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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 | 120 items (0.5 linear feet) |
| Abstract | An instructor and coordinator of performing arts at Western Piedmont Community College in Morganton, N.C., Cheryl Oxford received her B.A. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her M.A. and Ph.D. at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. The collection includes materials that Cheryl Oxford collected and produced in conjunction with her Ph.D. dissertation, "They Call Him Lucky Jack: 3 Performance-Centered Case Studies of Storytelling in Watauga County, N.C." The focus of this research was the stories and performance paradigms of three traditional Appalachian Jack tale storytellers from North Carolina: Ray Hicks, Stanley Hicks, and Marshall Ward. Other regional tellers of Jack tales, both traditional and revival, including W. W. Rowland, Richard Chase, Frank Proffitt, Jr., Gwenda LedBetter, Doug Elliott, Orville Hicks, and Fred Armstrong-Park, were also documented as part of her research. The bulk of the materials are audio and video recordings of public performances and interviews, which include storytelling. Also included are story transcripts, published articles by Cheryl Oxford, and a copy of her dissertation. Most of the fieldwork was conducted during the summers of 1981 and 1982, with fieldwork and performance documentation continuing until 1988. The collection provides rich documentation of specific stories and storytelling performances by North Carolina regional storytellers and examples of the same story told by different tellers in the same region and the same story told by the same teller on different occasions. Audio and video recordings also contain a wealth of material on Appalachian traditional medicine, ghost stories, music, family genealogy, and folk customs and beliefs. Included is a rare performance of "Jack in the Lions' Den" by Marshall Ward. |
| Creator | Oxford, Cheryl. |
| Curatorial Unit | Southern Folklife Collection |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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Processing Information
Processed by: Elizabeth Matson, December 2002
Encoded by: Elizabeth Matson, December 2002
Updated by: Jodi Berkowitz, June 2017; Nancy Kaiser, February 2021
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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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Biographical Information
Cheryl Lynne Oxford was born in Morganton, N.C., on 8 February 1955. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she received a B.A. in speech and English education in 1977. As her honor essay in the Department of Speech Communications, she produced a one-woman readers' theater script incorporating poetry, letters, and biography to trace the life and career of Edna St. Vincent Millay. She received her M.A. in interpretation at Northwestern University in 1978. In 1987, she completed her Ph.D. dissertation, "They Call Him Lucky Jack: 3 Performance-Centered Case Studies of Storytelling in Watauga County, N.C.," in performance studies at Northwestern University. A regional folklorist with an emphasis on performance ethnography, Oxford has lived and worked most of her life in the foothills of Burke County, near Watauga County, the home territory of Ray Hicks, Stanley Hicks, W. W. Rowland, and Marshall Ward, the primary storytellers she interviewed and documented for her dissertation. Oxford is an instructor and coordinator of performing arts at Western Piedmont Community College in her hometown of Morganton, N.C.
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Scope and Content
The collection consists of fieldwork conducted by Cheryl Oxford for her Ph.D. dissertation, "They Call Him Lucky Jack: 3 Performance-Centered Case Studies of Storytelling in Watauga County, N.C.," on North Carolina Appalachian storytellers of Jack tales and related publications. Due to the performance-based emphasis of her studies, the fieldwork consists largely of audio and video recordings of both interviews and storytelling performances, with a small amount of accompanying written documentation and transcripts. The audio and video recordings include full interviews, public performances, and storytelling performances excerpted from the interviews. The fieldwork focuses on four of the acknowledged storytellers and tradition bearers of Watauga County, N.C.: Ray Hicks and Marshall Ward of Banner Elk, N.C., Stanley Hicks of Vilas, N.C., and W. W. Rowland of Waynesville, N.C. All four men have extended family connections to Council Harmon and the Beech Mountain, N.C., storytellers from whom Richard Chase collected Jack tales in the 1930s and 1940s. He later published these as The Jack Tales. The collection also includes documentation of performances by other regional storytellers, both traditional and revivalist, including Richard Chase, Frank Proffitt, Jr., Gwenda LedBetter, Doug Elliott, and Fred Armstrong-Park. The bulk of the fieldwork was conducted during the summers of 1981 and 1982, with fieldwork and performance documentation continuing until 1988.
The collection provides not only a rich documentation of specific stories and storytelling performances by regional storytellers, it also provides examples of the same story told by different tellers in the same region and the same story told by the same teller on different occasions.
