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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 FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | About 5,500 items (16.5 linear feet) |
| Abstract | Literacy South was an independent non-profit organization based in Durham, N.C., which sought to improve the quality of adult literacy services across the Southeast. Founded in 1987 by Hanna Arlene Fingeret and Page McCullough, Literacy South provided training, technical assistance, research, evaluation, consultation, and advocacy in participatory literacy work. The collection includes correspondence, publications, project records, notebooks, and other materials documenting the activities of Literacy South and its staff, 1982-2000. Records document the organization's operations, literacy education programs, adult education projects across the South, the status of adult literacy in the United States, and efforts of community organizations to reduce adult illiteracy. Represented projects include the North Carolina Network for Participatory Education; North Carolina Education and Law Project; Literacy Network Inc. (LNI); a study of Workforce Development Evaluation at Sara Lee Knit Products in Winston Salem, N.C.; the Practitioner Research Project, funded by the National Institute for Literacy; the Portfolio Assessment Project, funded by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund; and other efforts to improve adult literacy. Among the topics covered are curriculum development, learner-centered instruction, program development and evaluation, portfolio assessment, workplace literacy, computer assisted instruction, practitioner research methods, creation of administrative structure and staff training, development of community organizations, and student writing. Also included are issues of Vision, the organization's newsletter; a copy of the video Honoring What People Bring: Learner Centered Instruction; and volumes of Not by Myself, which published student writing. |
| Creator | Literacy South. |
| Language | English. |
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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.
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Historical Information
Literacy South was an independent non-profit organization based in Durham, N.C., that sought to improve the quality of adult literacy services across the Southeast. Founded in 1987 by Hanna Arlene Fingeret and Page McCullough, Literacy South provided training, technical assistance, research, evaluation, consultation, and advocacy in participatory literacy work. It supported professional development with a variety of programs, projects, and publications. In October 1995, Hanna Arlene Fingeret resigned as Executive Director and became an advisor to Literacy South. Loren McGrail became the new Executive Director in 1996. Other staff members included co-founder Page McCullough, Director of Planning; Jereann King, Director of Programs; and other literacy professionals.
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Scope and Content
Correspondence, publications, project records, notebooks, and other materials documenting the activities of Literacy South and its staff, 1982-2000. Records document the Durham, N.C.,-based non-profit organization's operations, literacy education programs, adult education projects across the South, the status of adult literacy in the United States, and efforts of community organizations to reduce adult illiteracy. Represented projects include the North Carolina Network for Participatory Education; North Carolina Education and Law Project; Literacy Network Inc. (LNI); a study of Workforce Development Evaluation at Sara Lee Knit Products in Winston Salem, N.C.; the Practitioner Research Project, funded by the National Institute for Literacy; the Portfolio Assessment Project, funded by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund; and other efforts to improve adult literacy. Among the topics covered are curriculum development, learner-centered instruction, program development and evaluation, portfolio assessment, workplace literacy, computer assisted instruction, practitioner research methods, creation of administrative structure and staff training, development of community organizations, and student writing. Also included are issues of Vision, the organization's newsletter; a copy of the video "Honoring What People Bring: Learner Centered Instruction"; and volumes of Not by Myself, which published student writing.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Organization Files, 1983-2000.
Arrangement: by subject.
Chiefly correspondence, administrative records, and other papers, 1983-2000, documenting the actions of Literacy South and its staff. These documents describe operations, literacy programs, community education projects across the South, and other organization activities. Among the topics discussed are collaborative projects, including the North Carolina Network for Participatory Education, the North Carolina Education and Law Project, Literacy Network Inc. (LNI), and other efforts to improve literacy education.
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Subseries 1.1. Administrative Records, 1989-2000 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Chiefly administrative records, 1989-2000, documenting the operation of Literacy South. Included are correspondence, annual reports, board meeting materials, policies, and other organization papers. Two notebooks are also included, one about the North Carolina Network for Participatory Education, a leadership development program supporting literacy practitioners, and adult educators, and the other detailing staff meetings, 1999-2000.
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Subseries 1.2. Director of Planning, 1989-1996 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Chiefly correspondence, reports, and other papers of Director of Planning Page McCullough about Literacy South programs and programs of other literacy groups. Topics include fundraising, leadership, grassroots organization, and community projects. Included are documents, 1991-1994, about the North Carolina Education and Law Project's efforts to improve the public education system for low-income and minority children.
