The Historical Research Material Series consists of documents and papers, graphic materials, photographs, and cassette tape recordings of interviews with executives of The Liberty Corporation, and former agents and employees of The Liberty Life Insurance Company and The Southeastern Life Insurance Company. Included with the documents and papers are notes identifying thirty-eight individuals interviewed, six of whom are not on tape. Dates for the material run from 1905 to 1986, with the bulk of the material dating from 1979 to 1985. Much of this material was gathered in the course of research for The Liberty Life Insurance Company, 1919-1953 by Zane Knauss and The Liberty Spirit: History of The Liberty Corporation, 1905-1985 by Doyle Boggs.

Several folders pertain to historical research material about The Liberty Corporation, The Southeastern Life Insurance Company, and The Liberty Life Insurance Company. One of these contains the History & Genealogy of the Hipp Family, 1749-1943. Another contains The Liberty Spirit: History of The Liberty Corporation. Many folders contain publication material used during production of The Liberty Spirit. A single publication folder holds the Fiftieth Anniversary 1905-1955 of The Liberty Life Insurance Company. A few folders contain draft history typescripts of The Liberty Spirit and The Southeastern Life Insurance Company. Several folders contain the manuscript history of Columbia, SC radio and television station WIS, So Rich A Heritage. Other folders contain interview notes that Knauss kept as he gathered oral information. Certain folders contain transcriptions of interviews, including those with Francis and Herman Hipp. One folder contains releases for use of the information on tape. Some folders contain research material used for the histories of the company. Additional folders contain material related to field agents, Furman University, Knauss, interview lists and reference sources, and reports. The thirty-two interviews themselves reside on twenty-seven original and duplicate user tapes. Numerous folders contain photographs of agents and employees, buildings and building sites, company executives and offices, conventions and training meetings, cotton mill village life, and downtown Greenville and Spartanburg dating from 1902 to 1978. A couple oversize folders contain photographs of standings of agents and the Southeastern Life Building.

Although focusing on historical developments which culminated in the formation of The Liberty Corporation, the oral interviews, transcriptions, typescripts, and other material in this collection are also a prime source of information on the insurance and broadcasting industries in South Carolina. The interviews and printed material also provide valuable information on the development of other business interests in the state. Of equal importance is the biographical/ entrepreneurial information pertaining to members of the Hipp family who developed and organized Liberty Life and The Liberty Corporation, i.e., W. Frank Hipp, Francis M. Hipp, Herman N. Hipp, and B. Calhoun Hipp. This collection holds research potential in areas of twentieth-century South Carolina economic and mass communications history, and is a rich source of reference material for researchers.

A list of the people who were interviewed follows.