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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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Collection Overview
| Size | About 254,000 items (638.5 linear feet) |
| Abstract | The collection of white folklorist, author, professor, and filmmaker William R. Ferris (1942- ) of Vicksburg, Miss., contains professional and personal papers, photographs, sound recordings, film, video recordings, artifacts, and other items documenting his life and work from the early 1940s through the 2010s. Professional papers include materials related to his university teaching career and his administrative career, especially in university centers for study and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Personal papers largely pertain to his student years and family. Photographs, films, papers, printed items, sound and video recordings, digital files, and other materials reflect his scholarly research interests and documentary production. Topics include Mississippi and the Mississippi Delta; African American life and culture; black churches; folk, blues, gospel, fife and drum corps, and other genres of music; blues musicians; southern writers; folk and music festivals; folk arts, culture, and humor; auctioneers and mule trading; the Ku Klux Klan; and prisons, especially Parchman Farm, the Mississippi State Penitentiary. |
| Creator | Ferris, William R. |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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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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Biographical Information
William R. Ferris was born 5 February 1942 in Vicksburg, Miss. He attended public school in Vicksburg until high school, when he was accepted to Brooks School in North Andover, Mass. Ferris got his B.A. in English Literature at Davidson College in 1964, and an M.A. in English Literature from Northwestern University in 1965. He attended Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, for one year from 1965 to 1966, and returned to the U.S. to continue his graduate studies. In 1967, he received a Master's and, in 1969, a Ph.D. in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania.
Ferris's scholarship has focused on southern African American folklore and culture, through a variety of media: print, sound, film, and photography. From 1970 to 1972, he was an assistant professor in the Department of English at Jackson State University in Mississippi. From 1972 to 1979, he was an associate professor in the American and Afro-American Studies Programs at Yale University. During his tenure at Yale, Ferris co-founded the Center for Southern Folklore in Mississippi, and was its director from 1972 to 1984. Ferris returned to the South, and, from 1979 to 1997, he was the founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and a professor of anthropology at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. While there, he established several annual conferences, including the Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference.
In 1997, Ferris was appointed chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities by President Clinton, a post he held through 2001. In 2002, he was a Visiting Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the Senior Associate Director of the Center for the Study of the American South, professor of history, and adjunct professor in the Curriculum in Folklore.
Ferris is the author of ten books, including You Live and Learn. Then You Die and Forget It All: Ray Lum's Tales of Horses, Mules and Men , and co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. He has written fiction, poetry, and numerous articles on folklore and literature, as well as book, record, and film reviews. Ferris has recorded blues albums, produced 15 documentary films on southern folklore, and, for ten years, hosted the weekly Mississippi Public Radio blues show, Highway 61. Ferris's photography, documenting aspects of African American southern folklore, has been featured nationally, including in an exhibit by the Smithsonian Museum and an article by the New York Times.
Ferris has traveled and lectured extensively throughout Europe and the U.S. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Charles Frankel Prize in the Humanities, bestowed by President Clinton, and France's Chevalier and Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters, and has been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Ferris has four siblings. His brother, Grey, was a senator in the Mississippi State Legislature from 1992 to 2001. Ferris is married to Marcie Cohen Ferris and has a daughter named Virginia.
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Scope and Content
Subgroup A. Original Deposits
The William R. Ferris Collection consists of papers, photographs, slides, sound recordings, videotapes, films, and other materials documenting the life and work of William Ferris, a white folklorist, author, professor, and filmmaker. Professional papers relate to his teaching career at Jackson State University, Yale University, the University of Mississippi, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and to his activities at the Center for Southern Folklore, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, the Center for the Study of the American South, and as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Personal papers include student materials, family correspondence, and other papers from the 1940s to 2002. Papers, images, and recordings document life in Mississippi and the Mississippi Delta; folk music, the blues, gospel music, fife and drum corps music, and other musical types; folk festivals and music festivals; folk arts; folk culture; folk humor; Highway 61; the Ku Klux Klan; prisons, especially Parchman Farm (Mississippi State Penitentiary); auctioneers; and other topics.