The performance of "Jack in the Lions' Den" by Marshall Ward in this collection was included in Jack in Two Worlds (University of North Carolina Press, 1994) edited by William Bernard McCarthy, Cheryl Oxford, and Joseph Daniel Sobol.
The Addition of May 2017 includes transcripts of Jack tales told by Stanley Hicks, Marshall Ward, and others, as well as photographs and an audiocassette. Items have been interfiled with the original collection.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Writings, 1981-1987.
Fieldwork, including transcripts of stories performed in 1981 and 1982 by Ray Hicks, Stanley Hicks, W. W. Rowland, and Marshall Ward; a sample survey concerning Jack tale repertoire that was given to the storytellers; articles by Cheryl Oxford published in the North Carolina Folklore Journal; and a bound-copy of her dissertation, "They Call Him Lucky Jack: Three Performance-Centered Case Studies of Storytelling in Watauga County, North Carolina."
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Subseries 1.1. They Call Him Lucky Jack: Transcripts, Survey, and Addendum Transcripts, 1981-1982.
Unbound manuscript entitled "They Call Him Lucky Jack: Jack Tales, as told by 4 Traditional N.C. Storytellers: Marshall Ward, Stanley Hicks, Ray Hicks, W. W. Rowland," collected and transcribed by Cheryl Oxford in 1984. Transcripts are of the stories only, all of which are excerpted from fieldwork interviews conducted in the summers of 1981 and 1982. Performance times are given in minutes and seconds at the end of each transcript. A sample survey designed to gather information on the tellers' repertoire of Jack tales, an accompanying introductory letter, and copies of the release forms are included. An addendum to the manuscript consists of additional transcripts of stories told by Stanley Hicks. The manuscript provides transcripts of the same story told by different tellers as well as the same story told by the same teller on different occasions.
Story transcripts include:
Addendum Story Transcripts include:
For the story excerpts on video, see also: VT-20309/11 - VT-20309/12 (Marshall Ward).
For the full audio interviews, see also: FS-6146 - FS-6149 (Ray Hicks), FS-6153 - FS-6155 (Stanley Hicks), FS-6163 - FS-6164 (W. W. Rowland), and FS-6166 - FS-6167 (Marshall Ward).
For the audio story excerpts corresponding to these transcripts, see also: FT-9851 - FT-9856 (Ray Hicks, Stanley Hicks, W. W. Rowland, Marshall Ward).
Folder 1-3
Folder 1Folder 2Folder 3 |
"They Call Him Lucky Jack": Transcripts, Survey, and Addendum Transcripts |
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Subseries 1.2. North Carolina Folklore Journal, 1989-1991
North Carolina Folklore Journal include articles written by Cheryl Oxford on Stanley Hicks and Ray Hicks, based on the fieldwork materials in this collection. Her article "The Storyteller as Craftsman: Stanley Hicks telling 'Jack and the Bull'" in the Summer-Fall 1989 issue won the 1988 Cratis D. Williams Prize. The Summer-Fall 1991 issue also includes a book review written by Cheryl Oxford on a book that relates tangentially to this collection. The articles are largely excerpts from her dissertation and include poetic-style story transcriptions. Photographs not otherwise represented in the collection are included with the articles.
| Folder 4 |
North Carolina Folklore Journal, Vol. 36, No. 2, Summer-Fall 1989 |
| Folder 5 |
North Carolina Folklore Journal, Vol. 28, No. 2, Summer-Fall 1991 |
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Subseries 1.3. Dissertation: They Call Him Lucky Jack, 1987.
Bound copy of Cheryl Oxford's dissertation for her Ph.D. in the field of performance studies from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. She centers her study on the stories and performance paradigms of Marshall Ward, Stanley Hicks, and Ray Hicks, based on the fieldwork material included in this collection.
| Folder 6 |
"They Call Him Lucky Jack: Three performance-centered case studies of storytelling in Watauga County, North Carolina," Northwestern University, 1987. |
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Subseries 1.4 Addition of May 2017 (Acc. 103058).
The Addition of May 2017 includes transcripts of Jack tales told by Stanley Hicks, Marshall Ward, and others.
| Folder 10 |
The Carolinas Speech Communication Annual, Volume VI, 1990 |
| Folder 11 |
Marshall Ward telling "Sop Doll" |
| Folder 12 |
"Now This is the Land of Jack" |
| Folder 13 |
Stanley Hicks telling "Unlucky Jack, Lucky Jack" |
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Series 2. Western Piedmont Community College Performance Series, 1984-1985.
Arrangement: alphabetical by storyteller.
