the restoration of Tryon's Palace. The Georgian style palace, designed by English architect John Hawks as the Colonial Capitol of North Carolina and built between 1767-1770, had burned to the ground in 1798. Gertrude Carraway, a resident of the city and the vice-regent of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution of North Carolina, contacted Kimball in 1938 with the hopes of locating the original drawings for the building and raising interest in its restoration. Together, Carraway and Kimball located and publicized the architectural drawings, raised funds and WPA labor for an archaeological investigation of the site, and succeeded in having the property designated as a Historic Site by the National Park Service. Kimball also wrote a study of the building, which was published in the journal of the New York Historical Society. Also included is a small amount of correspondence with William Perry of Perry, Shaw and Hepburn detailing their disagreement over each other's involvement with the restoration. Kimball's participation ended abruptly in 1942 after this exchange with Perry and when World War II disrupted fundraising for the actual restoration work.