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This collection has use 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 | 32.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 4,500 items) |
| Abstract | Folklorist Daniel W. Patterson (1928- ) Kenan Professor Emeritus of English and the former chair of the Curriculum in Folklore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Patterson played a pivotal role in the development of the Southern Folklife Collection (SFC), which opened to researchers in 1989. He has published several books about North Carolina folk life, southern traditional and religious folk music, Shaker art and music, and other topics. Folklorist Beverly Bush Patterson, born Beverly Bush in Mineola, Tex. She served on the North Carolina Arts Council, from 1992 until her retirement from the position in 2004, when she took the position of Executive Director of the North Carolina Folklife Institute. One of her focuses was southern religious music. The Pattersons have often collaborated in their work and research. They were both involved as consultants with Tom Davenport on his folklife films and also worked with Davenport on the Folkstreams project and website for streaming folklife documentary films. Daniel and Beverly Patterson collaborated with Jim Peacock and Ruel Tyson on the World and Identity Primitive Baptist collection. Another well-known collaboration was the Index of Selected Folk Recordings Project, which provided access via microfiche to over 500 albums with information on individual songs now held by the Southern Folklife Collection. The collection includes letters, subject files, films, photographs and slides of folk musicians and folk traditions, audio recordings of music (including field tapes), videotapes about folklore topics, and other materials involving Daniel and Beverly Patterson, independent film maker Tom Davenport, and others, including Bobby McMillon working together or independently to produce films, books, and other materials about life in the mountains; Sacred Harp singing; the Shakers, including interviews with Shakers and field recordings of Shaker music and songs; the legend of Frankie Silver; folk music and folklore; and other topics. SFC material traces its history from 1960s folk archive, through the acquisition of the John Edwards Memorial Collection in 1983, and the opening of the SFC in 1989 at the Sounds of the South conference. There are also student papers that were written by Daniel Patterson's students in the Curriculum in Folklore. Correspondents include folklorist and writer Archie Green; writer D. K. Wilgus and wife Eleanor R. Long Wilgus; Ralph Steele Boggs, founder of the Curriculum in Folklore at UNC in 1939; professor Cecelia Conway; publisher Hugh McGraw; folklorist Bobby McMillon; archaeologist Stanley South; novelist Russell Banks; composer Thomas N. Rice; blues collector and record producer Peter B. Lowry; and professor John Garst. Some materials relate to religious tunebook compilers, including John G. McCurry, who wrote a shape-note songbook in 1855 that Patterson and Garst republished in 1973. Subject files contain materials about religious songs; religious groups and movements such as the Primitive Baptists; music styles; religious tunebooks; and many other topics. |
| Creator | Patterson Daniel W. (Daniel Watkins)
Patterson, Beverly Bush, 1939- |
| 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.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
Folklorist Daniel W. Patterson (1928- ) was a professor in English and Folklore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for many years. He is Kenan Professor Emeritus of English and a former chair of the Curriculum in Folklore at UNC-Chapel Hill. Patterson played a pivotal role in the development of UNC-Chapel Hill's Southern Folklife Collection, which opened to researchers in 1989. He has published several books, most of which relate to North Carolina folklife, southern traditional and religious folk music, or Shaker art and music. Patterson has also collaborated with independent film maker Tom Davenport on several documentaries relating to these subjects.
Folklorist Beverly Bush Patterson, born Beverly Bush in Mineola, Tex., earned an A.B. from Baylor University, specializing in Music; a Master of Arts degree from SUNY-Binghampton in Ethnomusicology; and a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology with a minor in Folklore at UNC-Chapel Hill. She was also known as Beverly B. Boggs from an earlier marriage. Beverly Bush Patterson served on the North Carolina Arts Council, from 1992 until her retirement from that position in 2004, when she took the post of Executive Director of the North Carolina Folklife Institute. One of her focuses was southern religious music. She is the author of The Sound of the Dove: Singing in Appalachian Primitive Baptist Churches .
The Pattersons have often collaborated in their work and research. They were both involved as consultants with Tom Davenport on his folklife films and also worked with Davenport on the Folkstreams project and website for streaming folklife documentary films. Daniel and Beverly Patterson collaborated with Jim Peacock and Ruel Tyson on the World and Identity Primitive Baptist collection. Another well-known collaboration for Daniel and Beverly Patterson was the Index of Selected Folk Recordings Project, which provided access via microfiche to over 500 albums with information on individual songs now held by the SFC.
