Restrictions to Access

Much of the collection is unprocessed and requires staff assistance or creation of viewing copies prior to use. Potential researchers should contact Southern Historical Collection Research and Instructional Services staff in advance of their anticipated use of the collection.

This collection contains additional materials that are not processed and are currently not available to researchers. For information about access to these materials, contact Research and Instructional Services staff. Please be advised that preparing unprocessed materials for access can be a lengthy process.

Copyright Notice

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

Provenance

Received from Kenneth L. Burns of Walpole, N.H., in 1991, with an addition in November 1994. Received from Florentine Films in March 1998 (Acc. 98050), March 2000 (Acc. 98590), and January 2001 (Acc. 98821).

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.

• Baseball (Television program).
• Baseball--United States--History.
• Benton, Thomas Hart, 1889-1975.
• Bridges--New York (State)--New York.
• Brooklyn Bridge (New York, N.Y.).
• Brooklyn Bridge (Television program).
• Burns, Amy Stechler.
• Burns, Ken, 1953- .
• Civil War (Television program).
• Clark, William, 1770-1838.
• Congress (Television program).
• Documentary films.
• Empire of the air (Television program).
• Florentine Films.
• Huey Long (Television program).
• Ives, Stephen.
• Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826.
• Lewis & Clark : the journey of the Corps of Discovery (Television program).
• Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806).
• Lewis, Meriwether, 1774-1809.
• Long, Huey Pierce, 1893-1935.
• Radio--United States--History.
• Shakers--History.
• Shakers: hands to work, hearts to God (Television program).
• Statue of Liberty (New York, N.Y.).
• Statue of Liberty (Television program).
• Thomas Hart Benton (Television program).
• Thomas Jefferson : a film by Ken Burns (Television program).
• United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• United States. Congress--History.
• West (Television program).
• West (U.S.)--History.

Florentine Films was founded in 1976 by Ken Burns, Roger Sherman, Buddy Squires, and Larry Hott, who work independently under the Florentine Films name. Florentine Films often works in cooperation with other organizations to produce films on various subjects.

Ken Burns is a documentary filmmaker, director, producer, and cinematographer. He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1953 and graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., in 1975. In 1981, he produced and directed the Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge . He then made several other award-winning films, including The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God; The Statue of Liberty , also nominated for an Oscar; Huey Long , the story of the turbulent Southern dictator; The Congress: The History and Promise of Representative Government ; Thomas Hart Benton , a portrait of the regionalist artist; and Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio . Burns also produced and directed two films, William Segal and Vezelay, which explore the question of search and individual identity through the work and teachings of philosopher and painter William Segal.

Ken Burns was also the director, producer, co-writer, chief cinematographer, music director and executive producer of the television series The Civil War, which was the highest rated series in the history of American Public Television, attracting an audience of 40 million during its premiere in September 1990. He was the director, producer, co-writer, chief cinematographer, music director and executive producer of the Public Television series Baseball (1994), which was then the most watched series in PBS history, attracting more than 45 million viewers. In the fall of 1996, The West was released, followed by Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (1997); Frank Lloyd Wright , co-directed and produced with his longtime collaborator Lynn Novick (1998); Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (1999), co-produced with Paul Barnes; and Jazz (2001).

Archival records and original film footage of Florentine Films and Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker, director, producer, and cinematographer. On some projects, Burns worked with Amy Stechler Burns, Stephen Ives, and others. Projects documented include: Brooklyn Bridge (1981), The Shakers (1984), Huey Long (1985), The Statue of Liberty (1985), Thomas Hart Benton (1988), The Congress (1988), The Civil War (1990), Empire of the Air (1991), Baseball (1994), Thomas Jefferson (1996), The West (1996), and Lewis & Clark (1997).