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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.
Size | 1 foot of linear shelf space (approximately 350 items) |
Abstract | Audio recordings, moving images, photographs, newspaper clippings, and scattered correspondence comprise the collection of Mack J. Preslar (1923-2014), a white CEO and electronics professional who was the associate director of the Department of Radio, Television and Motion Pictures at the University of North Carolina beginning in 1947. Correspondence includes letters from songwriter and producer, John D. Loudermilk, and from country music recording artist, George Hamilton IV (1937-2014), among others. Clippings and photographs depict Preslar's personal life, service in the United States Navy, as well as scenes from the Department of Radio, Television and Motion Pictures, including his role in radio broadcasting and his participation in a 1957 effort to photograph an eclipse in Thailand. Audio recordings consist of instantaneous discs of Norman Cordon, an operatic singer and UNC alum; open reel audio of radio broadcasts and live performances on the UNC campus, including a 1954 performance by Louis Armstrong and the All Stars; master open reel audio recordings affiliated with Orville Campbell's independent record label, Colonial Records based in Chapel Hill, N.C.; and other open reel audio recordings compiled by Preslar. Moving images consist of a videotape of Preslar with Norman Cordon and unidentified motion picture films. |
Creator | Preslar, Mack J., 1923-2014. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection. |
Language | English |
Encoded by: Laura Smith, November 2017
Updated by: Anne Wells, Patrick Cullom, Rae Hoyle, and Meredith Kite, June 2019
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.
Back to TopThe 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.
Mack J. Preslar (1923-2014), a white CEO and electronics professional, was born in Sanford, N.C. and grew up in Durham, N.C. He attended Durham High School and Duke University, pursuing his interest in electronics. Beginning in 1947, Mack J. Preslar was the associate director of the Communication Center at the University of North Carolina, which later became the Department of Radio, Television and Motion Pictures. Later he joined the Department of Otolaryngology to conduct research affiliated with deafness. Preslar later founded and was CEO of Demlar Medical, Inc., which specialized in the development and manufacture of clinical audiometers.
Back to TopAudio recordings, moving images, photographs, newspaper clippings, and scattered correspondence comprise the collection of Mack J. Preslar (1923-2014), a white CEO and electronics professional who was the associate director of the Department of Radio, Television and Motion Pictures at the University of North Carolina beginning in 1947. Correspondence includes letters from songwriter and producer, John D. Loudermilk, and from country music recording artist, George Hamilton IV (1937-2014), among others. Clippings and photographic prints depict Preslar's personal life, service in the United States Navy, as well as scenes from the Department of Radio, Television and Motion Pictures, including his role in radio broadcasting and his participation in a 1957 effort to photograph an eclipse in Thailand. Audio recordings consist of instantaneous discs of Norman Cordon, an operatic singer and UNC alum; open reel audio of radio broadcasts and live performances on the UNC campus, including a 1954 performance by Louis Armstrong and the All Stars (FT-20502/2-4); master open reel audio recordings affiliated with Orville Campbell's independent record label, Colonial Records based in Chapel Hill, N.C. (FT-20502/15); and other open reel audio recordings compiled by Preslar. Moving images consist of a videotape of Preslar with Norman Cordon (VT-20502/1) and unidentified erotic motion picture films (F-20502/1-9).
Back to TopPapers consist of newspaper clippings and scattered correspondence, including letters from songwriter and producer, John D. Loudermilk, and from country music recording artist, George Hamilton IV (1937-2014), among others. Photographs consist mostly of black and white and color photographic prints depicting Preslar's personal life, service in the United States Navy, as well as scenes from the Department of Radio, Television and Motion Pictures, including his role in radio broadcasting and his participation in a 1957 effort to photograph an eclipse in Thailand.
Box 1 |
Papers |
Image Box IB-20502/1 |
Photographs |
Image Box IB-20502/2 |
Photographs |
Arrangement: By format.
Processing information: For the most part, titles for audiovisual materials were compiled from original containers. Titles supplied by processor are in brackets.
Audiovisual materials consist mostly of audio recordings on instantaneous disc and open reel audio. Instantaneous discs include audio recordings by operatic singer and UNC, Norman Cordon, and others. Open reel audio recordings consist of radio broadcasts and live performances on the UNC campus, including a 1954 performance by Louis Armstrong and the All Stars (FT-20502/2-4); master open reel audio recordings affiliated with Orville Campbell's independent record label, Colonial Records based in Chapel Hill, N.C. (FT-20502/15); and other open reel audio recordings compiled by Preslar. The collection also contains moving images, including a videotape of Preslar with Norman Cordon (VT-20502/1) and unidentified erotic films on 8mm motion picture film (F-20502/1-9).