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Scope and Content
The collection includes material from several projects from 1963 to 2001, of folklorists Daniel Patterson and Beverly Bush Patterson (born Beverly Bush) of Chapel Hill, N.C. Materials cover folk music, gospel music, southern music, and religious music, among other topics. For the most part, the order of the materials was established by the donor, and original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
The series were arranged first by specific subjects: Tom Davenport films and related material; the legend of Frankie Silver; the Shakers; Sounds of the South (conference and book); the development of the Southern Folklife Collection; and Daniel Patterson's students' papers along with sound recordings he used in class when he taught folklore classes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Following the subject series, material is arranged by format: correspondence, subject files, pictures, audio material, and video material. Researchers are advised tbat topics may be covered in several series.
The material in the Davenport films series relates to Davenport Films and projects on which independent film maker Tom Davenport and Dan Patterson collaborated. Films discussed include Being a Joines: A Life in the Brushy Mountains (with Beverly Bush Patterson); The Shakers; A Singing Stream; and a film about Sacred Harp singing.
The legend of Frankie Silver series contains material related to the folk legends, history, and projects about Frankie Silver. Daniel and Beverly Patterson, along with Tom Davenport, worked on a documentary with Bobby McMillon called The Ballad of Frankie Silver. Daniel Patterson went on to write a book called A Tree Accurst: Bobby McMillon and Stories of Frankie Silver (2000).
Daniel Patterson has worked on several projects related to the Shakers religious sect. The Shakers was a film made with Tom Davenport in 1974. Patterson has written two books about the Shakers. Gift Drawing and Gift Song: a Study of Two Forms of Shaker Inspiration was published in 1983, and centers on the Shakers' distinctive art and music. The Shaker Spiritual was published in 1979 (new edition 2000). This book concentrates on Shaker music. Correspondents in the Shaker series include Sister R. Mildred Barker and Brother Theodore E. Johnson of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community in New Gloucester, Me.; Robert F. W. Meader, director of the Shaker Museum in Old Chatham, N.Y.; Frank Sierra, collector of information on song manuscripts; professor Robert P. Emlen; and June Sprigg of the Hancock Shaker Village. Audio material related to the Shakers includes interviews with Shaker members and field recordings of Shaker music and songs.
Sounds of the South was a conference held in April 1989 at the UNC-Chapel Hill to mark the opening of the Southern Folklife Collection, which Daniel Patterson had helped to establish. Items related to the conference include correspondence with speech contributors and transcriptions of the speeches. The speeches made at this conference were later published as in a book, also titled Sounds of the South . Patterson edited the book, which was published in 1991.
A series about the development of the Southern Folklife Collection traces its history from its time as a folk archive in the 1960s, through the acquisition of the John Edwards Memorial Collection in 1983, and its development into the Southern Folklife Collection in 1989. Correspondents include folklorist and writer Archie Green; writer and donor D. K. Wilgus and his wife, Eleanor R. Long Wilgus; and Ralph Steele Boggs, founder of the Curriculum in Folklore at the University of North Carolina in 1939.
Student papers were written by Patterson's Curriculum in Folklore students. Subjects include religious music, folk legends, and folk musicians. Included with these papers is a paper by Patterson on shape-note singing.
The correspondence series includes letters from professor Cecelia Conway; publisher Hugh McGraw; folklorist Bobby McMillon; archaeologist Stanley South; novelist Russell Banks; composer Thomas N. Rice; Ralph Steele Boggs; and professor John Garst. Some correspondence is arranged by subject, including that of religious tunebook compilers such as John G. McCurry, who wrote a shape-note songbook called The Social Harp in 1855. Patterson and John Garst published a facsimile of this book in 1973. In 1978, a recording of some of the songs from The Social Harp was made by Rounder Records, featuring notes by Patterson.
The subject files series includes materials related to religious song with information on specific religious groups and movements such as the Primitive Baptists, music styles such as Sacred Harp, religious music compilers, and religious tunebooks. Subject files about Patterson's involvement in several projects related to folklife and folk music include information on Arts in Earnest; Diversities of Gifts; and the Index of Selected Folk Recordings (1984).
Pictures include photographs and slides of folk musicians and folk traditions.
Audio material includes miscellaneous music and field recordings: Social Harp and Christian Harmony recordings, gospel music, folk music, and interviews.
Video material includes mostly documentaries about folklore topics.
Note that original arrangement and folder titles have, for the most part, been retained. Because there is some content overlap among series, researchers should check multiple series for materials of interest.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Davenport Films and related material, 1972-1999 and undated.
