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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 | 158.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 121400 items) |
| Abstract | The University of North Carolina Press was incorporated as a non-stock company in 1922. Its original purpose was threefold: to publish periodicals devoted to the research and writing of University of North Carolina faculty; to publish catalogs and other documents for the University; and to promote the arts, sciences, and literature by publishing generally deserving works. Throughout its history, the Press has been especially strong in the areas of southern history and literature. Although supported in part by the University, the Press remained administratively independent until 1951, when it was brought under the supervision of the University of North Carolina System's General Administration. Today the Press is a major publisher of scholarly journals and books. Records include correspondence and other files relating to the administration and publishing activities of the University of North Carolina Press. Included are minutes and other records of the Press's Board of Governors, 1922-1970, 1979-1997, and 2010-2015; files of the Director, 1922-1993, and 1994-2009; extensive financial records from the office of the Controller of the Press, 1925-1979; and Marketing Division records pertaining to publicity and distribution, 1932-1963. There are also extensive files on rejected manuscripts and out-of-print titles, including correspondence with leading intellectual figures, both southern and national. Among these are Josephus Daniels, Paul Green, Bernice Kelly Harris, Howard W. Odum, and Rupert Vance. The files of William T. Couch as Director are of particular interest; they include materials pertaining to the Federal Writers' Project and to the journal Social Forces. |
| Creator | University of North Carolina Press. |
| 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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Historical Information
The University of North Carolina Press was incorporated as a non-stock company in 1922. Its original purpose was threefold: to publish periodicals devoted to the research and writing of University of North Carolina faculty; to publish catalogs and other documents for the University; and to promote the arts, sciences, and literature by publishing generally deserving works. Throughout its history, the Press has been espeically strong in the areas of Southern history and literature. Although supported in part by the University, the Press remained administratively independent until 1951, when it was brought under the supervision of the University of North Carolina (System)'s General Administration. Today the Press is a major publisher of scholarly journals and books.
As an independently incorporated agency, the Press operated outside the University's administrative structure. It was, and continues to be, managed by a Board of Governors through a Director. However, from its creation the Press was closely tied to the University. A majority of the Board of Governors and its committees have been University faculty members. The University has supplied funds to enable the Press to fulfill the second goal listed above. Funding for the publication of non-University works has been provided by author subsidies and foundation grants. In 1926, the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Foundation provided a three-year, $50,000 grant, and during the middle decades of this century the Ford Foundation granted a total of $121,500 to support the Press's publishing program.
Soon after his inauguration as Consolidated University President, Gordon Gray concluded that the independent status of the Press presented an anomalous situation since the University subsidized many of the Press's periodical publications, appropriated funds for its employees' salaries, and provided quarters for its operations. Thus, he established the authority of the Chancellor over the Press. As a direct result of this action, endowment support for the Press increased significantly, notably through gifts by Aubrey Lee Brooks and the Joseph L. Morrison estate.
The Press was first housed in the University Library. In 1926, it moved to larger quarters in Alumni Hall. Two decades later, its operations were shifted to Bynum Hall, and in July 1980, it occupied the newly-constructed Brooks Hall near the Koch Theater.
The Press has enjoyed a succession of able directors. These individuals and their terms of service are listed below:
| 1922-1932 | Louis Round Wilson |
| 1932-1945 | William Terry Couch |
| 1946-1947 | Thomas J. Wilson |
| 1947-1948 | Porter Cowles, Acting |
| 1948-1970 | Lambert Davis |
| 1970-1992 | Matthew N. Hodgson |
| 1992-2012 | Kate D. Torrey |
| 2012- | John Sherer |
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Scope and Content
The University of North Carolina Press records contain correspondence and other files relating to the administration and publishing activities of the University of North Carolina Press. Included are minutes and other records of the Press's Board of Governors, 1922-1970, 1979-1997, and 2010-2015; files of the Director, 1922-1993, and 1994-2009; extensive financial records from the office of the Controller of the Press, 1925-1979; and Marketing Division records pertaining to publicity and distribution, 1932-1963. There are also extensive files on rejected manuscripts and out-of-print titles, including correspondence with leading intellectual figures, both southern and national. Among these are Josephus Daniels, Paul Green, Bernice Kelly Harris, Howard W. Odum, and Rupert Vance. The files of William T. Couch as Director are of particular interest; they include materials pertaining to the Federal Writers' Project and to the journal Social Forces.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Board of Governors' Records, 1922-2015.
This series is arranged in two subseries and consists of the meeting files and subject files of the governing body of the Press. These files consist of meeting agendas, minutes, and various attachments to the minutes, including publication planning documents, Manuscripts Committee recommendations, financial statements, and other materials. Annual reports of the Press Director are also included. Subseries 2 augments Subseries 1 and includes materials relating to Press business. Correspondence between the Director and the Board will be found in Series 2, Subseries 2.
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Subseries 1.1. Meeting Files.
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Subseries 1.2. Subject Files.
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Series 2. Director's Records, 1923-1977.
This series is arranged in two subseries and consists of general (chronological) and topical files compiled by the Press Directors. These files include letters, memoranda, reports, and financial data concerning the condition of the Press and, especially during the years 1935-1941, the Directors' efforts to increase funding from private, corporate, and University sources. The Directors' correspondence concerning specific Press publications is in Subseries 4: Author/Title Publication Records. Subseries 2, however, contains files on multi-work series and on the Press's role in publishing University-related journals and monographs.
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Subseries 2.1. General Files.
This subseries, arranged chronologically, contains materials related to the general operation of the Press, including annual reports, proposals for new Press projects, financial status reports, and other materials.
| Box 2:1 |
General Files, 1923-1968 #40073, Subseries: "2.1. General Files." Box 2:1 |
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Subseries 2.2. Subject Files.
