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Collection Number: 03998

Collection Title: Ralph McCallister Papers, 1936-1985.

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 Duplication Policy section for more information.


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Size 4.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1000 items)
Abstract Ralph McCallister was vice-president of the Chautauqua Institution, Jamestown, N.Y., 1944-1961; executive director of Shakertown, Lexington, Ky., 1961-1962; operations director of the Learning Institute of North Carolina, 1964-1966; vice-president of the Regional Education Laboratory for the Carolinas and Virginia, 1966-1969; and an official with other organizations. Correspondence, reports, published materials, and other items chiefly relating to McCallister's work with the Chautauqua Institution; Shakertown in Pleasant Hill, Ky.; the North Carolina Advancement School; the Learning Institute of North Carolina; the Regional Educational Laboratory of the Carolinas and Virginia; and other educational institutions. Included are letters, 1962-1963, from Sarah Gertrude Knott about her difficulties with the National Folk Festival Association. There are also some letters from friends and other personal materials.
Creator McCallister, Ralph, 1905-1988.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

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 Ralph McCallister Papers #3998, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Ralph McCallister of Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1973 and September 1987.
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.
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Processed by: Shonra Newman, December 1989

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse 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.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

1905 Born 28 September in Carmi, Illinois

1930 Received Ph.D in History, Social Philosophy, and Education from University of Chicago. Married Margaret Emde

1931-1932 Social Science teacher at Mt. Clemens High School, Mt. Clemens, Michigan

1932-1936 Social Science teacher and head of department, Dearborn High School, Dearborn, Michigan

1936 Received M.A. in History, Social Philosophy, and Education from University of Michigan

1936-1948 Director, Adult Education, Council of Chicago

1944-1961 Director of Programs and Education, and Vice-President, Chautauqua Institution

1947 Married Margaret Land after death of his first wife

1948-1952 Visiting lecturer, Maxwell School of Citizenship, Syracuse University

1961-1962 Executive director, Shakertown, an historic village near Lexington, Kentucky

1962-1963 Executive director, National Conference on Scientific Information, New York City

1963-1964 Coordinator of planning, North Carolina Advancement School, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

1964-1966 Operations director, Learning Institute of North Carolina, Rougemont, North Carolina

1966-1969 Vice-president and project director, and later director of special programs, Regional Education Laboratory for the Carolinas and Virginia

1969 Consultant to the University of the State of New York, the State Education Department on the evaluation of Community Education Centers in a state-wide urban education development program Visiting associate professor, North Carolina State University, Department of Adult Education

1969-1972 Consultant on medical education development, and later deputy director at the Office of Medical Studies, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

1970 Executive director, National Task Force on the Adult Right to Read Effort

1988 Died, 23 April

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

These papers chiefly document the professional activities of Ralph McCallister from 1944 when he became director of programs and education at Chatauqua Institution until his retirement in 1972 from the Office of Medical Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Correspondence and papers from his years as director of the Adult Education Council of Chicago are at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. A much larger collection of his papers from Chautauqua are at Yale University.

There is some overlap among series, particularly between Series 5 and 6. Items were placed in the Series to which they seemed most important. A number of McCallister's professional colleagues later became personal friends and continued their correspondence with him. These letters can be found in Subseries 9.1.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Chautauqua Institution, 1944-1985 and undated.

About 80 items.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.1. Correspondence, 1944-1985 and undated.

About 60 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly professional correspondence to and from McCallister relating to arranging the educational programs at Chautauqua, a summer educational institute near Jamestown, New York. Included are several letters to Karl Menninger who was a guest lecturer there.

Of interest are letters concerning incidents of McCarthyism that occurred at Chautauqua in March 1953, August-September 1954, and October December 1959. The 1959 incident was the printing in "News and Views," a publication of the National Layman's Council of the Church League of America edited by Edgar C. Bundy, of a smear against Chautauqua and a number of the lecturers, including Karl Menninger, Norman Cousins, Frank Porter Graham, Anna Lord Strauss, and others.

Also included are letters from McCallister to friends alleging racism and anti-Catholicism among members of the Board. These perceptions of McCallister in combination with his disagreement with management policies of the Board led to his resignation on January 12, 1961.

Folder 1

1944

Folder 2

1951

Folder 3

1952

Folder 4

1953

Folder 5

1954

Folder 6

1957

Folder 7

1958

Folder 8

1959 January-March

Folder 9

1959 April-June

Folder 10

1959 August-October

Folder 11

1959 November-December

Folder 12

1960 January-November

Folder 13

1960 December

Folder 14

1961 March-December

Folder 15

1961 January-February

Folder 16

1962

Folder 17

1966-1985

Folder 18

Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 1.2. Notes and Writings, 1946-1981 and undated.

