Restrictions to Access

Use of audio or moving image materials may require production of listening or viewing copies.

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 Jordan Collection #20365, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Transferred from the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sensitive Materials Statement

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.

Processed by: Sarah Starnes, October 2002

Encoded by: Sarah Starnes, October 2002

Updated by: Anne Wells, July 2018; Nancy Kaiser, February 2021

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.

• Ballads, English--North Carolina.
• Children's songs, English--North Carolina.
• Folk songs--North Carolina.
• Jordan, James.
• Slavery--North Carolina--Songs and music.
• Slaves--North Carolina--Songs and music.
• Spirituals (Songs)--North Carolina.

James Jordan's wife was a member of the Weatherman family. Her ancestors appear to have been plantation owners in North Carolina. The plantation location is unknown.

Six recordings, ca. 1970s, of James Jordan and his wife singing ballads, folk songs, and spirituals, individually and in duet. Some of the songs were passed down through their families; others the two learned as children. According to Jordan, the spirituals were originally learned from slaves on the Weatherman family plantation in North Carolina. After each song, the family of origin is identified. Also according to Jordan, he and his wife recorded the songs to leave to their children and that it was their intention to publish them if possible. He indicates that some of the songs were already published in the Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore, but it is unclear whether the Jordans were actual contributors to Brown's collection or if they simply saw the inclusion of songs shared by their family repertoire in that volume.

Audiocassettes (FS-6113-6118)