Restrictions to Access

This collection contains additional materials that are not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact Research and Instructional Service staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options for consulting these materials.

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 Ronald H. Bayes Papers #04949, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Received from Ron Bayes of Laurinburg, N.C., in September 1998, May 1999 (Acc. 98202 and 98367), and March 2023 (Acc. 20230320.1).

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.

Updated by: Rebecca Stubbs and Laura Smith, May 2023

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

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.

• American literature--Periodicals.
• American poetry--North Carolina--20th century.
• Authors, American--North Carolina--20th century.
• Bakken, Dick, 1941- .
• Bayes, Ronald H., 1932- .
• Butler, Bill, 1934- .
• Cochran family.
• College teachers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Family--Oregon--Social life and customs.
• Kizer, Carolyn.
• Laughlin, James, 1914- .
• Laurinburg (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Linney, Romulus, 1930- .
• Nessly family.
• North Carolina--Intellectual life.
• Parrott, Fred.
• Poets, American--North Carolina--20th century.
• Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972--Criticism and interpretation.
• Ragan, Sam, 1915- .
• Slatton, Jo.
• St. Andrews Presbyterian College (Laurinburg, N.C.)--Faculty.
• St. Andrews Press.
• St. Andrews Review.
• St. Andrews Writers Forum.

• Ron Bayes Collection (MsA7), Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Poet Ronald Bayes was born in Freewater, Ore., on 19 July 1932 to Floyd Edgar Bayes and Mildred Florence Bayes, but was raised by his maternal grandparents, Homer and Florence Cochran. He attended Eastern Oregon State College (E.O.S.C.) where he received his B.S. in English and Education in 1955. During the next year, Bayes taught at E.O.S.C. as an assistant professor of English while completing his master's degree. From 1956 to 1958, Bayes served in the United States Army Infantry and was stationed in Iceland. After being discharged, Bayes returned to teaching as a lecturer for the University of Maryland's overseas program in Japan. From 1959 to 1960, Bayes was enrolled in the Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. Leaving the American literature program with all but his dissertation completed, Bayes returned to E.O.S.C. as an associate professor of English and taught there until 1968. During the 1966-1967 academic year, Bayes again taught in Japan for the University of Maryland. In 1968, Bayes accepted the position of writer-in-residence at St. Andrews Presbyterian College and moved to Laurinburg, N.C.

While at St. Andrews, Bayes founded and became executive editor of the St. Andrews Review and the St. Andrews Press, the former a literary magazine and the latter a small press dedicated to publishing both established and emerging writers, primarily poets. Bayes also established the St. Andrews Writers Forum, a weekly event that brought outside writers and poets to the college for readings and symposia. Bayes published more than 16 books of poetry, as well as writing reviews, plays, and short stories.

Throughout his career, Bayes was active both politically and socially. From 1967 to 1968, he was the chair of the GOP Central Committee for Union County, Ore., and again chair in Scotland County, N.C., from 1980 to 1981.

In 1982, the Universita Delle Arti in Termi, Italy, awarded Bayes the honorary degree of Litt.D.M. Other honors include a term as consultant in literature for the National Council for the Arts, 1969-1971; a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize, 1986; recognition as a master poet from the Atlantic Center for the Arts, 1988; the North Carolina Award for Literature, 1989; induction as a life member in the North Carolina Poetry Society, 1990; membership in the Oregon Poetry Society, 1990; and a certificate of honor from the North Carolina Poetry Council, 1994.

Correspondence, writings, and other materials, chiefly documenting Laurinburg, N.C., poet Ronald H. Bayes's career as writer, editor, and college teacher. Cochran family correspondence includes letters exchanged by Cochran and Nessly family members, some in Oregon, chiefly about family news. There are also letters, mostly 1969-1972, from poets, Bayes's former students, editors, publishers, professors, friends, and politicians. Several of the letters have poems attached or included in the text. Correspondents include Carolyn Kizer, Dick Bakken, James Laughlin, Sam Ragan, Jo Slatton, Bill Butler, and Fred Parrott. Writings by Bayes, 1948-1999, are poetry chapbook manuscripts, single poems, book reviews, and a few plays and short stories. There are also writings edited by Bayes and writings by others, including poems submitted to Bayes for publication, a play by Romulus Linney, and short stories by Bill Butler. Collected publications include published anthologies and journals, most with contributions from Bayes; a few books, including several relating to Erza Pound; and a few newsletters. Also included are materials relating to the St. Andrews Review, the St. Andrews Press, the St. Andrews Writers Forum, St. Andrews Presbyterian College, and other topics; printed promotional materials, most relating to Bayes's career; clippings, some containing Bayes's writings; photographs; and audio and video recordings of Bayes at various speaking engagements. The addition of March 2023 includes scrapbooks, photographs, audiovisual materials, and unpublished writings and drafts.

Oversize papers (OPF-4949/1)

Audiocassettes (C-4949/1-9)

Audiotapes (T-4949/1-10)

Videotapes (VT-4949/1-21)

Photographs (PF-4949/1-30)

Oversize image folder (OP-PF-4949/1)

Photograph Album (PA-4949/1-27, 29-37)