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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 Duplication Policy section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 2.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1500 items) |
| Abstract | The North Carolina Folklore Society was organized in 1912 at the instigation of the American Folklore Society and Frank C. Brown (1870-1943) "for such literary and educational purposes as the study of folklore, and especially the collection, preservation, and publication of the folklore of North Carolina." Brown, a white academic who collected folk songs and folklore of North Carolina, was secretary-treasurer, 1913-1943. He was succeeded by Arthur Palmer Hudson (1892-1978), who served until 1964. Hudson, a white professor of English, 1930-1953, and executive secretary of the Curriculum in Folklore, 1950-1963, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, established the Society's journal, North Carolina Folklore, in 1954 and edited it until 1963. The collection includes reports of council meetings and annual meetings, treasurers' records, correspondence, and other records of the North Carolina Folklore Society. For 1912-1938, records of council meetings and annual meetings are almost complete. There is, however, little financial information and no correspondence from before 1926. Treasurer's records and reports of annual meetings are complete for the years of Arthur Palmer Hudson's secretary-treasurership, 1943-1964, but reports of council meetings are sporadic, and there is little correspondence for this period. Documentation, 1964-1976, is primarily limited to correspondence concerning publication of North Carolina Folklore and to amendments to the Society's constitution in 1970. Additional material received in October 2001 primarily contains programs, minutes, and select audio recordings of annual meetings, 1964-1996; financial records, 1976-1997; and applications and reports, 1968-1994, for grants received by the Society from the North Carolina Arts Council. Also included are some files about the history of the Society, the North Carolina Folklore Journal, awards given by the Society, and other activities of the Society, as well as audio recordings of the 83rd Annual North Carolina Folklore Society Meeting. |
| Creator | North Carolina Folklore Society. |
| Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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Processing Information
Processed by: Sandy Nyberg, June 1984
Encoded by: Linda Sellars, July 2002
Updated by: Anne Wells, May 2020
Since 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
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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.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Related Collections
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Historical Information
The North Carolina Folklore Society was organized in the fall of 1912 at the instigation of the American Folklore Society and Frank C. Brown (1870-1943). The first annual meeting was held on 24 March 1913. According to the Constitution (amended 1970), "the Society shall be organized and operated ... for such literary and educational purposes as the study of Folklore, and especially the collection, preservation, and publication of the folklore of North Carolina."
The Society's first two secretary-treasurers strongly influenced its development. Frank C. Brown was the inaugural president, and later secretary-treasurer, 1913-1943. held the position from 1913 to 1943. He was succeeded by Arthur Palmer Hudson (1892-1978), who served until 1964. Hudson guided the Society in its first major publication, The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore. He also established the Society's journal, North Carolina Folklore, in 1948. Hudson edited this journal until 1963.
Daniel W. Patterson succeeded Hudson as secretary-treasurer, serving from 1965 to 1966. Later secretary-treasurers have been Richard Walser, Leonidas Betts, Harry C. West, and Thomas McGowan. Editors of North Carolina Folklore (the title changed to North Carolina Folklore Journal with volume 21, 1973) have included Guy Owen, Richard Walser, Leonidas Betts, Rogers Whitener, and Thomas McGowan.
Further information on the early organization of the North Carolina Folklore Society is available in Theodore Barry Buermann's "A History of the North Carolina Folklore Society," M.A. thesis, English, University of North Carolina, 1963.
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Scope and Content
The content of the original deposit of records of the North Carolina Folklore Society, organized for the study of folklore in North Carolina, was largely determined by their collector and donor, Arthur Palmer Hudson, a white professor of English, 1930-1953, and executive secretary of the Curriculum in Folklore, 1950-1963, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When Hudson undertook the position of secretary-treasurer in 1943, certain records once held by Frank C. Brown were turned over to him. Consequently, there is an almost complete record of council and annual meetings from 1912 to 1938. There is very little financial information from before 1926. There is also no correspondence for this early period.
Treasurers' records and reports of annual meetings are complete for the years of Hudson's secretary-treasurership, 1943-1964. Reports of council meetings are sporadic, however, and there is little correspondence from this period, except for 1964.
Documentation of the Society, 1964-1976, is primarily limited to correspondence concerning publication of North Carolina Folklore and to amendments made to the Society's constitution in 1970.