The material in this series spans from 1972 to 1999 and relates to Davenport Films and projects on which independent film maker Tom Davenport, Dan Patterson, and Beverly Bush Patterson collaborated. The Pattersons worked as consultants with Tom Davenport on most of his films, all of which have a connection to folklife or folk stories and many are documentaries on folk music and folk musicians. The series includes correspondence related to the development of the films and film grants, tape logs, photographs, and information about other folk life documentaries. Films discussed include Being a Joines: A Life in the Brushy Mountains ; The Shakers; A Singing Stream about the Landis family's musical traditions; and When My Work is Over: the Life and Stories of Louise Anderson. Other projects include Davenport's retelling of children's fairy tales in the Brothers Grimm series, an abandoned project about the Primitive Baptist Church, and a film about sacred harp singing.
Audio and video material in this series includes a video of Being a Joines ; audio recordings of Landis family members' music; and unedited footage and other video related to the Sacred Harp video project.
Note that original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
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Series 2. Legend of Frankie Silver, 1822-2000 (bulk 1995-2000) and undated.
Folder 24 contains a detailed list of the folders in this section that was created by the Pattersons.
This series contains material related to the folk legends, history, and projects about Frankie Silver. In 1833, Frankie Silver of Burke County, N.C., was executed for the murder of her husband. The story gave rise to folk ballads, legends, and much historical research over the years. Daniel and Beverly Patterson, along with filmmaker Tom Davenport, worked on a documentary with Bobby McMillon, a singer, storyteller, and descendant of the Silver family, about the legend called The Ballad of Frankie Silver. Daniel Patterson went on to write a book in 2000 entitled A Tree Accurst: Bobby McMillon and Stories of Frankie Silver . The Pattersons also have written papers on the topic. This series includes research materials on the legend and similar legends and ballads, correspondence related to Frankie Silver and the video, and copies of historical documents and news items dating from 1822 to the 1950s. The Pattersons also researched interpretations and discussions of the legend, the Silver family, and its descendants.
Audio material includes music related to the Frankie Silver ballad, spoken versions of the folk legend, field recordings of Bobby McMillon singing ballads, and several interviews with McMillon. Video material includes documentaries about and dramatic interpretations of the Frankie Silver legend.
Note that original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
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Series 3. Shaker material, 1780-2001 and undated.
Patterson has worked on several projects related to the religious sect known as the Shakers. The Shakers were founded in the late 18th century, reached their peak membership between 1830 and 1840, and eventually declined in number. During that time, they became known for the simple and practical style they applied to furniture, art, and music.
In 1974, Patterson made The Shakers with film maker Tom Davenport of Davenport Films. Patterson has written two books about the Shakers. Gift Drawing and Gift Song: a Study of Two Forms of Shaker Inspiration (1983) and centers on the Shakers' distinctive art and music. The Shaker Spiritual (1979) was re-released as a new edition in 2000. This book concentrates on Shaker music.
This series contains correspondence, Patterson's subject files and notes, printed material and clippings, and pictures related to the Shakers, their art and music, and Patterson's books. Note that original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
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Subseries 3.1. Correspondence and Related Material, 1960-2001 and undated.
Folder 64 contains Patterson's detailed correspondence list. Patterson made carbon copies of many of the letters he sent. Patterson corresponded with Shakers, people who had lived with the Shakers, people who wrote about the Shakers, and people interested in Shaker music or art. There is correspondence related to his book The Shaker Spiritual , including information about its re-publication. Correspondents include Sister R. Mildred Barker and Brother Theodore Johnson of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community in New Gloucester, Me.; Robert F. W. Meader, director of the Shaker Museum in Old Chatham, N.Y.; people at Rounder Records (Bill Nowlin, Sabbathday Lake Shakers, and others) on the production of Round 0078, Early Shaker Spirituals with grant information, reports, contracts, and other materials; Frank Sierra, friend of the Sabbathday Lake Shakers and collector of information on song manuscripts; Robert P. Emlen of Brown University and author of Shaker Village Views; and June Sprigg of Hancock Shaker Village.
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Subseries 3.2. Subject Files and Related Material, 1785-2000 and undated.
Subject files and related material include information on Shaker art and artists, Shaker conference material, Patterson's notes on Shaker music and dance, notes on historic Shaker music manuscripts, working notebooks about Shaker music, model notebooks about music manuscripts and Shaker music notation, four card file boxes relating to the locations and owners of song manuscripts, and an index of specific Shaker tunes. Notes on music manuscripts and Shaker artists include photocopies of some material, 1785-1800s. Also included is a large roll of brown wrapping paper with Robert F. W. Meader's drawings and measurements of the "Tone-ometer," a Shaker monochord in the Shaker Museum Collection.
Folder 116 contains Patterson's list for his note files; Folder 134 contains Patterson's list of Shaker song manuscripts; and Folder 136 contains background information on his notebooks and card files.
