Restrictions to Access

This collection is not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact Research and Instructional Service staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options for consulting this collection.

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 St. Mary's College Thomas Wolfe Collection (#70017), North Carolina Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

[Note: Collection number changed from #CW6 to #70017 in April 2020.]

Acquisitions Information

Transferred from St. Mary's College to the North Carolina Collection in 1990.

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.

Finding aid compiled by Frances A. Weaver, 1980

Revised by A. Hope Shull, 1983

Revised by Nicholas Graham, 1998

Collection re-processed and encoded by Benjamin Bromley, December 2008

Finding aid updated by Dawne Howard Lucas in April 2020 to change the collection number from CW6 to 70017

Finding aid updated by Dawne Howard Lucas in May 2021

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 -- 20th century -- History and criticism.
• Anderson, Sherwood, 1876-1941.
• Asheville (N.C.) -- History.
• Asheville (N.C.) -- Social life and customs.
• Aswell, Edward C. (Edward Campbell), 1900-1958.
• Authors, American -- 20th century.
• Authors, American -- North Carolina -- 20th century.
• Bernstein, Aline, 1881-1955.
• Book editors -- United States.
• Collectors and collecting.
• Families -- North Carolina -- Social life and customs.
• Literary agents -- United States.
• Nowell, Elizabeth.
• Perkins, Maxwell E. (Maxwell Evarts), 1884-1947.
• Thomas Wolfe Memorial Association.
• Walser, Richard Gaither, 1908-1988.
• Wheaton, Mabel Wolfe.
• Wolf family.
• Wolf, Edgar Elsworth.
• Wolfe family.
• Wolfe, Fred.
• Wolfe, Julia Elizabeth, 1860-1945.
• Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938 -- Appreciation.
• Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938 -- Congresses.
• Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938 -- Correspondence.
• Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938 -- Criticism and interpretation.
• Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938 -- Family.
• Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938 -- Friends and associates.
• Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938 -- Homes and haunts.
• Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938 -- Influence.
• Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938 -- Photographs.
• Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938.

Richard Gaither Walser Papers on Thomas Wolfe (#70007)

The St. Mary's College Thomas Wolfe Collection was founded at St. Mary's College in Raleigh, N.C., in 1975 by Catherine and John O. Fulenwider. The collection contains materials from many different sources. Items such as programs, publications, and clippings related to Thomas Wolfe were actively sought by St. Mary's College archivists and librarians and added to the collection. One of the largest individual collections are the papers of George McCoy, editor of the Asheville Citizen Times and one of the founding members of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Association. McCoy was a friend and early supporter of Thomas Wolfe. He published several short pieces on Wolfe in the Asheville, N.C., newspapers and continued to collect information on the author after Wolfe's death. McCoy was one of the founding members of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Association, formed in Asheville in 1947. He served as secretary of the Memorial Association until 1957 and maintained the organization's official papers. There is an article about the McCoy papers by Richard Walser in the Thomas Wolfe Review, volume 5, number 1 (Spring 1981). Another large collection is that of Richard Walser, professor of English at North Carolina State University and noted Wolfe scholar. There are also papers of Edgar E. (Jim) Wolf, Thomas Wolfe's cousin who lived in Gettysburg, Penn., and corresponded occasionally with the Wolfe family in Asheville, N.C., and some papers of Thomas Wolfe's brother, Fred Wolfe. The collection was transferred to the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990.

The St. Mary's College Thomas Wolfe Collection includes manuscript and published materials relating to Thomas Wolfe, the Wolfe family, and the study and appreciation of Thomas Wolfe. Note that some materials are photocopies. Materials given by Catherine and John O. Fulenwider consist of Thomas Wolfe letters, including one from Thomas Wolfe to Aline Bernstein, galley proofs of The Web and the Rock and Elizabeth Nowell's Thomas Wolfe, A Biography, and other items. Papers of George McCoy include correspondence between Thomas Wolfe and McCoy; letters to McCoy from Elizabeth Nowell, Wolfe's literary agent and first biographer, and others about Wolfe; scrapbooks, possibly compiled by McCoy relating to Wolfe; materials relating to the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Association; and other items. Papers of Richard Walser include notes, drafts, and source materials for his books Thomas Wolfe: An Introduction and Thomas Wolfe Undergraduate and letters between Walser and Fred Wolfe, Maxwell Perkins, and Edward Aswell that relate primarily to Walser's publications about Wolfe. The papers of Edgar E. (Jim) Wolf include letters to him from Thomas Wolfe, W.O. Wolfe, and Mabel Wolfe Wheaton, as well as Wolf's business papers; the papers of his mother, Eleanor Jane Wolf; and correspondence with Elizabeth Nowell. Papers of Fred Wolfe include letters from him and Julia E. Wolfe and other materials relating to the Wolfe family. Materials collected by St. Mary's College include a letter from Sherwood Anderson to Thomas Wolfe; letters from Aline Bernstein; materials related to Thomas Wolfe's nephew, R. Dietz Wolfe; audio and visual materials related to Thomas Wolfe; Thomas Wolfe-related subject files, possibly compiled by the staff at St. Mary's College; card catalogs describing materials in the collection; clippings of articles about Thomas Wolfe from various newspapers, magazines, and journals; and materials relating to Wolfe Fest, a festival dedicated to Thomas Wolfe and held at St. Mary's College.