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Size | 3 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 4900 items) |
Abstract | Collection of historian and documentary film producer Malinda Maynor Lowery, a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Malinda Maynor Lowery has focused much of her academic and filmmaking career on questions pertaining to Native culture, identity, and migration. The collection contains papers, ephemera, photographs, and audiovisual materials related to some of Lowery's documentary film projects on these subjects, including work completed while she was a student at Harvard University and Stanford University, as well as the films Real Indian (1996), Sounds of Faith (1997), and In the Light of Reverence (2001). Papers include tape logs, release forms, transcripts, press kits, and other materials related to the production and distribution of select documentary projects by Lowery. Audiovisual materials, which make up the bulk of the collection, consist mostly of production elements of Real Indian (1996), Sounds of Faith (1997), and various student projects by Lowery, including original picture and sound elements, workprints, edited masters, and video viewing copies. The collection also contains photographs and audio recordings related to Malinda Maynor Lowery's husband, Willie French Lowery (1944-2012), a Lumbee musician and activist from Robeson County, N.C. |
Creator | Lowery, Malinda Maynor |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection. |
Language | English |
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.
Historian and documentary film producer Malinda Maynor Lowery, a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, was born in Robeson County, N.C., and raised in Durham, N.C. She earned a bachelor's degree in history, cum laude, from Harvard University, a master's degree in documentary film and video production from Stanford University, a master's degree and Ph.D. in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has served as a lecturer in the Department of American Indian Studies at San Francisco State University, an assistant professor in the Department of History at Harvard University, an assistant and associate professor in the Department of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, director of the Southern Oral History Program and the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and coordinator of the Lumbee River Fund. In 2021, Lowery was named the second Cahoon Family Professor in American History in Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Emory University.
Lowery has focused much of her career on questions pertaining to Native culture, identity and migration. Films on these topics include: In the Light of Reverence (broadcast on PBS in 2001), and two short films, Real Indian (1996), and Sounds of Faith (1997), both of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Books on these topics include The Lumbee Indians: An American Struggle and Lumbee Indians in the Jim Crow South: Race, Identity, and the Making of a Nation, both published by UNC Press. She also writes and teaches on other topics, including Southern history, religion, music, and foodways. Other documentary film projects include co-producing the Markay Media productions Private Violence, A Chef's Life, and Road to Race Day.
Back to TopThe collection contains papers, ephemera, photographs, and audiovisual materials related to documentary film projects by Malinda Maynor Lowery, a historian, documentary film producer, and member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Materials relate to documentary productions completed while Lowery was a student at Harvard University and Stanford University, as well as the films Real Indian (1996), Sounds of Faith (1997), and In the Light of Reverence (2001).
Papers include tape logs, release forms, transcripts, press kits, and other materials related to the production and distribution of select documentary projects produced, directed, edited, or co-produced by Lowery. Audiovisual materials, which make up the bulk of the collection, consist mostly of production elements of Real Indian (1996), Sounds of Faith (1997), and various student projects by Lowery, including original picture and sound elements, workprints, edited masters, and video viewing copies. Also included is a DVD copy of In the Light of Reverence (2001). The collection also contains photographs and audio recordings related to Malinda Maynor Lowery's husband, Willie French Lowery (1944-2012), a Lumbee musician, educator, and activist from Robeson County, N.C., including a self-released cassette by Dion Oxendine that Willie French Lowery produced and recorded. Formats found in the collection include: 16mm motion picture film, videotapes (Betacam SP, Hi-8, and VHS), digital audio tape (DAT), audiocassettes, 1/4" open reel audio, transparencies, 35mm photographic slides, floppy discs, a watercolor picture, and ephemera relating to the films' production.
The 7-minute 16mm film Real Indian (1996) produced, directed and edited by Lowery is described as a "lighthearted, very personal look at the meaning of cultural identity," based on Lowery's experience of not fitting into society's stereotypes for Native Americans, imposed by both whites and other Indians. The film was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, the Women in the Director’s Chair Film Festival, the American Indian Film Festival, and the Lumbee Film Festival. It received awards for Best Short Film at the South by Southwest Film Festival, and Best Indian-Produced Short Documentary at the Red Earth Film Festival.
The 14-minute video documentary Sounds of Faith (1997), also produced, directed, and edited by Lowery, is about Lumbee Indian music, religion, and family, and features Baptist Minister Rev. Michael Cummings, Attorney-at-law Jody Cummings, and the Foy and Bloss Cummings family. The film was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, the Smithsonian Institution, the New York Native American Film Festival, and the American Indian Film Festival.
Malinda Maynor Lowery co-produced the documentary film In the Light of Reverence (2001), which was part of the Earth Island Institute's Sacred Land Film Project. The film, which was produced and directed by Christopher McLeod, accounts of the struggles of the Lakota in the Black Hills, the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and the Wintu in California to protect their sacred sites. The film won the Henry Hampton Award for Social Change Documentary, the Best Documentary Feature at the American Indian Film Festival, the Eagle Award at the Taos Talking Picture Film Festival, the CINE Golden Eagle, and the Jury Award from MountainFilm.
Back to TopPrimarily contains materials relating to Lowery's film projects Real Indian, Sounds of Faith, and the Sacred Land Film Project's In the Light of Reverence. Other projects include "Urban Warrior, " "Oasis," and "Making Something out of Myself." Most of the folder titles were provided by Lowery.
Digital images related to Malinda Maynor Lowery's husband, Willie French Lowery (1944-2012), a Lumbee musician, educator, and activist from Robeson County, N.C. Includes images related to the re-issue of Willie French Lowery's album, Proud to be a Lumbee, as well as images of a 2004 performance at the Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance in Chatham County, N.C. Please note that digital images related to Malinda Maynor Lowery's documentary film Sounds of Faith (1997) can be found in Series 1: Sounds of Faith CD-ROM, 1998 (DF-70100/1) and Sounds of Faith CD-ROM, 19 March 1999 (DF-70100/3).
