William C. Parker Papers Inventory (#4965-z)

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Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Collection Information
block Descriptive Summary Including Abstract
block Administrative Information
block Online Catalog Terms
block Biographical Note
block Collection Overview
plus Description
block Items Separated
Contact Information:
Manuscripts Department
CB#3926, Wilson Library
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890
Phone: 919/962-1345
Fax: 919/962-3594
Email: mss@email.unc.edu
URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/
Processed by
Linda Sellars
Date Completed
January 2000
Encoded by
Linda Sellars
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Descriptive Summary Including Abstract

Title
William C. Parker Papers (#4965-z) 1947-1949
Creator
Parker, William C. (William Covington).
Extent
8 items.
Repository
Southern Historical Collection
Abstract
William C. Parker was a corporate public relations executive, journalist, and graduate of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (A.B., 1949). The collection contains final typed drafts of profiles written by William C. Parker of Paul Green, Howard Odum, Betty Smith, and James H. Street; issues of Holland's magazine containing articles based on the profiles of Odum and Street; a typed draft of a description of the Chapel Hill writers' colony of the 1940s, which was to be the introduction to a projected book of profiles of writers; and a letter, 1 April 1949, from Betty Smith to Parker about her profile.
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Administrative Information

Access
No restrictions.
Usage Restrictions
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Provenance
Received from William C. Parker of Williamsburg, Va., in December 1998 (Acc. 98268).
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Online Catalog Terms

Authors, American--North Carolina--20th century.
Authors, American--North Carolina--Biography.
Chapel Hill (N.C.)--Intellectual life.
Green, Paul, 1894-1981.
Odum, Howard Washington, 1884-1954.
Parker, William C. (William Covington).
Smith, Betty, 1896-1972.
Street, James H. (James Howell), 1903-1954.
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Biographical Note

William Covington Parker graduated from high school in Albermarle, N.C., and entered the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1944 at the age of 16. He joined the Navy Air Corps in late 1945 and returned to Chapel Hill in September 1946. He graduated with a degree in English in 1949. After working as a journalist in New York for two years, Parker was a corporate public relations executive for 40 years, serving as head of corporate public relations for the Campbell Soup Company, FMC Corporation, and CPC International Inc. (renamed Bestfoods in 1998).

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Collection Overview

Final typed drafts of profiles written by William C. Parker of Paul Green, Howard Odum, Betty Smith, and James H. Street; issues of Holland's magazine containing articles based on the profiles of Odum and Street; a typed draft of a description of the Chapel Hill writers' colony of the 1940s, which was to be the introduction to a projected book of profiles of writers; and a letter, 1 April 1949, from Betty Smith to Parker about her profile.

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Description

Papers, 1947-1949.
8 items.
Final typed drafts of profiles written by William C. Parker of Paul Green, Howard Odum, Betty Smith, and James H. Street; issues of Holland's magazine containing articles based on the profiles of Odum and Street; a typed draft of a description of the Chapel Hill writers' colony of the 1940s, which was intended to be the introduction to a projected book of profiles of writers; and a letter, 1 April 1949, from Betty Smith to Parker about her profile.
Parker wrote these profiles in 1947, when he was a senior at the University of North Carolina. He began interviewing writers because he was interested in a career in writing. In the process, he became interested in biographical writing. He interviewed each of the four subjects of his profiles as well as doing library research about them. He gave the profiles to the subjects to read, change, correct, or modify. The profiles of Green, Odum, and Street were read and corrected by them. Parker then retyped the profiles, incorporating the changes and suggestions. The Betty Smith profile was never retyped. The draft includes Smith's notes, corrections, suggestions, and inserts that she typed herself.
   Folder 1
Introduction
   Folder 2
Green, Paul
   Folder 3
Odum, Howard W.
   Folder 4
Smith, Betty
   Folder 5
Street, James H.

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Items Separated

Items separated include oversized papers (OP-4965).