Individuals important in the collection include writers, artists, musicians, political figures, and others. They include: Imamu Amiri Baraka, Victor Bobb, Cleanth Brooks, Fannie Bell Chapman, Edith Clark, Leon "Peck" Clark, Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Willie Dixon, John Dollard, Louis Dotson, Walker Evans, William Faulkner, Marcie Cohen Ferris, Shelby Foote, Ernest J. Gaines, Allen Ginsberg, Amanda Gordon, Theora Hamblett, Bessie Jones, B. B. King, Alan Lomax, Ray Lum (auctioneer), Arthur Miller, Ethel Wright Mohamed (embroiderer), Ola Belle Reed, Pete Seeger, Charles Seeger, Harry Smith, James "Son" Thomas, Othar Turner, Alice Walker, Pecolia Warner, Robert Penn Warren, Eudora Welty, and members of the Rose Hill Baptist Church in Vicksburg, Miss.
The films include footage of Ferris's documentaries: Mississippi Delta Blues; Ray Lum: Mule Trader; Fannie Bell Chapman: Gospel Singer; and Delta Blues Singer: James "Son" Thomas.
Subgroup B. Additions of 2004-2012
The Additions of 2004-2012 contain papers, photographs, audio recordings, moving images, and digital files relating to William Ferris's life and work, 1949-2011. There are materials relating to Ferris's book Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Delta Blues (2009), from inception to promotion. There are also transcripts of interviews conducted by William Ferris with Bill Christenberry, Alex Haley, Pete Seeger, Alice Walker, and others, as well as research and notes related to Ferris's book project on southern voices. There are journals kept by Ferris, 1995 and 2003-2011, containing his schedules and notes related to events and meetings. There are correspondence and subject files relating to his research, projects, and events. Correspondents include Alice Walker, B. B. King, students and advisees, and professional colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and other universities. There are notes, letters, holiday cards, and other papers sent to Ferris and published items collected by Ferris reflecting his research interests and writing. The Addition also contains black-and-white photographic prints of images taken by Ferris in the 1960s and 1970s primarily depicting African Americans and whites in Mississippi, including images of musicians Louis Dotson, James "Son" Thomas, and others, and a significant number of snapshots taken by Ferris, 2000-2011, of musical events, gatherings, and travel. There are black-and-white and color slides depicting various people, including B. B. King, Ray Lum, Robert Penn Warren, and Eudora Welty, and scenes and digital family and travel photographs as well as digital photographs given to William Ferris by friends and associates. There are some photographs of Ferris's family members as well as photographs of Ferris, including a slide of him in 1949 and photographs that he took with his first camera in 1957. There is a set of photocopies of the contact prints from photographs taken by Ferris in the 1960s and 1970s. The Addition also contains sound and video recordings of classes taught by Ferris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, many of which feature performances by guest speakers and musicians. There are also interviews with Ferris and digital files of presentations given by him. Finally, there are audio recordings, moving images, and artifacts collected by or given to Ferris, posters for book signings, and other items.
Subgroup C. Additions since August 2012
The Addition of October 2012 contains notes and transcripts from interviews that Ferris used in his book titled The Storied South : Voices of Writers and Artists. Other materials are professional and personal correspondence, printed items, notes, notebooks, and course packs for classes taught by Ferris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Of interest are files about documentary film projects on the African American gospel choir Wings Over Jordan nationally prominent in the 1930s and 1940s and on journalist Horace Carter's reporting on the Ku Klux Klan in Tabor City, N.C., during the early 1950s.
The Addition of June 2013 contains scattered materials, chiefly correspondence, printed items, and audio and video recordings related to Ferris's teaching, faculty and administrative work at the University of North Carolina, his writings and publications, and his research interests. Includes video documentation of the fall 2010 course, Southern Music.
The Addition of July 2013 contains subject files, clippings, correspondence, printed materials, song lyric sheets, teaching material from Ferris' tenure at Yale University, and files pertaining to Ferris's books The Storied South : Voices of Writers and Artists and Give My Poor Heart Ease : Voices of the Mississippi Blues. Subject file titles include "Work Songs", "Dance - Black", Dance - White", "Food + Blues", "Spirituals", and "Trickster". Also includes journals, posters, and digital files, including presentations and lectures by William Ferris, Jocelyn Arem, Alice Walker, and others.
The Addition of December 2013 contains scattered correspondence, clippings, printed items, and typescript drafts for books. Materials pertain chiefly to the writing, publication, book tours, and sales of Ferris's books, The Storied South : Voices of Writers and Artists, Les Voix du Mississippi, a French translation of Give My Poor Heart Ease : Voices of the Mississippi Blues. Other topics represented in the materials are the use of the Confederate flag, twerking and New Orleans Bounce music, Mardi Gras Indians, blues musicians, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Jerry Cohen's obituary and shiva reception, the Center for the Study of the American South, and a Festschrift honoring Charles Joyner.