About 20 items.

Notes, writings, brochures, budgets, reports, and newspaper clippings relating to Chautauqua.

Folder 19-20

Folder 19

Folder 20

Notes and writings, 1946-1981 and undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Shakertown, 1961-1962.

About 60 items.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.1. Correspondence, 1961-1962.

About 30 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Professional and personal correspondence about Shakertown, an historic village near Lexington, Kentucky, originally settled by the Shaker religious sect, while McCallister was employed as Executive Director, 1961-1962.

Folder 21

1961

Folder 22

1962

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 2.2. Notes and Writings, 1961 and undated.

About 30 items.

Reports to the Board, minutes from Board meetings, internal memos, handwritten brochures, written histories, and typed notes, newspaper articles, and miscellaneous items dealing with Shakertown.

Folder 23

Notes and writings, 1961 and undated

Folder 24

Notes and writings, 1961 and undated

Folder 25

Notes and writings, 1961 and undated

Folder 26

Notes and writings, 1961 and undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Scientists' Committees, 1960-1963 and undated.

About 60 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

A few routine letters mingled with a quantity of typed, duplicated, or printed papers and brochures, all related to the Scientists' Committee for Radiation Information (incorporated May 1960, under sponsorship of American Association for the Advancement of Science), or to the National Conference for Scientific Information on Nuclear Age Problems, or to similar committees.

McCallister served as executive director of the National Conference from November 1962 to March 1963, and as acting director for a while thereafter. The National Conference sought to bring together representatives from scientists' committees all over the country.

The materials include some copies of Board minutes of the National Conference, slight correspondence, relevant monographs and brochures and bulletins; papers concerning programs of two meetings of the National Conference held in New York on 17-18 November 1962 and 16-17 February 1963; and typed formal requests for funding, addressed to the Carnegie Foundation, following each Conference, written by Jules Hersch, M.D., of the Rockefeller Institute. The requests for funding envisioned a Scientists Institute for Public Information that would provide the public with information on such problems as radioactive fallout, pesticides, air pollution, and detergents in water supplies.

Included is an undated typed statement (2 pages, carbon typescript), circa 17 February 1963, summarizing the purpose and work of the National Conference and its component groups, and the purposes of the "Scientists Institute for Public Information" at the time of its founding on 17 February, as well as a fuller press release and copies of newspaper clippings. There also are a few other papers from this period.

The items dated earlier than November 1962 appear to be monographs assembled for a kit, January 1963, for board members.

Folder 27

1960-61

Folder 28

1962 January-June

Folder 29

1962 July-September

Folder 30

1962 November

Folder 31

1962 December

Folder 32

1963 January-February

Folder 33

1963 March-May

Folder 34

1963 June-July and Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. National Folk Festival Association, Inc., 1961-1966 and Undated.

About 80 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Apparently an incomplete file from a period (about April-July 1963), when McCallister was negotiating with the Planning Committee of the Association about becoming the director or chief executive officer. The majority of the dated letters addressed to McCallister begin 22 April 1963, and end 16 July 1963. During this time McCallister was moving from New York City to Chapel Hill, N. C. L. G. Derthick was president of the Association.

A large part of this series consists of undated handwritten letters from Sarah Gertrude Knott, founder and longtime director of the Association, explaining to McCallister from her point of view the moves that board members were making in the process of forcing her out of power. Her letters were apparently written in late 1962 and the first half of 1963. During this period Ms. Knott sent various duplicated papers (mostly mimeographed matter) and printed ephemera concerning her work with the festival, 1961-1963. Among the materials are items about the Festival held in Covington, Kentucky, in May 1963; by-laws and other organizational papers; lists and programs; bulletins; and some items about the financial problems of the Association.

The correspondence and duplicated materials have been arranged in a chronological series as far as possible.

Folder 35

1961

Folder 36

1962

Folder 37

1963 January-March

Folder 38

1963 April-May

Folder 39

1963 June-1966

Folder 40

Undated

Folder 41-42

Folder 41

Folder 42

Undated letters from Sarah Gertrude Knott

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 5. North Carolina Advancement School/Learning Institute of North Carolina, 1961-1967 and Undated.

About 130 items.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 5.1. Correspondence, 1964-1967 and Undated.