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Subseries 3.3. Printed Material and Clippings, 1780-2000 and undated.
Printed material and clippings include photocopies of Shaker art, Shaker music manuscripts, and books related to Shaker art and music. Also included are articles and essays about the Shakers and their art and music; cards and ephemeral imprints; Shaker newsletters and periodicals; and other materials. Inclufrf is a photocopy of A Record of Spiritual Songs (1845) by Russell Haskell.
Folder 179 contains Patterson's list of the printed material included in this series. See Folder 187 for his list of cards and ephemeral imprints; Folder 198 for his list about music manuscripts; Folder 218 for his list of miscellaneous material and Shaker newsletters and periodicals; Folder 229 for his list concerning booklets, articles, and clippings; and Folder 239 for Patterson's lists for pictures.
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Subseries 3.4. Pictures, 1780s-2000 and undated.
Pictures include several copies of originals, many of which are undated but probably range from the 1780s through the 1900s. More recent pictures include photographs Patterson used for the film The Shakers or his two books about Shakers. Included are photographs and slides of Shakers and Shaker artists; Shaker manuscripts and art; pictures and drawings of Shaker dance and motioning; musical instruments and notation; Shaker sites, villages, and buildings; and photographs used in Patterson's books The Shaker Spiritual and Gift Drawing and Gift Song .
See Folder 239 for more information on pictures and Folder 240 for figure captions for The Shaker Spiritual.
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Subseries 3.5. Audio Material, 1963-1999 and undated.
Audio material related to the Shakers includes interviews with Shaker members and field recordings of Shaker music and songs. Many examples of Shaker songs were sung by Shaker Sister Mildred Barker, who was featured in the film The Shakers and was a long-time correspondent of Patterson's.
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Series 4. Sounds of the South, 1989-1993 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Sounds of the South was a conference held in April 1989 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to mark the opening of the Southern Folklife Collection, which Daniel Patterson had helped to establish. The conference was known as "A Conference on the Collecting and Collections of Southern Traditional Music" and featured several speakers. These speeches were recorded, and the transcriptions were used to develop Sounds of the South, a book of essays published in 1991.
This series consists of correspondence, writings, and printed material related to the conference and book Sounds of the South. Material includes newsletters featuring updates on the conference, grant applications, budget considerations, promotional material, and lists of participants. Also included are transcriptions of tapes made from the conference, the development of the speeches into essays, and pictures used for the book.
Note that original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
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Series 5. Southern Folklife Collection Development, 1964-1999 and undated.
The material in this series traces the history of the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from its time as the University of North Carolina Folk Archives in the 1960s through the acquisition of the John Edwards Memorial Collection in 1983 and its development into the Southern Folklife Collection in 1989. Patterson was very involved in all phases of this development and used his many contacts to expand the collection and increase awareness of it. Material includes correspondence; grant applications; and financial, space, and equipment considerations. Correspondents include folklorist and writer Archie Green and writer and donor D. K. Wilgus and his wife, Eleanor Wilgus. There is also correspondence, 1977-1980 and 1993, requesting donations of field recordings and other items to add to the collection from various folklorists, former folklore students, and historians. Included is correspondence with Ralph Steele Boggs, founder of the Curriculum in Folklore at the University of North Carolina in 1939.
Note that original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
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Series 6. Student Papers and Classroom Tapes, 1965-1998 and undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Student papers from Patterson's Curriculum in Folklore classes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Papers, 1984-1993, cover several folklore topics and include a paper by Patterson himself on shape-note singing. Classroom tapes were used by Patterson to expose his students to sound recordings that enhanced the topics of his lectures. Include are hundreds of songs, tunes, and folk tales, including religious music, instrumental music, occupational folk songs, and Cajun and Lumbee folk music. The tapes are undated.
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Series 7. Correspondence, 1848-1894,
1962-1998 and undated (bulk 1964-1998).
Patterson arranged his correspondence into several categories: with folk music researchers; with writers and people not related to folklore; to, from, and about folklorists; with people involved in the performance or study of religious folksong; correspondence and material related to religious tune book compilers; and by subject, including miscellaneous categories.
Correspondence with folk music researchers includes notes and brief biographies provided by Patterson, and essays and papers associated with correspondents. Folk music researchers include several graduate students; professor Cecelia Conway; Sacred Harp leader Raymond Hamrick; poet Kent S. Hedman about coming back to the United States after serving in the Navy during the Vietnam War; musician B. L. Lunsford; Hugh McGraw of Sacred Harp Publishing; folklorist Bobby McMillon; and archaeologist Stanley South.