The Addition of March 2014 contains drafts of The Storied South : Voices of Writers and Artists and proofs of Les Voix du Mississippi, a French translation of Give My Poor Heart Ease : Voices of the Mississippi Blues. The addition also contains numerous cards and letters expressing condolences and sympathy for the death of Ferris's father-in-law Jerry Cohen. Other scattered items include professional correspondence, newspaper clippings, articles, printed items, and materials for book tours, professional conferences, folk festivals, and cultural heritage organizations. Topics include Eudora Welty, Trudy Taylor and Martha's Vineyard, singer Rhiannon Giddens, writer Allan Gurganus, the Center for the Study of the American South, and the journal Southern Cultures.
The Additions of June and September 2014 contain professional and personal correspondence and printed materials. Topics include Ferris's post tenure review at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC); book festivals and professional symposia and conferences; promotion of the book The Storied South: Voices of Writers and Artists; the French translation of Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Delta Blues and a stage adaptation of that book; the Mississippi Historical Society; Davidson College reunion; Tennessee attorney Cecil Sims; foodways; the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation; UNC's American Studies Department; UNC Press; UNC-TV; Center for the Study of the American South; and a steamboat cruise from New Orleans, La., to Memphis, Tenn., "Southern Culture and Civil War aboard the American Queen," for which Ferris and Marcie Cohen Ferris were "enrichment lecturers." Some materials, including a brief letter from former United States President Bill Clinton, pertain to memorial services for English professor Darryl James Gless and Ferris's mother Shelby Flowers Ferris.
The Addition of December 2014 contains professional correspondence, printed materials, publications including issues of the journal Eudora Welty Review, clippings, fellowship applications, notes, and drafts. Subjects include an exhibit titled "The South in Black and White: Photography from 1954 to the Present," museums, public history, Professor Benjamin Filene's project titled "Cone Mill Villages: A Thread in Greensboro's Past," the Southern Folklife Collection’s grant project titled "Extending the Reach of Southern Audiovisual Resources," southern studies, and the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. Also includes files for a program review of the Department of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a draft of a Ferris article titled "Richard Wright and the Blues."
The Addition of March 2015 contains professional and personal correspondence and printed materials. Subjects include Ferris's "Southern Music" course, musicians and writers he invited to speak and perform for his classes, National Endowment for the Humanities programs, Ferris's book Les Voix du Mississippi, and Marcie Cohen Ferris's book The Edible South: The Power of Food and the Making of an American Region.
The Addition of May 2015 contains professional and personal correspondence including greeting cards, printed materials including magazines, newsletters, brochures and posters, draft essay by Ferris, and handwritten notes. Topics include musical artist Barbara Hendricks; novelist and poet Margaret Walker; photographer Béatrice Chauvin; Zora Neale Hurston, Eatonville, Fla., and Historic Black Towns and Settlements Association; Eastern Kentucky African American Migration Project (EKAAMP); MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course); "Tara Talks" at the Herbert Bryant Conference Center in Vicksburg, Miss.; "Food and the Local/Global Nexus" conference at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC); UNC chancellor and music scholar James Moeser; and the Folklore Curriculum at UNC.
The Addition of August 2015 contains professional correspondence; greeting cards received by Ferris and Marcie Cohen Ferris; printed items; book proposals and drafts of text for his book The South in Color: A Visual Journal; clippings and obituaries about B. B. King; Ferris's farewell to B. B. King; grant proposals and academic leave requests; materials related to professional conferences, particularly "Les Voix du Mississippi" in France; and syllabi and reading lists for courses Ferris taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Yale University. The addition also includes one volume of Ferris's daily appointment journals and digital prints on copy paper of digitized photographs. These working copies of Ferris's photographs were likely used in selecting images and identifying the subjects for his book The South in Color: A Visual Journal published in 2016. Audio and video recordings in the addition consists of documentary films, television programs, and radio interviews compiled by Ferris.
The Additions of December 2015 contain professional correspondence, notes, and printed materials pertaining to cultural heritage organizations, historical sites, photography exhibits, audio preservation, festivals, Center for the Study of the American South, Yale University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Ferris's Brooks School reunion.