In 1984 and 1985, Western Piedmont Community College in Morganton, N.C., where Cheryl Oxford works as an instructor and coordinator of performing arts, sponsored a series of storytelling performances. This series consists of the posters and newspaper articles relating to performances by Doug Elliott, Ray Hicks (accompanied by his nephew Frank Proffitt, Jr.), and Stanley Hicks.
For photographs and video recordings of Doug Elliott's performance on 21 March 1985, see also P-4392 - P-4395, Series 3.2 Negatives and Contact Sheets, and VT-20309/3.
For photographs and video recordings of Ray Hicks' performance on 15 October 1985, see also P-4399 - P-4401 and VT-20309/8 - VT-20309/9.
For an audio recording of Stanley Hicks' performance on 25 February 1985, see also FS-6157.
| Folder 7 |
Doug Elliott, 21 March 1985 |
| Folder 8 |
Ray Hicks, 15 October 1984 |
| Folder 9 |
Stanley Hicks, 25 February 1985 |
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Series 3. Photographs, Negatives, and Contact Sheets, 1981-1988 and undated.
Photographs of Doug Elliott, Ray Hicks, and W. W. Rowland. Photographs consist of posed shots as well as shots taken while the subjects were telling stories in public concerts at Western Piedmont Community College and during fieldwork interviews with Cheryl Oxford.
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Subseries 3.1. Photographs, 1981-1988 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical by storyteller.
Photographs of Doug Elliott include a publicity photo and shots from his 21 March 1985 performance at Western Piedmont Community College in Morganton, N.C. Photographs of Ray Hicks show him at home, in performance at Western Piedmont Community College in Morganton, N.C., on 15 October 1984 and at another unspecified location, and in a close-up pose. Photographs of W. W. Rowland are at his home in Waynesville, N.C., during a fieldwork interview with Cheryl Oxford on 8 June 1981.
Negatives are available of the following photographs: P-4392, P-4393, P-4394, P-4395, P-4402, P-4403, P-4404.
For additional material relating to the photographs of Doug Elliott, see also Series 2.2 Western Piedmont Community College Performance Series, 1985-1985, Series 3.2 Negatives and Contact Sheets, and VT-20309/3.
For additional material relating to the photographs of Ray Hicks, see also Series 2.2 Western Piedmont Community College Performance Series, 1984-1985 and VT-20309/8 - VT-20309/9.
For additional material relating to the photographs of W. W. Rowland, see also FS-6163 and FT-9855.
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Subseries 3.2. Negatives and Contact Sheets, 1981 and 1985.
Negatives corresponding to W. W. Rowland's interview photographs, 8 June 1981 (P-4402 - P-4404) and Doug Elliott's performance photographs at Western Piedmont Community College, 21 March 1985 (P-4392 - P-4395). The contact sheets and corresponding negatives are from Doug Elliott's 21 March 1985 performance at Western Piedmont Community College and include additional material not otherwise represented in photographic prints.
Image Folder PF-20309/5-6
PF-20309/5PF-20309/6 |
Negatives and Contact Sheets |
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Series 4. Video Recordings, 1981-1984 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical by storyteller.
Video recordings of public storytelling performances, fieldwork interviews, classroom presentations, and stories excerpted from fieldwork interviews. Richard Chase, Gwenda LedBetter, Doug Elliott, Frank Proffitt, Jr., and Ray Hicks are featured in recordings of live public performances (see also P-4392 - P-4395, P-4399 - P-4401, and Western Piedmont Community College Performance Series for related performance material). An interview with Ray Hicks at his home is recorded in full on four videotapes (see also FS-6150). Frank Proffitt, Jr., gives a presentation for an English class that features both music and stories, including a rendition of his uncle Ray Hick's original story of "Jack and Ray's Hunting Trip" (which Proffitt calls "Jack's Hunting Trip"). The videos of Marshall Ward excerpt performances of "Jack in the Lions' Den" and "Sop Doll" from his 11 July 1981 interview with Cheryl Oxford (see also FS-6166 - FS-6167, FT-9856, and Series 1.1 "They Call Him Lucky Jack": Transcripts, Survey, and Addendum Transcripts for related material).
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Series 5. Audio Recordings, 1981-1985 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical by storyteller.