About 120 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly professional correspondence concerning the operation of the Advancement School, where McCallister worked as coordinator of planning, and the Learning Institute of North Carolina, where he served as operations director, 1964-1966. The North Carolina Advancement School was a program developed under Governor Terry Sanford and his assistant John Ehle to determine and provide remedies for the causes of underachievement in North Carolina students. LINC, founded in 1964, was an outgrowth of this program. Its purpose was to be a coordinating body for experiments like the Advancement School and to conduct research that would help solve current problems in the North Carolina educational system.

Included is correspondence relating to various conferences McCallister attended. Notable examples are a letter, January 20, 1964, from Gov. Sanford requesting his presence at a program on the Advancement School, and a group of letters in July 1964 referring to the International Conference on the Impact of Educational Technology.

Also included are numerous letters in January and February 1966 from McCallister to Harold Howe, II, who left his position as director of LINC to become U. S. Commissioner of Education under President Johnson, and a few items to William Friday, president of UNC who served on the board of directors for LINC.

Folder 43

1964

Folder 44

1965

Folder 45

1966 January

Folder 46

1966 February

Folder 47

1966 March-May

Folder 48

1966 June-August

Folder 49

1967 and Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 5.2. Notes and Writings, 1961-1966.

About 10 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Assorted items including a report concerning the North Carolina Advancement School, 3 October 1963, a typed copy of a statement concerning the Advancement School and LINC released by Governor Terry Sanford on 2 December 1963, a Curriculum Improvement Proposal initiated by John Ehle, 28 February 1964, a typed copy of the presentation on the Advancement School by McCallister at a Mars Hill Superintendents' Meeting, newspaper clippings about Gov. Sanford's programs in education, a copy of "College Preparation for High School Students," by Harold Howe, II, a copy of the LINC Quarterly, and a copy of a news release dated 16 February 1966 on the Regional Education Liboratory for the Carolinas and Virginia.

Folder 50

1961-October 1963

Folder 51

December 1963-July 1964

Folder 52

August-December 1964

Folder 53

1965-1966

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 6. Regional Educational Laboratory for the Carolinas and Virginia, 1966-1969 and Undated.

About 135 items.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 6.1. Correspondence, 1966-1969 and Undated.

About 100 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly professional correspondence on the early development of the Regional Educational Laboratory for the Carolinas and Virginia, an educational research and development program funded by the U.S. Office of Education. RELCV was part of a network of educational laboratories across the United States.

Included are letters from August 1966 and August 1967 referring to yearly site visits and reviews by the U.S.O.E. and efforts to obtain funding. Also included is correspondence throughout the series about a program in which McCallister was involved for teaching standard English to preschool children from "non-standard" backgrounds through the use of television. This program was based on a project developed in American Samoa. Letters written in April and May 1969 referring to McCallister's dispute with management over the use of an anonymous critique of his program are also included. This controversy culminated in McCallister's being fired.

Folder 54

1966 May-July

Folder 55

1966 August-September

Folder 56

1966 October-December

Folder 57

1967 January-August

Folder 58

1967 September

Folder 59

1967 October-December

Folder 60

1968 January-March

Folder 61

1968 April-June

Folder 62

1968 July-September

Folder 63

1968 October-December

Folder 64

1969 January-March

Folder 65

1969 April 1-16

Folder 66

1969 April 17-30

Folder 67

1969 May-October

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 6.2. Notes and Writings, 1966-1969 and Undated.

About 35 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Progress and development reports on various RELCV projects; news releases, brochures, papers and abstracts of papers dealing with RELCV; and a professional personnel data form for McCallister.

Included are copies of the report by Dr. Susan Houston, "An Evaluation of Ralph McCallister, A System of Pre-First Grade Instruction for McCormick County, South Carolina," which caused the controversy at the end of McCallister's career at RELCV, and another report by Dr. Houston, "Child Black English in Northern Florida." Also included is a copy of a response to the first critique by John Harold.

Folder 68

1966 July-August

Folder 69

1966 1 September

Folder 70

1966 6 September-November

Folder 71-72

Folder 71

Folder 72

1967 January

Folder 73

1967 March

Folder 74

1967 May-June

Folder 75

1967 December

Folder 76

1968 March

Folder 77

1968 September

Folder 78

1968 October

Folder 79

1968 1-2 December

Folder 80

1968 3-30 December

Folder 81

1969 January-February

Folder 82

1969 March

Folder 83

1969 1-11 April

Folder 84

1969 12-30 April

Folder 85

1969 May-October

Folder 86-92

Folder 86

Folder 87

Folder 88

Folder 89

Folder 90

Folder 91

Folder 92

Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 7. North Carolina State University Department of Adult Education/Adult Right to Read Effort/University of North Carolina Office of Medical Studies, 1967-1981 and undated.