Correspondence with writers and others not related to folklore includes some background information from Patterson. Correspondents include novelist Russell Banks and composer Thomas N. Rice.
Correspondence with and about folklorists includes letters from Ralph Steele Boggs, founder of the University of North Carolina Curriculum in Folklore; researcher of Native American music Joe Liles; and blues collector and record producer Peter B. Lowry.
Correspondence with people involved in the performance or study of religious folksong includes letters from composers and co-editors of The Christian Harmony , John Deason and Bennie Rigdon; professor John Garst; and Primitive Baptists.
Correspondence and research materials related to religious tunebook compilers were used by Patterson on various projects. The material includes copies of manuscripts and articles, 1848-1894, and correspondence with institutions and individuals while he was trying to find more information on the compilers. Tunebook compilers include collector William E. Chute (1832-1900) and William Hauser (1812-1880), who wrote newspaper articles about music and wrote a shape-note tune book. This material was used by Patterson in his article "William Hauser's Hesperian Harp and Olive Leaf: Shape-Note Tunebooks as Emblems of Change and Progress," in the Journal of American Folklore, 1988. John G. McCurry wrote a shape-note songbook called The Social Harp in 1855. Patterson and John Garst published a facsimile of it in 1973. In 1978, a recording of some of the songs from The Social Harp was made by Rounder Records, featuring notes by Patterson.
Note that original folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
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Series 8. Subject Files, 1775-1998
and undated (bulk 1963-1998).
Subject files used in Patterson's research include articles, papers, notes, correspondence, and printed material related to religious song, folklore and non-religious song, folklore projects, and other folklife material. Files related to religious song include information on specific religious groups and movements such as the Primitive Baptists, music styles such as Sacred Harp singing, religious music compilers such as William Hauser, and religious tunebooks. Material related to religious tunebooks and music compilers includes copies of manuscripts and printed material, 1775-1925. Files related to folklore and non-religious folk music include information on different types of folk music such as instrumental music, the music of the Lumbee Indians, and marching chants. They also include information about music recordings. Files about Patterson's involvement in projects related to folklife and folk music include information on Arts in Earnest; Diversities of Gifts; and the World and Identity Project. Information about these projects include grant applications, correspondence, and reviews. The Index of Selected Folk Recordings (1984) was compiled by Beverly B. Boggs (later Beverly Patterson), Daniel Patterson, and others. Included are eleven card file boxes with information on each song from 500 albums that were included in the index. Information includes song title, first line, performer, geographic source, and song subject. Also included are a copy of the microfiche and the master negatives for the microfiche.
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Series 9. Pictures, 1837-1989 and
undated.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Pictures include photographs and slides of folk musicians, traditions such as Easter egg decoration and quilting, and other images such as photographs of folklorist Ralph Steele Boggs and pictures from a "manless wedding" comic spoof. Some pictures were part of Patterson's students' class projects. There are several photographs that are copies of older undated photographs or photographic copies of manuscripts. One dated religious tune book manuscript is from 1837; the rest are undated but possibly also from the 1800s. Photographs titled "Negro Baptizings" and "Old Buck at Rodanthe" are copies of older photographs probably dating from the 1800s as well. Researchers are advised to see Folder 404 for background information on the pictures provided by Patterson.
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Series 10. Audio Material, 1949-2000 and undated.
Audio material includes miscellaneous music and field recordings. Earlier items, such as LPs from 1949, were collected by Patterson and donated to the Southern Folklife Collection. Other items were given to Patterson over the years and represent the folklore research of others in the field. The material includes a radio program on sea shanties; the music of several gospel groups; instrumental music from the South; guides on videotape, cassette, and a booklet on how to conduct oral history interviews; and a guide to shape-note singing on cassette. Researchers are advised to see Folders 405 and 406 for background and related information about these audio materials. Background information includes Patterson's packing lists with descriptions of items. Related material includes a music catalog, logger poetry, and a list of several items that Patterson donated for auction.
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Series 11. Video Material, 1983-1999.
Video material includes footage of Primitive Baptist Church services; news items dubbed from television related to folklore; and a video and CD-Rom called Sounds of Faith , related to the religious song of the Lumbee Indians. Researchers are advised to see Folder 407 for background information on Patterson's video material.
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Series 12. Oversize items.
Three large wood and artificial leather scrolls illustrating shape note music; a cast metal printing plate, and posters advertising events such as arts and crafts exhibits, cultural festivals, a play, and a conference.
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Items Separated
Processed by: Nathalie Wheaton and Jodi Berkowitz, June 2005
Encoded by: Nathalie Wheaton and Jodi Berkowitz, July 2005
Revised by James McGlothlin, May 2008
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