The Addition of April 2016 contains printed items, professional and personal correspondence, and prints of digitized photographs. Professional correspondence pertains to Ferris's publications and public lectures, conferences and symposia, cultural heritage institutions, and his interest in procuring archival collections for Wilson Special Collections Library. The digital prints were working copies of Ferris's photographs that he likely used in selecting images for his book The South in Color: A Visual Journal published in 2016.
The Addition of July 2016 consists of subject files relating to William Ferris's work and life as well as notes, holiday cards, email print-outs, journals, museum items, oversized materials, and audio and video recordings including a mix of live music from the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance.
The Additions of November and December 2016 contain papers, audio and video recordings, and photographs relating to William Ferris's life and work, 1983-2003 and undated. Video consists of original home video recordings by Ferris, while audio includes recordings of American bluegrass musicians, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, and American rock band, Southern Culture on the Skids.
The Addition of June 2017 contains correspondence, printed materials, newspaper clippings, publication agreements, a grant proposal, writings, journal articles, course syllabi, transcriptions of interviews, audio and video recordings, and other materials. Topics include Ferris's Southern Music class at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Center for the Study of the American South, Folklore Curriculum and American Studies Department at UNC, American Folklore Society, blues and gospel music and music festivals, Appalshop, Ferris's book Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues, and Voices of Mississippi Dust to Digital box set.
The Addition of June 2017 includes subject files relating to the State of Mississippi Governor's Award, Southern Music 571 course materials, older publications with Wendy Weill, photographic works by others, the Center for the Study of the American South advisory board, the Natchez Literary Festival, the Association for Cultural Equity, adapting Give My Poor Heart Ease for the stage, the Nashville Museum of African American Music, and Dockery Farms; miscellaneous letters, including one concerning school integration, 1970; chronological files of email, flyers, and other printed materials for Spring 2016-Spring 2017; calendar notebooks for July 2016-June 2017; family photographs; color slides of UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University campuses in 1957; a woodblock painting by Daniel Wallace; event posters; "A Conversation with William Ferris" recorded in 1975; video recordings of authors, Daniel Wallace, Elizabeth Spencer, and Eudora Welty, and other materials.
The Addition of December 2017 includes subject files relating to book tours, the American Folklore Society meeting, Dust to Digital, Southbound, manuscripts for review, Kelley Edmisten family related papers and photographs, Duke University Memory Commission, and UNC Diversity and Inclusion; chronological files of email, flyers, and ephemera for fall 2017; a calendar notebook for August-September 2017; Marcie Cohen's notebooks for 2011-2012; event posters; and photographic prints.
The Addition of June 2018 includes journals, course material for Southern literature and oral tradition, endorsements and book blurbs, email print outs, Cleanth Brooks materials, and manuscripts by others, as well as audio and video recordings, including an interview with white author, Lee Smith.
The Addition of July 2018 includes lecture notes on music (African American, ballads, bluegrass, blues, classical, country, dance, folk, Indian, jazz, rap, soul, spirituals, etc.), southern literature and authors, and office and personal files, including talks given, Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris, invitations, event ephemera, newspaper clippings, undergraduate folklore and music course materials, annual reports 2006-2012, email print outs, endorsements and book blurbs.
The Addition of September 2018 consists of loose papers of email, printed ephemera; Museum of African American Music; post tenure review; Merlefest programs and economic impact reports; and a novel manuscript by Alan Flurry.
The Additions of January 2019 include journals kept by William R. Ferris containing his schedules and notes related to events and meetings; subject files for Mississippi Book Festival, "I Am a Man" exhibit and lectures in Montpellier, Toulouse, and Paris, and the Southbound Music Symposium; chronological groupings of loose papers of correspondence, printed materials, ephemera, and manuscripts by others seeking blurbs by Ferris; greeting and holiday cards; and posters.
The Addition of February 2019 consists of the program and related materials for the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, 10 February 2019, at which the Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris boxed set and the liner notes received Grammy Awards.
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Series Quick Links
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Subgroup A. Original Deposits
Acquisitions Information: Received from William R. Ferris between September 2002 and April 2003 (Acc. 99325, 99333, 99360, 99361, 99384, 99394, 99402, 99426, 99433, 99434, 99438, 99474, 99475).
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Series 1. Papers, 1942-2004.
Professional and personal papers relating to the life and career of William Ferris, dating from 1942 through 2004.