Additional material received in October 2001 primarily contains programs, minutes, and select audio recordings of annual meetings, 1964-1996; financial records, 1976-1997; and applications and reports, 1968-1994, for grants received by the Society from the North Carolina Arts Council. Also included are some files about the history of the Society, the North Carolina Folklore Journal, awards given by the Society, and other activities of the Society, as well as audio recordings of the 83rd Annual North Carolina Folklore Society Meeting.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Organizational Material, 1912-1974.
Primarily minutes of meetings, membership lists, and the constitution of the North Carolina Folklore Society.
Material from 1912 to 1938 was received by Arthur Palmer Hudson when he assumed the position of secretary-treasurer in 1943. It is arranged chronologically. Included is a copy of the earliest constitution, minutes of annual and council meetings, treasurer's reports, and occasional programs for annual meetings.
The remainder of the material was accumulated by A. P. Hudson from 1943 to 1974. The bulk of the material is from the period 1943 to 1964, when Hudson served as secretary-treasurer of the Society.
| Folder 1 |
1912-1920 |
| Folder 2 |
1921-1938 |
| Folder 3 |
Amendments to the constitution, 1970-1972 |
| Folder 4 |
Council meeting material, 1964, 1966, 1973-1974 |
| Folder 5 |
Minutes of annual meetings, 1943-1965 |
| Folder 6 |
Membership lists, 1957-1970 |
| Folder 7 |
Miscellaneous notes relating to North Carolina folklore items |
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Series 2. Correspondence, 1962-1975.
Arrangement: chronological.
Primarily letters to or from the secretary-treasurer of the North Carolina Folklore Society and the editor of North Carolina Folklore. Arthur Palmer Hudson and Daniel W. Patterson were secretary-treasurers until 1966; most of the early correspondence is to or from one of them and concerns subscriptions, dues, and annual meetings (especially the 1964 meeting). Most of the later correspondence is directed to Richard Walser as editor of North Carolina Folklore. Included as an attachment is a story dictated by North Carolina Governor Robert W. Scott in 1970, "The Governor Fowles Ghost Story."
| Folder 8 |
1962-October 1964 |
| Folder 9 |
November 1964-1966 |
| Folder 10 |
1967-1975 |
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Series 3. Financial Records, 1926-1971.
Treasurer's ledgers contain accounts of expenditures and income. Included are lists of subscribers to North Carolina Folklore and of members paying dues. Treasurer's Ledger No. 1, 1912-1925, was reported as missing by A. P. Hudson in 1965.
| Folder 11 |
No. 2, 1926-1944 |
| Folder 12 |
No. 3, 1945-1961 |
| Folder 13 |
No. 4, 1962-1971 |
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Series 4. Printed Material, 1964-1976.
Primarily newsletters, programs, and miscellaneous publicity items. Included are newsletters issued between 1966 and 1974; programs of annual meetings from 1964 and 1971-1976; and miscellaneous newspaper clippings concerning folklore or the North Carolina Folklore Society. Programs for annual meetings from 1971 to 1976 include treasurer's reports.
| Folder 14 |
Newsletters |
| Folder 15 |
Programs of annual meetings |
| Folder 16 |
Miscellaneous items |
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Addition of October 2001 (Acc. 99108), 1948-1999.
Materials in this addition have not been fully processed. They have been re-foldered, retaining file titles assigned by the North Carolina Folklore Society, and they have been put in order paralleling the organization of the original collection.
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Subseries 1. Organizational Files and Audio Recordings, 1948-1996.
Arrangement: Files arranged by subject. Audio recordings listed last.
Mostly organizational materials related to the Society's annual meetings, including the secretary-treasurers' reports on the Society's finances and audio recordings of the 83rd Annual North Carolina Folklore Society Meeting. Also contains files for Culture Week.
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Subseries 2. Correspondence, 1977-1978, 1996.
| Folder 58 |
Correspondence, 1996 |
| Folder 59 |
Abrams, Doc |
| Folder 60 |
Mayberry, Lena |
| Folder 61 |
Oprisan, Horia |
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Subseries 3. Financial Records, 1968-1999.
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Subseries 4. Printed Material.
| Folder 99 |
Flyers and brochure |
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Items Separated
Audiocassettes (FS-1191-1194)
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