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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 | 1.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 800 items) |
| Abstract | Collection of Martha Flowers (1926-2022), a singer, performer, and the first Black faculty member in the Department of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was known for her role as Bess in the production of Porgy and Bess which toured internationally in the 1950s and whose cast also included Maya Angelou, with whom Flowers developed a lifelong friendship. The Martha Flowers Papers consist primarily of programs, clippings, photographs, and audiovisual materials documenting the career and personal life of Martha Flowers (1926-2022). Many of these items highlight her performances in Porgy and Bess in the 1950s. Also included are two scrapbooks, a small number of letters and telegrams received, and printed material. |
| Creator | Flowers, Martha. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. University Archives. |
| Language | English, German, Russian |
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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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Biographical Information
Martha Flowers (1926-2022) was a singer, performer, and the first Black faculty member in the Department of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was known for her role as Bess in the production of Porgy and Bess which toured internationally in the 1950s and whose cast also included Maya Angelou, with whom Flowers developed a lifelong friendship. Flowers performed around the world prior to joining the faculty at UNC in 1973 and settling in Chapel Hll, NC, and she remained in that area for the rest of her life.
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Scope and Content
The Martha Flowers Papers consist primarily of programs, clippings, photographs, and audiovisual materials documenting the career and personal life of Martha Flowers (1926-2022). Many of these items highlight her performances in Porgy and Bess in the 1950s. Also included are two scrapbooks, a small number of letters and telegrams received, and printed material.
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Martha Flowers Papers, 1940s-1990s
Arrangement: Chronological
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Items Separated
Processed by: Jodi Berkowitz
Encoded by: Jodi Berkowitz
Updated by: Dawne Howard Lucas, August 2022
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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