Digital Folder DF-70100/4 |
Proud to be a Lumbee album cover, 2003 #70100, Series: "2. Photographs, 2003-2004." DF-70100/45 digital files |
Digital Folder DF-70100/5 |
Shakori Hills Festival images, 2004 #70100, Series: "2. Photographs, 2003-2004." DF-70100/545 digital files |
Arrangement: By film project, with student projects and Willie French Lowery affiliated recordings listed last.
Processing information: Processing archivists compiled titles and descriptions from original boxes, cases, and leader. Titles in brackets were supplied by the processing archivist.
Arrangement: By format and element type.
Film, video, and audio materials related to Real Indian (1996), a documentary produced, directed, and edited by Malinda Maynor Lowery. The series includes video copies (VT-70100/1, VT-70100/2) of the documentary; original footage on Hi8 videotape (VT-70100/3 through VT-70100/10); audio recordings on 1/4" open reel, audiocassette, and Digital Audio Tape (DAT) of interviews, musical selections, and track narration made by Malinda Maynor Lowery during the production; 16mm composite film prints or viewing copies (F-70100/1, F-70100/2) of the film; and 16mm motion picture film elements, including negatives, workprints, magnetic soundtracks or "tracks", original reversal "picture" elements; and outtakes and trims. Lowery used many of these film elements to create the composite film prints also found in the series.
Videotape VT-70100/1 |
Real Indian, dub #70100, Subseries: "Video: Viewing copies" VT-70100/1VHS |
Videotape VT-70100/2 |
Real Indian, dub #70100, Subseries: "Video: Viewing copies" VT-70100/2VHS |
Composite prints of Real Indian made from select color reversal negatives and tracks found under Film: Production elements.
Film F-70100/1 |
Real Indian, print #70100, Subseries: "Film: Viewing copies" F-70100/116mm motion picture film 300 feet Print ; Color ; Sound (optical) |
Film F-70100/2 |
Real Indian, print #70100, Subseries: "Film: Viewing copies" F-70100/216mm motion picture film 300 feet Print ; Color ; Sound (optical) |
Motion picture film production elements used throughout the production and/or film printing process. Includes work prints, color reversal negatives, magnetic soundtracks or "tracks", and original color reversal or "picture" elements. Relationships between "picture" and "track" elements are listed when known.
Arrangement: By format and element type.
Video viewing copies and video and audio production elements related to Sounds of Faith (1997), a documentary produced, directed, and edited by Malinda Maynor Lowery on Lumbee Indian music, religion, and family. Production elements consist of videotapes of masters (on Betacam videotape), original footage (on Hi8 videotape), and dubs (on VHS videotape), as well as audio recordings of interviews, wild sound, and narration made by Malinda Maynor Lowery during the production. Audio recordings are on Digital Audio Tape (DAT) and audiocassette. The series also includes media backups of production materials on Data8 tape.
Videotape VT-70100/12 |
Sounds of Faith, dub #70100, Subseries: "Video viewing copies and transfers" VT-70100/12VHS |
Videotape VT-70100/13 |
Sounds of Faith, dub #70100, Subseries: "Video viewing copies and transfers" VT-70100/13Betacam SP |
Videotape VT-70100/14 |
Sounds of Faith, IMC transfer, 29 April 1997 #70100, Subseries: "Video viewing copies and transfers" VT-70100/14Betacam SP |
Videotape VT-70100/15 |
Sounds of Faith, IMC transfer, 29 April 1997 #70100, Subseries: "Video viewing copies and transfers" VT-70100/15Betacam SP |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-70100/6 |
Sounds of Faith, media backup 1, 3 April 1997 #70100, Subseries: "Production elements: Media backups" FT-70100/6Data8 |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-70100/7 |
Sounds of Faith, media backup 2, 3 April 1997 #70100, Subseries: "Production elements: Media backups" FT-70100/7Data8 |
DVD copy of In the Light of Reverence (2001), a documentary film that was part of the Earth Island Institute's Sacred Land Film Project. The film, which was co-produced by Malinda Maynor Lowery, accounts of the struggles of the Lakota in the Black Hills, the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and the Wintu in California to protect their sacred sites.
Digital Video Disc DVD-70100/1 |
In the Light of Reverence, 2001 #70100, Subseries: "2.3 In the Light Of Reverence, 2002." DVD-70100/1DVD |
Arrangement: Roughly alphabetical by project or format.
Various student film and video projects by Malinda Maynor Lowery while she was a student at Harvard University and Stanford University. The series also includes footage of an American Philosophical Association (APA) conference panel featuring Vince Deloria (VT-70100/62) and audio recordings related to student projects.
Audio recordings compiled by Willie French Lowery, a Lumbee musician, educator, and activist, including a self-released cassette by Dion Oxendine that Willie French Lowery produced and recorded.
SFC Audio Cassette FS-70100/9 |
Dion Oxendine, Handle With Care, 1994 #70100, Subseries: "2.5 Willie French Lowery recordings, 1994-1996." FS-70100/9Audiocassette |
SFC Audio Cassette FS-70100/10 |
Tommy Wildcat, A Warrior's Spirit: Cherokee Flute, 1996 #70100, Subseries: "2.5 Willie French Lowery recordings, 1994-1996." FS-70100/10Audiocassette |
Processed by: Dawne Howard Lucas and Anne Wells, July 2021
Encoded by: Dawne Howard Lucas and Anne Wells, July 2021
Updated by: Anne Wells, September 2021; Patrick Cullom, October 2021
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.
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