LeGette Blythe Papers Inventory (#4852)

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/

Processed by:

Jackie Dean

Date Completed:

March 1997

Encoded by:

Jackie Dean

Revisions:

Finding aid updated in March 2004 by Matthew Turi.

Descriptive Summary Including Abstract

Title

LeGette Blythe Papers (#4852) 1852-1996

Creator

Blythe, LeGette, 1900- .

Extent

About 1400 items (13.5 linear feet)

Repository

Southern Historical Collection

Abstract

William LeGette Blythe (1900-1993), native of Huntersville, N.C., was the author of several Biblical novels, award-winning biographies of prominent North Carolinians, and symphonic (outdoor) dramas based on the history of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, N.C. Blythe graduated in 1921 from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the original Carolina Playmakers and a classmate of Thomas Wolfe. He died in Huntersville in 1993. The collection includes correspondence and other materials relating to LeGette Blythe's literary and civic projects. Included are letters, promotional material, and photographs, as well as audio and video recordings relating to outdoor drama productions and to Blythe's biographies of Thomas Wolfe; Mary T. Martin Sloop of the Crossnore School, Avery County, N.C.; Lucy Morgan of the Penland School, Penland, N.C.; and Gaine Cannon of the Albert Schweitzer Memorial Hospital in Balsam Grove, N.C. Major correspondents include W. H. Belk, Elizabeth Boatwright Coker, William Friday, Louis Rubin, Terry Sanford, and Richard Walser. There are also two letters dated March 1934 from Maxwell Perkins of Charles Scribner's Sons. Also present are materials relating to the North Carolina Writers Conference, including photographs of the conference's first meeting in 1950 and the 1953 meeting in Boone. Manuscripts, galleys, and proofs of Blythe's works are included along with a small amount of materials and photographs collected by Blythe, including items, 1815-1861, relating to the Hopewell Presbyterian Church in Mecklenberg County. The addition of May 2002 includes audio and video recordings collected by Blythe and photographs of Albert Schweitzer and his hospital from the 1960s; of the United States Army's 38th Evacuation Hospital during World War II; and of labor strikes in North Belmont, N.C., in the late 1920s.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Provenance

Received from William B. Blythe II in December 1996 (Acc. 96184) and from Samuel L. Blythe of Winston-Salem, N.C., in May 2002 (Acc. 99258).

Processing Note

The addition of May 2002 is arranged in the same way as, but has not been incorporated into, the original deposit of materials.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the LeGette Blythe Papers (#4852), Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Usage Restrictions

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

Online Catalog Terms

Albert Schweitzer Memorial Hospital (Balsam Grove, N.C.).

Authors, American--North Carolina--20th century.

Belk, William Henry, 1862-1952.

Bible--History of Biblical events--Fiction.

Blythe, LeGette, 1900- .

Cannon, Gaine.

Charlotte (N.C)--History.

Coker, Elizabeth Boatwright.

Crossnore School (Crossnore, N.C.).

Friday, William C. (William Clyde).

Hopewell Presbyterian Church (Mecklenburg County, N.C.).

Mecklenberg County (N.C.)--History.

Morgan, Lucy, 1889-1981.

North Carolina Writers Conference.

Penland School of Crafts (Penland, N.C.).

Perkins, Maxwell E. (Maxwell Evarts), 1884-1947.

Rubin, Louis Decimus, 1923- .

Sanford, Terry, 1917- .

Sloop, Mary T. Martin, 1873-1962.

Schweitzer, Albert, 1875-1965.

Strikes and lockouts--North Carolina--Photographs.

Theater, Open-air--North Carolina.

Walser, Richard Gaither, 1908- .

Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938.

World War, 1939-1945--Medical care--United States.

Biographical Note

In 1921, William LeGette Blythe, native of Huntersville, N.C., graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he had been a member of the original Carolina Playmakers and a classmate of Thomas Wolfe. After graduation, Blythe became a reporter at the Charlotte News and later joined the staff of the Charlotte Observer. He authored several Biblical novels, biographies of prominent North Carolinians, and symphonic dramas based on Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, N.C. Blythe won the Mayflower Award for the best nonfiction work by a North Carolinian in 1953 for Miracle in the Hills, his biography of Dr. Emma Sloop of the Crossnore School, and in 1961 for Thomas Wolfe and His Family. Blythe died in 1993 in Huntersville.

Collection Overview

This collection primarily documents North Carolina author LeGette Blythe's literary activities. Series 1 is chiefly correspondence between Blythe and his friends and business associates regarding his various literary and civic projects. Early correspondence includes two letters from Maxwell Perkins of Charles Scribner's Sons Publishers dated 1934. The Project Files, created by Blythe, contain correspondence with the publishers of his works as well as with the subjects of some of his biographies including Emma Sloop of the Crossnore School, Lucy Morgan of the Penland School, and Dr. Gaine Cannon of the Albert Schweitzer Memorial Hospital in Balsam Grove, N.C. There is also correspondence with Fred Wolfe and Mabel Wolfe, the brother and sister of Thomas Wolfe, regarding the writing and publishing of Blythe's book, Thomas Wolfe and His Family. The series also contains promotional material for Blythe's works and materials pertaining to his other projects, such as photographs from early North Carolina Writers Conferences. The writings series encompasses manuscripts, galleys, and proofs of Blythe's novels, symphonic dramas, and short stories. There are other materials collected by LeGette Blythe including papers from the Hopewell Church in Mecklenburg County, N.C., dated 1815-1861. Pictures include photographs of Blythe, his family, and various other subjects.

The addition of May 2002 parallels the contents described above, with the exception that it contains a substantial amount of audio and video recordings that were collected by Blythe. The contents of these recordings fall into two broad categories: materials related to his works, such as taped interviews or recordings of performances; and informal recordings of music and family members. Included are photographs of Albert Schweitzer and his hospital that were taken by Gaine Cannon in the 1960s; of the United States Army's 38th Evacuation Hospital taken during World War II; and of labor strikes in North Belmont, N.C., in the late 1920s.

Organization of Collection

1. Correspondence
2. Project Files
3. Writings
4. Other Materials
5. Pictures
Addition of May 2002

Series Descriptions

Processing note: See also Addition of May 2002.

Processing note: See also Addition of May 2002.

Processing note: See also Addition of May 2002.

Processing note: See also Addition of May 2002.

Processing note: See also Addition of May 2002.

Processing note: The addition of November 2001 is arranged in the same way as, but has not been incorporated into, the original deposit of materials.

Items Separated

Items separated include oversize papers (OP-4852/1); scrapbooks (S-4852/1-2); photographs (P-4852/1-23); audio recordings (C-4852/1-24, T-4852/1-28, W-4852/1-32); and films (F-4852/1-5).