Professional papers concern Ferris's research and teaching at Jackson State University, Yale University, the Center for Southern Folklore, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Also included are papers relating to Ferris's work as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1997-2001; his tenure as a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, February-July 2002; his writings and research on Ray Lum; research indexes and inventories on folklore topics; and other papers.
Personal papers document Ferris's personal life and education and include correspondence from family and acquaintences, 1942-2003, along with subject files; childhood and grade school papers; high school materials from Carr Central High School and Brooks School; college materials from Davidson College; and graduate materials from Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, and a Rotary Fellowship at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
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Subseries 1.1. Professional Papers, 1970-2004.
Correspondence, writings, publications, research materials, teaching materials, reports, memorandums, itineraries, photographs, clippings, and other papers relating to William Ferris's professional career. Included are papers regarding Ferris's work at Jackson State University (1970-1972), Yale University (1972-1979), the Center for Southern Folklore (1974-1983), the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi (1977-1998), the National Endowment for the Humanities (1997-2001), the Woodrow Wilson International Center (2001-2002), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2001-2004). Also included are Ferris's writings and research on Ray Lum, research indexes and inventories on folklore topics, and other papers.
Access to some of these materials is closed (folder 2653-2654) for the lifetime of William Ferris.
Correspondence, writings, publications, research materials, teaching materials, photographs, clippings, and other papers relating to Ferris's tenure at Jackson State University, where he was an assistant professor of English, 1970-1972. Also included are materials relating to folklore topics and to the publications Mississippi Black Folkfore and Gigline.
Access to some of these materials is closed (folder 2655-2668) for the lifetime of William Ferris.
Correspondence, writings, publications, research materials, teaching materials, photographs, clippings, and other papers relating to Ferris's teaching and research at Yale University. In 1972, Ferris became an assistant professor in the American and Afro-American Studies Program at Yale. He was promoted to associate professor in 1976, a position he held until moving to the University of Mississippi in 1979. While at Yale, Ferris also directed the Center for Southern Folklore in Memphis, Tenn., which he helped establish in 1972.
Materials in this series document Ferris's professional activities, including research projects and teaching duties. Also included are files that Ferris maintained on folklore topics and folklore and academic professionals that he associated with. Chronological files include correspondence, reports, and research materials. Notable subjects inlclude Ferris's publications Afro-American Folk Arts and Crafts and Blues From the Delta; James "Son" Thomas; Rose Hill; the National Endowment for the Humanities; publications; Ferris's 1978 European lecture tour; Yale; and Mississippi folklife. Interspersed throughout the subseries are materials relating to Ferris's work with the Center for Southern Folklore.
Access to some of these materials is closed (folder 2669) for the lifetime of William Ferris.
Correspondence, reports, promotional materials, clippings, legal papers, publications, and other materials regarding the operations of the Center for Southern Folklore. In 1972, Ferris co-founded the Center for Southern Folklore in Memphis, Tenn., to document and make available the region's folklore through a variety of media, including written publications and film. He served as the director from 1972 to 1984.
Materials in this series concern daily operations, budgets, organizational policy, and publication and film projects sponsored by the Center. The chronological files contain correspondence, reports, budget materials, clippings, grant projects, legal papers, and promotional materials. Notable subject files include Local Color: A Sense of Place in Folk Art; Fife and Drum; film listings and promotional materials; Ray Lum; mule and auction research; Pathe Cinema; the Tennessee Arts Commission; the National Endowment for the Arts; and publications.
Access to some of these materials is closed (folders 2670-2683) for the lifetime of William Ferris.
Correspondence, writings, publications, research and teaching materials, photographs, clippings, promotional materials, and other papers relating to William Ferris's work at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. Ferris was the founding head of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and a professor of anthropology at the University of Mississippi, 1979-1997.
Materials in this series document Ferris's professional activities and interests, including research projects and publications, operations of the Center for the Study of Southen Culture, teaching duties, and various topics relating to southern folklife and culture. Materials related to the operations of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture concern publications, folklore festivals, grants and research projects, study programs and cirriculum, the annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conferences, and the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Chronological files contain correspondence, reports, promotional materials, publications, administrative materials, information on events and projects sponsored by the Center, and materials concerning the Mississippi, the University of Mississippi, southern folklife, and cultural activities. Subject files include clippings related to Ferris, southern culture, Mississippi, the University of Mississippi, and other topics; screenplays donated by Kent Moorehead; travel to Europe, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobogo, and Guyana; Rose Hill; planners and notebooks; press releases; and materials about conferences, festivals, and symposia. Notable subjects include William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Robert Penn Warren, James "Son" Thomas, Benny Andrews, James Meredith, the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, the Elvis Presley Conferences, and Ferris's 1997 nomination to head the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Access to some of these materials is closed (folders 2684-2753) for the lifetime of William Ferris.