About 105 items.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 7.1. Correspondence, 1969-1981.

About 60 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly correspondence relating to N.C. State's Department of Adult Education where McCallister was a visiting professor in 1969, the National Task Force on the Adult Right to Read Effort, where McCallister served as executive director in 1970, and the University of North Carolina's office of Medical Studies where McCallister served as a consultant and later as deputy director from 1969 to 1972.

Folder 93

1969 October

Folder 94

1969 November-December

Folder 95

1970 January

Folder 96

1970 April

Folder 97

1970 May

Folder 98

1970 October-December

Folder 99

1971-1981

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 7.2. Notes and Writings, 1967-1971 and undated.

About 45 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Assorted items including two typed copies of speeches, "The Right to Read - Target for the 70's" and "The Educational Third Dimension," by U. S. Commissioner of Education James E. Allen, Jr., memos and notes on the strategy planning session and task force on the Adult Right to Read Effort, preprinted materials on adult education, minutes of the 22 October 1970 meeting of the Southern Regional Deans Group of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and photocopied reports on developing medical school curriculums.

Folder 100

1967-June 1969

Folder 101

August-September 1969

Folder 102

October 1969

Folder 103

November-December 1969

Folder 104

January 1970

Folder 105

February-March 1970

Folder 106

April 1970

Folder 107

May 1970

Folder 108

October 1970-1984

Folder 109

Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 8. Other Professional Organizations, 1944-1985 and undated.

About 125 items.

Arrangement: by organization.

Reports, brochures, and other photocopied material relating to numerous professional organizations in which McCallister was involved.

Folder 110

University of New York, Community Education Centers

Folder 111

Self Instructional Materials Project

Folder 112

Orange County (N.C.) Health and Medical Care Advisory Council

Folder 113

N.C. Institute of Medicine

Folder 114

Dept. of State, Division of Exchange of Persons

Folder 115

People-to-People

Folder 116

Adult Education Council of Chicago

Folder 117

Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship

Folder 118

SHHH (Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc.)

Folder 119

North Carolina Commission on Prepaid Health Plans

Folder 120

American Civil Liberties Union

Folder 121-139

Folder 121

Folder 122

Folder 123

Folder 124

Folder 125

Folder 126

Folder 127

Folder 128

Folder 129

Folder 130

Folder 131

Folder 132

Folder 133

Folder 134

Folder 135

Folder 136

Folder 137

Folder 138

Folder 139

Other Professional Organizations

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 9. Personal Materials, 1940-1985 and undated.

About 220 items.

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 9.1. Correspondence, 1940-1985 and undated.

About 80 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Chiefly letters between McCallister and his friends, including associates who continued a personal correspondence after their professional relationship ended. Included are a number of letters from Harold Howe and his wife while Howe was U. S. Commissioner of Education and afterwards. Also included are letters on family matters, including numerous letters between McCallister and his doctors regarding operations on his ears and other medical problems.

Folder 140

1940-1950

Folder 141

1951-1959

Folder 142

1960-1961

Folder 143

1962

Folder 144

1963

Folder 145

1965

Folder 146

1966

Folder 147

1967

Folder 148

1968

Folder 149

1969

Folder 150

1970-1976

Folder 151

1977-1980

Folder 152

1981-1983

Folder 153

1984-1985

Folder 154

Undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 9.2. Miscellaneous Items, 1936-1985 and undated.

About 60 items.

Financial statements, newspaper articles by or about McCallister and his family, copies of writings by or about Karl Menninger, handwritten notes, and other items.

Folder 155-165

Folder 155

Folder 156

Folder 157

Folder 158

Folder 159

Folder 160

Folder 161

Folder 162

Folder 163

Folder 164

Folder 165

Miscellaneous items, and undated.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subseries 9.3. Job Search Materials, 1949-1963 and undated.

About 80 items

Arrangement: chronological.

Letters to and from McCallister during several periods when he was searching for a job.

Folder 166

1949-Feb. 1961

Folder 167

March 1961

Folder 168

April 1961

Folder 169

May-December 1961

Folder 170

January-June 1962

Folder 171

July 1962

Folder 172

August-December 1962

Folder 173

1963

Folder 174

Undated

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