Arrangement: Alphabetically by artist or title.
Arrangement: Alphabetically by artist or title.
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/1 |
Neil Andrews; The Laughing Cadavers; Life; The New Fish1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/2 |
Louis Armstrong, live performance, Chapel Hill, N.C., reel 11/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/3 |
Louis Armstrong, live performance, Chapel Hill, N.C., reel 21/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/4 |
Louis Armstrong, live performance, Chapel Hill, N.C., reel 41/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/5 |
ARPI1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/6 |
Asiatic Flu1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/7 |
Jim and Nancy August, songs , Long Beach, Calif., 16 April 19651/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/8 |
Beltone negotiations, 19731/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/9 |
Blues News, 16 June 19601/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/10 |
Boo Boos, reel 61/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/11 |
Boo Boos, reel 71/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/12 |
P. Boomer1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/13 |
Boomer1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/14 |
The Light in the Wilderness, an oratorio by Dave Brubeck, Chapel Hill, N.C., 9 January 19681/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/15 |
Colonial Records, master original, 28 July 19581/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/16 |
Norman Cordon, oratorio arias1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/17 |
Cordon, Christmas1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/18 |
Norman Cordon memorial broadcast, reel 1, 6 March 19841/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/19 |
Norman Cordon memorial broadcast, reel 2, 6 March 19841/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/20 |
Norman [Cordon?], 20 September 19571/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/21 |
Norman Cordon and Mack Preslar, interview1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/22 |
Day of Glory, practice dance songs1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/23 |
Dental [School?] Glee Club, 26 October 19571/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/24 |
Duke Ambassadors, Wailin Boat, reel 1, 16 June 19601/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/25 |
Duke Ambassadors, A Bit of the Blues, reel 3, 16 June 19601/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/26 |
Henderson II1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/27 |
Interview1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/28 |
Love is a Many [Splendorous] Thing1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/29 |
Mothers 1956, 19561/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/30 |
Tom O'Neil, Strange Truth radio program, Southern Pines, N.C.1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/31 |
Jack Parr; [Gable/Turner; Hildegard/Manifer]1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/32 |
Wedding of Mack and Cherry [Preslar?]1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/33 |
Preslar1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/34 |
Rabbit surgery data tape1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/35 |
Radio bloopers and outtakes, 11/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/36 |
Radio bloopers and outtakes, 21/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/37 |
Ragtime1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/38 |
Ragtime Era1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/39 |
Bob Raiford, WCHL; Kash D. Amburgy, The Bible Church of God1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/40 |
Bob Raiford, WCHL; Jazz1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/41 |
Bettina Robbi1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/42 |
Bettina Robbi1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/43 |
Ralph Sargeant, Tom Gauger, Wayne Upchurch, and John Wallace, RS Birthday Party; O'Neal baptism; Mrs. Vance Pepper, "Pepperbox"1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/44 |
The Search for Bride [Grunhy?]1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/45 |
[Esk M], Si Si Bon1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/46 |
Alonzo Slagg; Gene Nordain1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/47 |
Speakeasy, 9 November 19601/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/48 |
Discussion and Illustration of Systolic Murmurs, 9 February 19671/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/49 |
[Marina?] Talks1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/50 |
unidentified sound recording1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/51 |
unidentified sound recording1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/52 |
unidentified sound recording1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/53 |
unidentified sound recording1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/54 |
unidentified sound recording1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/55 |
unidentified sound recording1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/56 |
unidentified sound recording1/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/57 |
WCHL, Henderson, 9 September 19601/4" Open Reel Audio |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20502/58 |
Pat Williams, 9 March 19601/4" Open Reel Audio |
Arrangement: Alphabetically by artist or title.
Videotape VT-20502/1 |
Norman Cordon and Mack Preslar, Chapel Hill, N.C., 14 March 1961VHS |
Film F-20502/1 |
[unidentified motion picture film]16mm motion picture film |
Film F-20502/2 |
[unidentified motion picture film]8mm motion picture film |
Film F-20502/3 |
[unidentified motion picture film]8mm motion picture film |
Film F-20502/4 |
[unidentified motion picture film]8mm motion picture film |
Film F-20502/5 |
[unidentified motion picture film]8mm motion picture film |
Film F-20502/6 |
[unidentified motion picture film]8mm motion picture film |
Film F-20502/7 |
[unidentified motion picture film]8mm motion picture film |
Film F-20502/8 |
[unidentified motion picture film]8mm motion picture film |
Film F-20502/9 |
[unidentified motion picture film]8mm motion picture film |