Audio recordings include public storytelling performances, full fieldwork interviews, and stories excerpted from the full fieldwork interviews. Audio recordings of public performances are available of Fred Armstrong-Park, Richard Chase, Stanley Hicks, and Gwenda LedBetter. Full fieldwork interviews were conducted by Cheryl Oxford with Orville Hicks, Ray Hicks, Stanley Hicks, W. W. Rowland, and Marshall Ward. From those interviews, tapes of selected story excerpts were made with Ray Hicks, Stanley Hicks, W. W. Rowland, and Marshall Ward. Tapes FS-6168 - FS-6172 appear to have been given to Cheryl Oxford and have limited identifying information.
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Subseries 5.1. Field Tapes, 1981-1985 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical by storyteller.
Acquisitions information: FS-20309/16776 received as Addition of May 2017 (Acc. 103058).
Audio recordings on cassette tapes of public performances include Fred Armstrong-Park, Richard Chase, Stanley Hicks, and Gwenda LedBetter. Audio recordings of full interviews conducted by Cheryl Oxford feature Orville Hicks, Ray Hicks, Stanley Hicks, W. W. Rowland, and Marshall Ward. Tapes provide examples of performances of the same story by different tellers as well as the same story by the same teller on different occasions. All field tapes are arranged in alphabetical order by storyteller.
See also FT-9851 - FT-9856 for recordings of selected stories excerpted from the interviews with Ray Hicks, Stanley Hicks, W. W. Rowland, and Marshall Ward.
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6142 |
Fred Armstrong-Park, Richard Chase Day, Franklin, N.C.Audiocassette "Jack and the Factor" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6143 |
Richard Chase, Henderson, N.C., 2 July 1981Audiocassette |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6144 |
Richard Chase, Asheville, N.C., 25 July 1981Audiocassette "Soap, Soap, Soap" "Sody Sallyratus" "The Baby Bumblebee" "Mr. Punch and Bobo" "Gallymanders, Gallymanders" "The Little Red Box" "Jack and the Robbers" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6145 |
Orville Hicks and Ray Hicks, 19 May 1984Audiocassette "Jack and the Magic Mountain" (Orville Hicks) "How Jack Beat the Devil" (Orville Hicks) Tales of the supernatural (Ray Hicks) |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6146 |
Ray Hicks, 12 July 1981: tape 1 of 2Audiocassette "Hardy Hardhead" "Heifer Hide" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6147 |
Ray Hicks, 12 July 1981: tape 2 of 2Audiocassette "Jack and the Varmints" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6148 |
Ray Hicks, 15 August 1982: tape 1 of 2Audiocassette "Jack and Ray's Hunting Trip" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6149 |
Ray Hicks, 15 August 1982: tape 2 of 2Audiocassette "Jack and Ray's Hunting Trip" (continued) "Jack and the Doctor's Girl" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6150 |
Ray Hicks, 16 September 1984Audiocassette "Jack and Ray's Hunting Trip" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6151 |
Ray Hicks, storytelling class' vist, 16 November 1985Audiocassette Ghost Stories and ghost and panther lore |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6152 |
Ray Hicks and Stanley Hicks, 19 May 1984Audiocassette Mountain herbs and folk medicine (Ray Hicks) "Ditto" (Stanley Hicks) "Cast a Sheep's Eye at Her" (Stanley Hicks) "Cucklepea and His Sister" (Stanley Hicks) |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6153 |
Stanley Hicks, Vilas, N.C., 6 July 1981: tape 1 of 2Audiocassette "Cucklepea and His Sister" "The Gold Hog" Haunted house tale Family anecdotes True tales Dulcimer and banjo playing Hunting and fishing tales Moonshine stories Indian tales Wedding night pranks |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6154 |
Stanley Hicks, Vilas, N.C., 6 July 1981: tape 2 of 2Audiocassette "Cat 'N Mouse" "The Big Toe" True story Irishmen story Haint tale Banjo playing |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6155 |
Stanley Hicks, Vilas, N.C., 12 June 1982Audiocassette "Unlucky Jack, Lucky Jack" "Jack and the Bull" Fill, Bowl, Fill "Cat 'N Mouse" "Jack and the Nor'west Wind" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6156 |
Stanley Hicks, Vilas, N.C., 18 May 1984Audiocassette "Cat 'N Mouse" "Jack and the Bull" Banjo and dulcimer music |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6157 |
Stanley Hicks, performance at Western Piedmont Community College, Morganton, N.C., 25 February 1985Audiocassette |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6158 |
Stanley Hicks, 16 November 1985: tape 1 of 2Audiocassette |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6159 |
