Inventory of the Becky Blackley Collection, 1871-1995

Collection Number 20282

Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Descriptive Summary

Repository

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.

Creator

Blackley, Becky.

Title

Becky Blackley Collection, 1871-1995

Call Number

20282

Language of Materials

Materials in English

Extent

Items: About 2100

Linear Feet: 3.0

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

This collection has restrictions to access. Please see details below or contact the Manuscripts Department for more information.

Usage Restrictions

Use of audio materials may require production of listening copies.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Becky Blackley in March 1996 (97182).

Processing Information

Processed by: Kyle Jordan and Melissa Johnson, November 2004

Encoded by: Melissa Johnson, November 2004

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Becky Blackley Collection #20282, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Autoharp.

Autoharp music.

Blackley, Becky.

Carter Family (Musical Group)

Carter, Maybelle, 1909-1978.

Folk music.

Folk musicians.

Green, Archie.

Macon, Uncle Dave, 1870-1952.

Moore, Doyle.

Musical instruments--Construction.

Musicians--Interviews.

Old-time music.

Oral history.

Peterson, Glen.

Scruggs, Louise.

Seeger, Mike, 1933-

Snow, Kilby, 1905-

Stoneman, Ernest V.

Toomey, Welby.

Zimmerman, C. F.

Biographical Note

As a writer, collector, and performer, Becky Blackley is a well-known autoharp expert and enthusiast. She attended the University of California at Santa Barbara and completed her graduate studies at the University of British Columbia in Canada. From 1980 to 1993, Blackley served as editor of The Autoharpoholic, an international quarterly journal that was dedicated to the autoharp. In addition, she has written extensively on the subject of the autoharp, and her articles have been featured in a number of publications, including Frets and Bluegrass Breakdown. In 1981, she published Harp! the Herald Angels Sing!, a book of Christmas songs arranged for the autoharp. In 1983, she published The Autoharp Book , a comprehensive history of the instrument, its origins and evolution. Becky Blackley performed professionally as a member of Woodshed, a Bay Area bluegrass band. Additionally, she has both recorded and produced her own music, conducted autoharp workshops across the United States, and served as a consultant to instrument maker Oscar Schmidt-International during the development of the diatonic autoharp. She currently works as a Russian-to-English translator.

Collection Overview

The collection consists primarily of materials compiled by writer, collector, and performer Becky Blackley while researching the history and evolution of the autoharp for the writing of The Autoharp Book (1983). Correspondence, photographs, copies of patents, catalogues, advertisements, newspaper clippings, notes, articles, songbooks, instruction manuals, journals, recorded interviews with major autoharp musicians, and sound recordings comprise the bulk of the collection. Materials also include research conducted by Doyle Moore for an article he wrote on the autoharp. Collectively, these materials trace the history of the autoharp from its earliest incarnations in the late nineteenth century to modern models manufactured in the late twentieth century. Some materials relate to autoharp inventor C. F. Zimmerman, Kilby Snow, Mike Seeger, the Carter Family (including photographs), Maybelle Carter (including interview, 1962), Ernest Stoneman (including interviews, 1962-1963), Louise Scruggs, Glen Peterson, and Archie Green. There are also copies of old-time music recordings featuring Ernest Stoneman, Welby Toomey, the Carter Family, Uncle Dave Macon, and others, and photographs of autoharps players and instruments.

Arrangement of Collection

1. Research for Becky Blackley Book
1.1. Autoharp Patents
1.2. Autoharp Promotional Material and other Literature
1.3. Doyle Moore Research
1.4. C. F. Zimmermann Materials
1.5. Research Tools
1.6. The Autoharp Book Photographs
1.7. Old Time Music Recordings
1.8. Kilby Snow Materials
1.9. Mike Seeger Materials
2. Becky Blackley Materials
2.1. Writings and Publications
2.2. Photographs
2.3. Recordings
3. Carter Family Materials
3.1. Literature
3.2. Photographs
3.3. Maybelle Carter Interview
4. Photographs
4.1. C. F. Zimmermann Era
4.2. C. F. Zimmermann Company/Dolgeville Era
4.3. Phonoharp Company and the International Musical Corporation Era
4.4. Oscar Schmidt-International Era
4.5. Autoharp Relatives
4.6. Autoharp Players
4.7. Miscellaneous
4.8. Negatives
4.9. Color Slides

Items Separated

Audio recordings (CD-4394, FS-7069 - FS-7073, FT-11829 - FT-11833)
Oversize images (OP-P-20282/1-12)

Detailed Description of the Collection