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Collection Number: 40362

Collection Title: Folklore Program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1973-2018

This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


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Size 3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1800 items)
Abstract The Curriculum in Folklore of the University of North Carolina was founded in 1940 and was the nation's first graduate program in folklore studies. Conceived as an interdisciplinary program, the curriculum engaged in the study of regional history, literature, and culture through ethnographic fieldwork and community engagement. Throughout its history, the Curriculum in Folklore sponsored lectures, symposia, and musical and artistic events, often in partnership with other university departments and with various state and local agencies. In the 1980s, the curriculum partnered with Tom Davenport Films to produce a series of documentary films related to regional folklife. In 2008, the Curriculum in Folklore merged with the Curriculum in American Studies to form the Department of American Studies. Folklore then became a program within the department. Records include general correspondence and materials related to events sponsored by the Curriculum in Folklore; the production of a series of films in cooperation with Tom Davenport Films; the publication of a book on North Carolina folklife; interactions with regional folklore agencies; and an oral history project that collected regional reactions to the events of 11 September 2001. Materials related to the oral history project include 17 audiocassettes and one digital audio tape. Faculty who figure significantly in the records include Daniel W. Patterson, Allen Tullos, and Glenn Hinson.
Creator University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Department of American Studies. Folklore Program.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. University Archives.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access
Use of audio materials may require the production of listening copies.
Restrictions to Use
No usage restrictions.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Folklore Program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records #40362, University Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from the Folklore Program in March and October 2011 (Records transfers 20110303.1 and 20111020.1); from Patricia Sawin in June 2018 (RT 20180607.1); and from the Southern Folklife Collection in February 2020 (RT 20200227.3)
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.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Matthew Farrell, November 2011

Encoded by: Matthew Farrell, November 2011

Revisions by: by Laura Smith, October 2018; Nancy Kaiser, March 2020

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

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.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Historical Information

The Curriculum in Folklore of the University of North Carolina was founded in 1940 and was the nation's first graduate program in folklore studies. Conceived as an interdisciplinary program, the curriculum engaged in the study of regional history, literature, and culture through ethnographic fieldwork and community engagement. Throughout its history, the Curriculum in Folklore sponsored lectures, symposia, and musical and artistic events, often in partnership with other university departments and with various state and local agencies. In the 1980s, the curriculum partnered with Tom Davenport Films to produce a series of documentary films related to regional folklife. In 2008, the Curriculum in Folklore merged with the Curriculum in American Studies to form the Department of American Studies. Folklore then became a program within the department.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Records include general correspondence and materials related to events sponsored by the Curriculum in Folklore; the production of a series of films in cooperation with Tom Davenport Films; the publication of a book on North Carolina folklife; interactions with regional folklore agencies; and an oral history project that collected regional reactions to the events of 11 September 2001. Materials related to the oral history project include 17 audiocassettes and one digital audio tape. Faculty who figure significantly in the records include Daniel W. Patterson, Allen Tullos, and Glenn Hinson.

Among the materials related to Tom Davenport Films are correspondence, notes and other planning documentation, photographic prints, press releases, and published reviews for several of the films produced in conjunction with the Curriculum in Folklore, including Being a Joines, Born for Hard Luck, The Shakers, and A Singing Stream. Curriculum faculty associated with the films' productions were Daniel W. Patterson and Allen Tullos.

Items regarding external folklore agencies include correspondence, newsletters, and other related material. Records regarding "Remembering Tragedy," an oral history project headed by Professor Glenn Hinson, include release forms and interviews recorded on audiocassette documenting local reactions to the events of 11 September 2001. Among the promotional materials are flyers and posters for lectures, art exhibits, and live music events produced by or in conjunction with the Curriculum in Folklore.

Records are arranged in the order in which they were received.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Folklore Program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1973-2018.

About 2400 items.
Box 1

Correspondence, 1981-1984

Bachelor of Arts Degree in Folklore: Proposal, 2008

Index of Selected Folk Recordings, 1984

Bound print copy and copy on microfiche.