Correspondence, reports, agendas, schedules, programs, event announcements, speeches, publications, research materials, photographs, clippings, compact discs, and other papers relating to William Ferris's work as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1997-2001.
Materials in this subseries document Ferris's NEH work, including administrative duties, public relations, humanities projects, and initiatives sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Correspondence with scholars, politicians, and others interested in the humanities concerns a wide variety of topics, including National Endowment for the Humanities activities and policies, individual projects and scholarship, fundraising, meetings, speaking engagements, conferences, professional organizations, events and exhibits, and topics related to folklore and the humanities. Also included are letters of congratulations concerning Ferris's appointment as chair and correspondence concerning President Bush's appointment of a new chair in 2001.
Materials related to Ferris's administrative duties as NEH chair include internal reports and correspondence documenting the daily operations of the National Endowment for the Humanities; budgets and fundraising; briefings for congressional hearings; schedules and notes; papers concerning the National Council for the Humanities; travel itineraries; materials concerning speaking engagements and meetings with various people and organizations; and materials relating to the humanities projects and initiatives sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Also included are materials relating to Ferris's travels as chair, including conferences, visits, committee meetings, speaking engagements, and commencement addresses.
Notable humanities projects and initiatives sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities include My History is America's History, Edsitement, Marcopolo, the Jefferson Lecture, the National Endowment for the Humanities Folklore Initiative, the National Humanities Medal, Regional Humanities Centers, and state and regional encyclopedias. Files include clippings concerning Ferris, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and other humanities and folklife topics; speeches; notebooks; schedules and contact information; materials relating to the Woodrow Wilson International Center, the President's Council on the Arts and Humanities, the White House Millennium Council, and the American Folklife Center; and pictures of Ferris with Bill Clinton and others.
Access to some of these materials is closed (folders 2754-2758) for the lifetime of William Ferris.
Correspondence, notebooks, programs, speeches, calendars, event annoucements, and other materials relating to William Ferris's tenure as a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, February-July 2002. Materials concern Ferris's research and his activities at the Center in addition to outside professional activities, including speaking engagements. Also included is correspondence relating to Ferris's decision to accept a teaching position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Access to these materials is closed for the lifetime of William Ferris.
Correspondence, writings, publications, research materials, teaching materials, photographs, clippings, and other papers relating to Ferris's teaching and research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2001, Ferris joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the Senior Associate Director of the Center for the Study of the American South, Joel R. Williamson Distinguished Professor of history, and adjunct professor in the Curriculum in Folklore.
| Folder 1688-1803 |
Restricted Materials #20367, Subseries: "University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2001-2004." Folder 1688-1803Closed for the lifetime of William Ferris. |
Arrangement: folders are arranged alphabetically by subject. Index cards are arranged in boxes by subject. Note that original file folder and box titles have, for the most part, been retained.
Inventories, indexes, and card files compiled by William Ferris, relating to his research and to various folklore topics. Inventories and indexes list Ferris's audio materials, field recordings, films, videos, photographs, slides, and publications. Card files cover American and foreign general folklore and theory; English folklore; Scottish folklore; Irish folklore; Canadian folklore; Australian and New Zealand folklore; African American folklore; children's folklore; folksongs and ballads; country and western; a music index; and a book, brochure, and exhibit catalog index arranged alphabetically by author.
Writings, drafts, correspondence, clippings, articles, pictures, notes, and other materials relating to William Ferris's publications on mule trader Ray Lum. Ferris's book Ray Lum: Mule Trader was first published in 1980, and You Live and Learn, then You Die and Forget it All : Ray Lum's Tales of Horses, Mules, and Men was first published in 1992. Included are multiple drafts of Ferris's two books on Ray Lum, book illustrations, publication materials, book reviews, background research, and a card file index of bibliographic references and glossary terms.
Access to these materials is restricted for the lifetime of Wiliam Ferris.
