Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

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 Geraldine Cate Papers #5455, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Elizabeth Cate Pringle of Chapel Hill, N.C., in February 2010 (Acc. 101255).

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.

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.

• Cate, Geraldine (Geraldine Spinks), 1910-1998.
• Choirs (Music)
• Diaries (Blank books)
• Family--South Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Hirschberg, Nell.
• Japan--Description and travel.
• Juilliard School.
• Missionaries--Philippines--History--20th century.
• Music teachers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Music--Study and teaching (Higher)--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Musicians--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• North Carolina School of the Arts.
• Peace College (Raleigh, N.C.)
• Philippines--Description and travel.
• Philippines--Photographs.
• Philippines--Social life and customs.
• Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.--Missions.
• Pullen Memorial Baptist Church (Raleigh, N.C.)
• Silliman University.
• St. Mary’s College (Raleigh, N.C.)
• Travelers--Diaries.
• University of South Carolina--Students.
• Westminster Choir College.
• Women travelers--Diaries--History--20th century.
• Women college teachers--Philippines--History--20th century.
• Women college teachers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Women musicians.
• Women travelers--History--20th century.
• Women--Diaries--History--20th century.

Geraldine "Gerry" Spinks Cate (1910-1998) was a musician, music educator, and social activist in Raleigh, N.C., and the Philippines. She held positions at Silliman University in the Philippines (sponsored by the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.); Peace College, the Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, and Saint Mary's College, all in Raleigh, N.C.; the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winstom-Salem, N.C.; and at other institutions. Cate was especially dedicated to interracial reconciliation.

Born in Columbia, S.C., to Charles Jacob Cate and Florence Spinks Cate, Cate received bachelor's degrees from the University of South Carolina in 1931 and from Westminster Choir College, Princeton, N.J., in 1933. After graduation, she organized a music department and served as a voice teacher and choral director at Silliman University in the Philippines, where she was supported by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. She remained there until 1938 when she left to obtain her master of music degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. She also attended Juilliard School of Music from 1939 to 1940, after which she moved to Raleigh, N.C., to become the director of vocal music at Saint Mary's College, a position she held until 1976. Cate also was a visiting instructor in voice at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C., from 1968 to 1973.

Cate served as director of music at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., from 1944 to 1985, where she was a member of the Board of Deacons and was also involved with the Organ Guild, the Raleigh Oratorio Society, Saint Cecilia Chorus, the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild, the North Carolina Symphony, and the North Carolina Bach Festival. She was a member of the National Association of the Teachers of Singing and served as national vice president, president of the North Carolina chapter, and governor of its southeastern and mid-Atlantic regions. Cate coached voice privately until she left Raleigh in 1997.

In 1985, Cate was the first recipient of the Medal of the Arts given by the Raleigh Arts Commission for her service to arts in the city. She served on the board of the Estey Hall Foundation at Shaw University from 1981 until her death in 1998. Cate lived with Dr. Nell Hirschberg for many years in Raleigh, N.C.

The Geraldine Cate Papers include letters, photographs, printed material, and other papers related to the activities of Geraldine Cate. Travel materials chiefly consist of letters from Cate to her family in South Carolina during her time spent as an instructor at Silliman University in the Philippines and while traveling internationally with Nell Hirschberg, travel diaries, and other documents. Included is documentation of Cate's mother's trip to Japan in 1938. Also included are school records, performance programs, clippings, resumes and applications, awards and honors, letters, student work, and other papers relating the institutions in which she studied or taught. Photographs are chiefly of Cate and the choirs with which she was associated. There are also two photograph albums relating to her time in the Philippines. Note that there are no files related to Cate's activist activities.

• Image Folders (PF-5455/1-8)