Department newsletters, 1981-2003

Publications, 1981-1989

Includes background, transcription, and commentaries regarding Born For Hard Luck and Being a Joines, produced by Tom Davenport Films in partnership with the Curriculum in Folklore. Also included are a special issue of the North Carolina Folklore Journal devoted to a third collaborative production, A Singing Stream and a conference program from Sounds of the South, produced by the Curriculum in Folklore with the Southern Folklife Collection.

Davenport Films materials, 1981-1989

Includes notes, draft transcripts, draft text, histories, grant materials, photographic prints, correspondence, and other related materials regarding films produced in partnership between the Curriculum in Folklore and Tom Davenport Films. The documentaries include A Singing Stream: A Black Family Chronicle; Being a Joines; and Born for Hard Luck, which focused on music and oral traditions in North Carolina and the surrounding region.

North Carolina Folklore Book, 1988-1989

Includes photographic prints, negatives, agreements related to the publication of Arts in Earnest: North Carolina Folklife, which had the working title "From Ruddy Ducks to Mill Pranks" and was edited by Curriculum in Folklore faculty.

Library collections sought, 1989

Includes letters from Professor Daniel W. Patterson to potential donors of archival collections relating to folklore and to curators in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill libraries regarding potential acquisitions.

External agencies, 1973-2000

Box 2

External agencies, 1973-2000

Archives: Visual Folklore, 1977-1980

Includes correspondence with an outside institution's tape library and the Curriculum in Folklore's policy statement regarding a visual folklore archives.

Archives: Photographs, 1983

Includes photographic prints, correspondence, notes, and other related materials regarding the Tom Davenport Films documentary Being a Joines.

Clyde Jones photographs

Ray Hicks documentary series, 1996

Contains a position statement and handwritten notes.

Notes and ephemera from Glenn Hinson, 2009

Includes handwritten notes, photographic prints, and related materials.

Internship journal, undated

Promotional materials, 2000-2009

Includes flyers, press releases, newspaper clippings, and related materials regarding events produced by or in conjunction with the Curriculum in Folklore.

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-40362/1

Promotional materials, 2000-2009

Twenty oversize event posters.

Box 2

"Remembering Tragedy" materials: Consent agreements, 2001

Consent agreements for interviews related to "Remembering Tragedy," an oral history project that collected experiences and reactions to the events of 11 September 2001.

Audiocassette C-40362/1-17

C-40362/1

C-40362/2

C-40362/3

C-40362/4

C-40362/5

C-40362/6

C-40362/7

C-40362/8

C-40362/9

C-40362/10

C-40362/11

C-40362/12

C-40362/13

C-40362/14

C-40362/15

C-40362/16

C-40362/17

"Remembering Tragedy" materials: Oral history interviews, 2001

Audiocassette recordings of interviews related to "Remembering Tragedy," an oral history project that collected experiences and reactions to the events of 11 September 2001. Some of the interviewees were in Durham, N.C.; Mars Hill, N.C.; and Charlottesville, Va. Information on five of the audiocassettes does not include the place of the interview. One audiocassette has no identifying information.

Digital Audiotape DAT-40362/1

"Remembering Tragedy" materials: Oral history interviews, 2001

Digital audio tape, unlabeled; presumably a recording of an interview related to "Remembering Tragedy," an oral history project that collected experiences and reactions to the events of 11 September 2001.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2A. Posters and Interviews with Faculty, 1981-2018 (Addition of June 2018)

This series consists of posters for events sponsored by the Folklore Program and interviews with two former faculty members about the history of the program. Interview files include consent forms, recordings, transcripts, and related documentation.

Acquisitions Information: RT 20180607.1.

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-40361/2

Promotional materials, 1981-2017

Digital Folder DF-40361/1

Interview with Charles G. Zug, III, 2018

Digital Folder DF-40361/2

Interview with Daniel Patterson, 2015

Box 2

Consent forms, Patterson and Zug

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2A. Posters, 2000s (Addition of February 2020)

Posters for events sponsored by the Folklore Program.

Acquisitions Information: RT 20200227.3.

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-40361/3

Posters, 2000s

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