Student papers on folklore topics from classes William Ferris taught at Jackson State University and Yale University. Also included are grade reports and other administrative paperwork relating to classes Ferris taught at Yale.
| Folder 2014-2167 |
Restricted Materials #20367, Subseries: "Student Papers." Folder 2014-2167Closed for the lifetime of William Ferris. |
Arrangement: Alphabetical by subject.
Posters, awards, artwork, writings, fans, and other materials collected by William Ferris. Posters document events, exhibits, lectures, movies, festivals, and other topics relating to southern culture. Included are posters documenting lectures and other events featuring Ferris; National Endowment for the Humanities initiatives; films of William Faulkner's books; Eudora Welty; B. B. King; events related to foklore and southern culture at Yale and the University of Mississippi; and posters in Russian. Writings include undated short stories and other papers written by Ferris. Awards and certificates include Ferris's diplomas, honorary degrees, and various awards. The fans feature advertisements for churches and businesses in Mississippi.
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Subseries 1.2. Personal Papers, 1942-2003.
Arrangement: Note that original file folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
Access is closed to all correspondence from 1999-2003 and to selected correspondence and other personal materials from 1942-1998 (folders 2759-2883) during the lifetime of William Ferris.
Correspondence, writings, assignments, clippings, yearbooks, and other papers relating to the personal affairs and education of William Ferris. Included in this series are letters, 1942-2003; subject files; childhood and grade school papers; high school materials from Carr Central High School and Brooks School; college papers from Davidson College; and graduate materials from Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, and a Rotary Fellowship at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
Access is closed to all correspondence from 1999-2003 and to selected correspondence and other personal materials from 1942-1998 (folders 2759-2883) during the lifetime of William Ferris.
Personal papers of William Ferris, including correspondence, grade school papers, clippings, and other materials. Correspondence from family, friends, and associates dates from 1942 to 2003 and is both personal and professional in nature. Correspondence and other personal papers concern Ferris's birth in 1942; his 1961 trip to Europe; his 1965-1966 Rotary fellowship at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland; his duties as the head of the Center for Southern Folklore and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture; and his 1997 appointment as the director of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Numerous letters from friends and family document family and personal affairs.
Correspondence H-K and subject files dating from the 1970s, include materials relating to Ferris's work at Yale University and the Center for Southern Folklore. Notable subjects include B. B. King, Theora Hamblett, and the Kresge Foundation. Childhood materials include papers related to Ferris's birth, his childhood activities, and grade school materials including assignments and grade reports.
Class notes, assignments, correspondence, programs, pictures, yearbooks, and other materials documenting Ferris's high school years at Carr Central High School in Vicksburg, Miss., and the Brooks School in North Andover, Mass. Class notes and assignments are arranged according to subject. Miscellaneous files contain grade reports, letters from friends and family, paperwork concerning Ferris's admission to Davidson College, and programs and other materials documenting school events. Notable subjects include history, French, English, math, science, and yearbooks.
Class notes, assignments, correspondence, programs, yearbooks, clippings, and other materials relating to Ferris's undergraduate education at Davidson College, N.C. Class notes, essays, and assignments have been grouped according to subject. Miscellaneous files contain correspondence from family and friends, grade reports, materials from the Kappa Alpha fraternity, programs from various campus and social functions, and paperwork concerning his activities with the Y.M.C.A. and the United States Army R.O.T.C. Notable subjects include French, English, philosophy, history, R.O.T.C., Y.M.C.A, clippings, and yearbooks.
Class notes, essays, dissertation work, correspondence and other materials relating to Ferris's graduate studies at Northwestern University and the University of Pennsylvania, and to his Rotary Fellowship at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Materials from Northwestern University concern his coursework for an M.A. in English literature. Materials from Ferris's years at the University of Pennsylvania concern his work towards an M.A. and then a Ph.D. in folklore, and include drafts of his dissertation, Black Folklore from the Mississippi Delta .
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Series 2. Photographic Materials.
Selected photographs from this series have been digitized: The William R. Ferris Collection
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Subseries 2.1. Photographic Prints and Negatives.
Arrangement is by William Ferris's coding system.
RESTRICTED: Personal photographs are closed to research for the lifetime of William Ferris.
Many negatives have prints and contact sheets associated with them. In this series materials have been fully processed and negatives and prints are listed together. A majority of the materials in this subseries have original photograph captions (from William Ferris) that have been retained.