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Collection Number: 20554

Collection Title: Bill Nowlin Photographs, circa 1930s-1970s

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 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2000 items)
Abstract The Bill Nowlin Photographs consists chiefly of images taken by the white co-founder of Rounder Records, Bill Nowlin, depicting folk singers and musicians at folk festivals, fiddling contests, and other performances, circa 1967-1975. Events depicted in the collection include, Northeast Oldtime Fiddlers Contest, National Hollerin' Contest, Smithsonian Folk Festival, UC Folk Festival, Union Grove Old Time Fiddlers Contest, and other events. Also included are images of the Rounder Records offices in Cambridge, Mass., as well as earlier photographic prints collected by Nowlin that depict musicians Clayton McMichen and Riley Puckett.
Creator Nowlin, Bill, 1945-
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Restrictions to Use
No usage restrictions.
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 Bill Nowlin Photographs #20554, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Bill Nowlin August 2018 (Acc.103377) and December 2018 (Acc.103505).
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: Patrick Cullom, September 2018

Encoded by: Patrick Cullom, September 2018

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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 Related Collections

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Bill Nowlin is one of three founders of Rounder Records, of Cambridge, Mass., and a researcher on traditional music. He is also the author of books on baseball and a professor of political science at University of Massachusetts at Lowell, in Lowell, Mass.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The Bill Nowlin Photographs consists chiefly of images taken by the white co-founder of Rounder Records, Bill Nowlin, depicting folk singers and musicians at folk festivals, fiddling contests, and other performances, circa 1967-1975. Events depicted in the collection include, Northeast Oldtime Fiddlers Contest, Spivey's Corner National Hollering Contest, Smithsonian Folk Festival, UC Folk Festival, Union Grove Oldtime Fiddlers Event, as well as music events in Galax, Va. Also included are images of the Rounder Records offices in Cambridge, Mass., as well as some earlier photographic prints of musicians collected by Nowlin that depict musicians Clayton McMichen and Riley Puckett.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Photographs, circa 1930s-1975.

Approximately 1700 items

Arrangement: Subject

Processing Note: Titles in quotation marks were derived from original enclosures.

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/01-08

PF-20554/1

PF-20554/2

PF-20554/3

PF-20554/4

PF-20554/5

PF-20554/6

PF-20554/7

PF-20554/8

"Ann Arbor," circa 1967-1975

250 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/09

Belmopan, Belize, circa 1967-1975

23 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/10-17

PF-20554/10

PF-20554/11

PF-20554/12

PF-20554/13

PF-20554/14

PF-20554/15

PF-20554/16

PF-20554/17

"BAF, some early shows, Clint and Fred," circa 1967-1975

150 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/18

"Berryville," circa 1971

34 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/19

"BG Festival, Jimmy Martin and others," circa 1967-1975

36 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/20

Buffalo Springfield (?) performing in Quincy, Mass.(?), circa 1967-1968

36 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/21

"Country Cooking in prison," circa 1967-1975

21 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/22

"Country Girls, Ledford," circa 1967-1975

36 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/23-28

PF-20554/23

PF-20554/24

PF-20554/25

PF-20554/26

PF-20554/27

PF-20554/28

"Early music and festival," circa 1967-1975

64 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/29

"Galax, Herbert Caldwell, etc," circa 1967-1975

21 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Images likely depict events in Galax, Va.

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/30-31

PF-20554/30

PF-20554/31

"Bessie Jones," circa 1967-1975

37 images

Black-and-White and Color 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/32

"Clayton McMichen," circa 1932-1964

4 images

Black-and-White Photographic Prints

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/33

"Northeast Oldtime Fiddlers Contest, some of first Stover(?) sessions," circa 1967-1975

36 images

Black-and-White Photographic Prints

Images likely depict events associated with the Northeastern National Fiddle Contest and Festival and may include images of Evan Stover.

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/34

"Buddy Pendleton, Galax(?) photos" circa 1967-1975

36 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Images likely depict events in Galax, Va.

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/35

"Riley Puckett," circa 1930s

2 images

Black-and-White Photographic Prints (Copy-work)

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/36-37

PF-20554/36

PF-20554/37

Rounder Records offices (?), circa 1967-1975

24 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/38-41

PF-20554/38

PF-20554/39

PF-20554/40

PF-20554/41

"(Rounder Records) Album Covers, Ledford, Holy Modal, Rounder," circa 1967-1975

120 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/42

"Seniors(?)," circa 1967-1975

4 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/43

Spivey's Corner National Hollering Contest, Spivey's Corner, N.C., circa 1967-1975

36 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/44-50

PF-20554/44

PF-20554/45

PF-20554/46

PF-20554/47

PF-20554/48

PF-20554/49

PF-20554/50

"Smithsonian, NFFA, J. Wisnat," circa 1967-1975

250 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Images likely depict events associated with the Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife and the National Folk Festival Association in Washington, D.C.

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/51-52

PF-20554/51

PF-20554/52

"Smokey Valley Boys," circa 1971

50 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/53-54

PF-20554/53

PF-20554/54

"1971 Snuffy and Pappy," circa 1967-1975

50 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/55-58

PF-20554/55

PF-20554/56

PF-20554/57

PF-20554/58

"UC Folk Festival," circa 1967-1975

124 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Images likely depict University of Chicago Folk Festival at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Ill.

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/59-61

PF-20554/59

PF-20554/60

PF-20554/61

"Union Grove," circa 1967-1975

126 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Images likely depict Olde Time Fiddler's Convention at Union Grove, N.C.

Image Box 01

Image Folder PF-20554/62-65

PF-20554/62

PF-20554/63

PF-20554/64

PF-20554/65

Unidentified events and people, circa 1967-1975

120 images

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 02

Original enclosures, circa 1967-1975

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1A. Photographs, circa 1970s (Addition of December 2018).

About 320 items.

Acquisitions Information: Accession 103505

Photographic negatives relating to fieldwork with Mark Wilson for Rounder Records' North American Folk Traditions series. Includes images depicting musicians Jerry Holland, Hugh MacDonald, Maybelle Chisholm, Fields Ward, Almeda Riddle, Joe Comier, Joe MacLean, Carl MacKenzie, and the (NFFA) Fiddle Convention.

Processing Note: Titles in quotation marks were derived from original enclosures.

Image Box 03

Image Folder PF-20554/66

"Fiddler's Convention," circa 1970s

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 03

Image Folder PF-20554/67

"Jerry Holland," circa 1975

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 03

Image Folder PF-20554/68

"Hugh MacDonald, camp," circa 1970s

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 03

Image Folder PF-20554/69

"Maybelle Chisholm," circa 1970s

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 03

Image Folder PF-20554/70

"Joe MacLean, Carl MacKenzie (Bill's)," circa 1970s

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 03

Image Folder PF-20554/71

"Almeda Riddle (Bill's)," circa 1972

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 03

Image Folder PF-20554/72

"Almeda Riddle," circa 1975

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 03

Image Folder PF-20554/73

"Joe Comier (Bill's)," circa 1970s

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 03

Image Folder PF-20554/74

"Joe Comier (Bill's)," circa 1970s

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 03

Image Folder PF-20554/75

"(illegible) in Bill's basement," circa 1970s

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 03

Image Folder PF-20554/76

"Joe MacLean (Bill's)," circa 1970s

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

Image Box 03

Image Folder PF-20554/77

"Fields wind," circa 1970s

Black-and-White 35mm Roll Film

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