Stanley Hicks, 16 November 1985: tape 2 of 2Audiocassette "Gold Hog" "Pet Catfish" "Preacher and the Bear" "The Big Toe" "Old Fire Dragaman" "The Civet Cat Tale" "The Polecat Tale" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6160 |
Gwenda LedBetter, Asheville, N.C., 17 June 1981Audiocassette |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6161 |
Gwenda LedBetter, performance at Lees-McRae College, Banner Elk, N.C., 12 July 1981Audiocassette "The Tailor's Coat" "Jack and the Bean Tree" "The Tailor and the Haunted Castle" "Grandpappy Sparks' Coon Hunting" "Because of the Ball" "Lucky Jack" (Irish) "Devil's Nine Questions" "Granny Frowne" "Sop Doll" "Messengers at the Window" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6162 |
Gwenda LedBetter, Richard Chase Day, Franklin, N.C.Audiocassette "Jack and the Robbers" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6163 |
W. W. Rowland, 8 June 1981Audiocassette "Catskins" "Heifer Hide" Family background |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6164 |
W. W. Rowland, Waynesville, N.C., 7 July 1982Audiocassette "Cat 'N Mouse" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6165 |
W. W. Rowland, Waynesville, N.C., 25 July 1984Audiocassette "Sop Doll" "Catskins" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6166 |
Marshall Ward, Banner Elk, N.C., 11 July 1981: tape 1 of 2Audiocassette "Jack in the Lions' Den" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6167 |
Marshall Ward, Banner Elk, N.C., 11 July 1981: tape 2 of 2Audiocassette "Sop Doll" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/16776 |
Marhsall Ward and W. W. Rowland, 7 October 1989Audiocassette Received as Addition of May 2017 (Acc. 103058) Ghost stories (Ward) and witches (Rowland) |
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Subseries 5.2. Stories Excerpted from Interviews, 1981-1982.
Arrangement: alphabetical by storyteller.
The stories on these open-reel tapes were excerpted by Cheryl Oxford from the full interview tapes of FS-6146 - FS-6149 (Ray Hicks), FS-6155 (Stanley Hicks), FS-6163 - FS-6164 (W. W. Rowland), and FS-6166 - FS-6167 (Marshall Ward). See also Series 1: Writings for transcriptions of these stories. Further related material can be found in VT-20309/11 - VT-20309/12 (Marshall Ward) and in P-4402 - P-4404 (W. W. Rowland).
| SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20309/9851 |
Ray Hicks, 12 July 19811/4" Open Reel Audio "The Heifer Hide" "Hardy Hardhead" |
| SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20309/9852 |
Ray Hicks, 12 July 1981 and 15 August 19821/4" Open Reel Audio "Jack and the Varmints" (12 July 1981) "Jack and Ray's Hunting Trip" (15 August 1982) |
| SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20309/9853 |
Ray Hicks, 15 August 19821/4" Open Reel Audio "Jack and the Doctor's Girl" |
| SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20309/9854 |
Stanley Hicks, 12 June 19821/4" Open Reel Audio "Unlucky Jack, Lucky Jack" "Jack and the Bull" "Fill, Bowl, Fill" "Cat 'N Mouse" "Jack and the Nor'west Wind" |
| SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20309/9855 |
W. W. Rowland, 8 June 1981 and July 19821/4" Open Reel Audio "The Heifer Hide" (8 June 1981) "Cat 'N Mouse" (July 1982) |
| SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20309/9856 |
Marshall Ward, 11 July 19811/4" Open Reel Audio "Jack in the Lions' Den" "Sop Doll" |
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Subseries 5.3. Other Tapes.
The tapes in this series may have been given to Cheryl Oxford and have limited accompanying identifying information. The storytellers on three of the tapes appear to be Ray Hicks and Stanley Hicks.
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6168 |
Leonard Roberts' performance for Jack in Two Worlds: tape 1 of 2Audiocassette "Raglif Jaglif Tetarlif Pole" |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6169 |
Leonard Roberts: tape 2 of 2Audiocassette |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6170 |
Ray [Hicks] and Stanley [Hicks]Audiocassette |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6171 |
Ray [Hicks] at NAPPS [National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling, now known as the National Storytelling Association]Audiocassette |
| SFC Audio Cassette FS-20309/6172 |
Ray [Hicks], Bobby, and Stanley [Hicks]Audiocassette |
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Items Separated
Photographs (PF-20309/1-6 (formerly P-4391 - P-4404))
Video recordings (VT-20309/1 - VT-20309/12)
Audio recordings (FS-6142 - FS-6172 and FT-9851 - FT-9856)
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