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No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the James Osler Bailey papers #4113, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from James Osler Bailey, Chapel Hill, N.C., November 1976, and from the English Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, September 1981. An addition was received from the English Department in June 1985.

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Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Bailey, James Osler, 1903-
• Bailey, James Osler, 1903- Strike song: a play of the Southern mills.
• Bailey, Loretto Carroll, 1908-
• Couch, William T. (William Terry), 1901-
• Dramatists, American--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• English language--Rhetoric--Study and teaching.
• English literature--19th century.
• Hardy, Thomas, 1840-1928.
• Language arts--North Carolina.
• Reading--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Science fiction--History and criticism.
• Southern States--In literature.
• Strikes and lockouts in literature.
• Turkey--Description and travel.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Friends of the Library.

James Osler Bailey was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, 12 August 1903. He received his BA, MA, and PhD degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the PhD in 1934. He was a high school teacher for one year, was an assistant professor at Wofford College, Spartanburg, South Carolina, and advanced from instructor to Alumni Distinguished Professor in the English Department, UNC-CH, 1927-1971. Under the auspices of the U. S. State Department, Bailey taught in Istanbul, Turkey, 1956-1957.

Bailey's principal scholarly interest was the work of Thomas Hardy, about which he published numerous essays and two books. Other interests included other writers of the Victorian period, the teaching of writing skills, and early science fiction (the subject of his dissertation). His books included Pilgrims Through Space and Time: Trends and Patterns in Scientific and Utopian Fiction (1947, reprinted 1972), Creative Exercises in College English: A Year's Work in the Practice of Writing and Reading (1952), Thomas Hardy and the Cosmic Mind: A New Reading of the Dynasts (1956), and The Poetry of Thomas Hardy: A Handbook and Commentary (1970).

Bailey married twice, first to Loretto Carroll, and second to Mary M. He had one daughter, Nancy. Bailey died 30 October 1979, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

About one-half of these papers are typed and printed versions of writings and addresses by J. O. Bailey, from an article published as an undergraduate in The Carolina Magazine to speeches delivered after his retirement. Filed with a few of these works are letters relating to them. Other material consists of subject files, which include teaching plans, course syllabi, subject notes, course examinations, graduate student files, and reflections on JOB's year in Turkey, and a collection of miscellaneous items.