This subseries, arranged alphabetically, contains files on multi-work series; University-related periodicals and monographs; the Press's use of literary agents and commercial printing, publishing, and advertising concerns; philanthropic foundations; and other matters. While this subseries includes records on multi-volume titles, files on the individual works in these series will be found under the authors' names in Series 4.
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Series 3. Controller's Office Records, 1925-1966.
This series contains the financial records of the University of North Carolina Press. Included are routine income and expense listings as well as sales and royalty records on individual Press publications. This series is arranged in five subseries.
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Subseries 3.1. Journals, 1938-1966.
These nine volumes contain a chronological record of Press income and expenses. For the period prior to 1938, see Subseries 3.2. General Ledgers, below. After 1966, the Press's financial records were computerized.
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Subseries 3.2. General Ledgers, 1925-1957.
These volumes document Press income and expenses by account.
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Subseries 3.3. Royalty Records, 1927-1965.
These records document sales volume and author royalties for titles published by the Press.
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Subseries 3.4. Sales Records, 1951-1957.
These volumes document monthly sales by title. For the period 1958-1966, see Author Ledger Cards in Subseries 3.3, above. In 1966, sales records were computerized.
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Subseries 3.5. Audit Reports, 1927-1979.
Included here are copies of annual audit reports of the University of North Carolina Press conducted by independent accounting firms.
| Box 3:9 |
Reports, 1927; 1942-1945; 1950-1979 #40073, Subseries: "3.5. Audit Reports, 1927-1979." Box 3:9 |
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Series 4. Author/Title Publication Records.
This series contains files on the Press's out-of-print titles and on some titles considered but not published. Arrangement is alphabetical by author (or editor's) last name, with the material in each file arranged chronologically. An author\title listing is provided below.
Generally, these files contain five types of correspondence: (1) letters from authors to the Director of the Press concerning publication of manuscripts; (2) letters from the Press staff to authors concerning editorial revisions; (3) readers' evaluations of the manuscripts; (4) letters to the printers and binders; and (5) material relating to publicity for and sales of the published books. Biographical data on the author is found at the beginning of each file, and reviews of the book and related articles are at the end. For information on general series (e.g., the James Sprunt Studies in History) or departmental series (e.g., Studies in Philology), see the Director's Files in Series 2. Information on sales can be found in the Controller's Files, Series 3, and marketing information, in the Marketing Files, Series 5.
These files include correspondence with leading figures in both southern and national intellectual life. Among them are members of the University of North Carolina faculty, including Howard Odum, Rupert Vance, and Paul Green. Other southern intellectuals represented include George Fort Melton, H.C. Nixon, Donald Davidson, Allen Tate, Arthur F. Raper, Broadus Mitchell, George S. Mitchell, E. Merton Coulter, Charles S. Sydnor, Will W. Alexander, Charles S. Johnson, John Donald Wade, Virginius Dabney, Clarence Cason, Jonathan Daniels, and Gerald W. Johnson. Non southern intellectuals represented include Edwin S. Corwin, Raymond B. Moley, Harold Laski, Felix Frankfurter, Norman Foerster, Henry Steele Commager, Edmund S. Morgan, and others. Personal papers of some of these individuals are in the Southern Historical Collection.
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Subseries 4.1. Manuscripts Accepted/Published.
Titles for which Illustration Files exist in Subseries 4.4. are noted here by (I).
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Subseries 4.2. Manuscripts Rejected/Withdrawn.
This subseries contains material on manuscripts submitted to the University of North Carolina Press which were not approved for publication due to rejection by Press editors or withdrawal of the manuscript by the author. Arranged alphabetically by last name of the author, these files contain correspondence between Press editors and author, evaluations of the manuscripts by outside "readers,"
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Subseries 4.3. Copyright Files.
This subseries contains copyright applications and correspondence relating to copyright protection for University of North Carolina Press publications. The arrangement is alphabetical by last name of author.
| Box 4:82 |
Copyright Files #40073, Subseries: "4.3. Copyright Files." Box 4:82 |
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Subseries 4.4. Illustration Files.
These files, arranged alphabetically by author's last name, contain the illustrations proposed for use and/or used in University of North Carolina Press publications. In addition to the listing below, the titles in Subseries 4.1. have been annotated (I) to show the availability of illustration material.
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Series 5. Marketing Division, 1932-1963.
The Marketing or Sales Division was responsible for the publicity and distribution of University of North Carolina Press publications. The nature and scope of the methods employed by the Press differed from those of a commercial publishing house due to the academic character of the University of North Carolina Press publications and the limited number of copies in each printing. Nevertheless, the Press staff was very active in securing publicity, especially reviews, in trade journals, popular magazines, and newspapers. Copies of the more significant publicity items and reviews of individual publications are filed with the Author/Title files in Subseries 4.1. This series contains edited book review compilations.
| Box 5:1 |
Portfolio 1: Bound Volume with Table of Contents, 1932-1945, 427 pages #40073, Series: "5. Marketing Division, 1932-1963." Box 5:1Excerpts of reviews of books published by the University of North Carolina Press. |
Portfolio 2: Loose Notebook Pages, 1942-1963, 507 pages #40073, Series: "5. Marketing Division, 1932-1963." Box 5:1Excerpts of reviews of books published by the University of North Carolina Press, arranged alphabetically by author's last name. |
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Series 6. Additions
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Subseries 6.1 Board of Governors and Kate Torrey Records (Addition of July 2016), 1996-2015.
Acquisition Information: Transferred from UNC Press in July 2016 (Records Transfer 20160722.1).
This addition consists of records of the UNC Press Board of Governors and Press director Kate Torrey.