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Subseries 1.3. Executive Director, 1983-1998 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Chiefly correspondence, 1983-1998, between Executive Director Hanna Arlene Fingeret and various individuals, literacy programs, and other organizations. Correspondence discusses literacy conferences, news, projects, institutes, workshops, and other activities. Also included are records documenting participation in the Literacy Network Inc., 1990-1991; a proposal to the Pew Charitable Trusts, 1991-1993; work with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's SCALE (Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education), 1989-1994; and production of the video "Honoring What People Bring: Learner Centered Instruction," 1991-1994.
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Series 2. Publications, 1988-2000.
Arrangement: by originating organization.
Chiefly publications of Literacy South and a few other organizations, 1988-2000. Subjects include adult literacy education, curriculum development, program development and evaluation, assessment and research methods, staff training, and student writing. Included are issues of the Literacy South newsletter, Vision, and the student writing magazine, Not by Myself.
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Subseries 2.1. Literacy South, 1988-2000.
Arrangement: alphabetical by subject, then chronological.
Chiefly publications of Literacy South, 1988-2000, including curriculum guides and samples, program evaluations, practitioner research, policy, portfolio assessment, staff development, and student writing. These materials were designed to support practitioners and administrators building learner-centered curricula and accurate methods of assessment. Also included are copies of the Literacy South newsletter, Vision. Issues of Not by Myself, a magazine featuring stories from new writers in the South, are sometimes accompanied by photographs of student contributors and other publishing materials.
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Subseries 2.2. Other Organizations, 1991-1996.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly copies of publications about literacy education from the Edna McConnell Foundation, the Durham Service Corps, and Institute of Literacy Services. Also included are videotapes on Brazilian Paulo Freire's work toward adult literacy.
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Series 3. Projects, 1982-1999.
Arrangement: by project.
Correspondence, records, interview transcripts, journals, notebooks, reports, research notes, workshop materials, videotapes, and other documents from various Literacy South projects, 1990-1999. Included are papers on the Workforce Development Evaluation at Sara Lee Knit Products in Winston-Salem, N.C., 1991-1993; the Practitioner Research Project, 1992-1993, funded by the National Institute for Literacy; and the Portfolio Assessment Project, 1994-1996, funded by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund. These materials describe several literacy education issues, including the effect of participating in a national demonstration workplace literacy project on students' work, attitudes, and literacy practices; computer assisted instruction; how practitioner research contributes to the professional development of staff; portfolio assessment; learn centered curriculum; participatory practice; and other adult education topics.
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Subseries 3.1. Sara Lee, 1990-1993 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Class records, student test scores, interview transcripts, reports, and other materials, for Literacy South's study, 1991-1993, of Workforce Development Evaluation at Sara Lee Knit Products in Winston-Salem, N.C. The project sought to measure the effect of participating in a national demonstration workplace literacy project on students' work, attitudes, and literacy practices. These open ended interviews and student records were collected and analyzed to measure learner progress and the impact of the program, particularly the computer assisted instruction.
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Subseries 3.2. National Institute for Literacy, 1982-1994.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Project documents, correspondence, journals, proposals, workshop materials, and other papers from the Practitioner Research Project, 1992-1993, funded by the National Institute for Literacy. The project was conducted at two sites, Alamance Community College, Burlington, N.C., and Piedmont Peace Project, Kannapolis, N.C. These documents record the subject literacy organizations' endeavors to conduct research on questions about their practices and the project's efforts to generate staff training and development outcomes and to evaluate how practitioner research contributes to the professional development of staff.
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Subseries 3.3. Portfolio Assessment, 1988-1996 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Chiefly graduate course materials, notebook, correspondence, and participating institution papers for the Portfolio Assessment Project, 1994-1996, funded by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund. Included are records of course work, interviews, meetings, and other project activities for each of the 19 participating literacy institutions from across the South. The notebook includes agendas, evaluations, handouts, and other documents from the eight project workshops held, 1994-1996. Also included are videotapes of workshop activities and graduate student presentations.
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Subseries 3.4. Other Programs , 1990-1999.
Arrangement: chronological, then alphabetical.
Correspondence, notebooks, reports, research notes, and workshop materials from various Literacy South projects, 1990-1999. Papers describe several literacy education issues, including learner-centered curriculum, participatory practice, practitioner inquiry, creation of administrative structures, and resources for community organizations.
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Items Separated
Items separated include pictures (P-5048), and videotapes (VT-5048/1-30).
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