Inventory of the Sam Ragan Papers, 1948-1996 (#4490)

Samuel Talmadge Ragan was born in Berea in Granville County, N.C., in 1915. He was graduated from Atlantic Christian College in 1936 and was awarded a Doctorate of Literature from there in 1972. Ragan served as the first secretary of the North Carolina Department of Art, Culture, and History from 1972 to 1973. He wrote two award winning collections of poetry, The Tree in the Far Pasture in 1964 and To the Waters Edge in 1971, along with several works of non-fiction and prose. In 1982, he was named Poet Laureate of the state of North Carolina by Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. He could be seen on television giving commentaries on WUNC-TV and doing "Sam Ragan Reports"on WTVD in Durham.

Ragan was active in the promotion of literature and the arts in North Carolina. He was chair of the North Carolina Arts Council, a member of the founding commission and original Board of Trustees of the North Carolina School of the Arts, president of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, and president of Friends of Weymouth, which operates the Weymouth Center for Arts and Humanities in Southern Pines. Additionally, Ragan chaired the North Carolina Writer's Conference; conducted workshops for writers at North Carolina State University for nine years; and served on the faculties of St. Andrews College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, and Sandhills College.

For twenty years, Ragan served as managing editor and executive editor of the News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C. When Katherine Boyd gave up ownership of The Pilot, a weekly newspaper in Southern Pines, N.C., Ragan took over as editor. For 27 years, Ragan edited and published The Pilot and continued to publicize and promote North Carolina writers by publishing more book reviews and literary news than most larger papers. Ragan died at his home in Southern Pines on 11 May 1996 after a long illness.

Collection Overview

These papers primarily document Sam Ragan's participation in the journalism profession and his role as patron of the arts in North Carolina. There is only a small amount of material related to his own poetry. Correspondence files include materials from professional newspaper associations, such as the North Carolina Associated Press News Council and the Associated Press Managing Editors Association, and from organizations devoted to the arts, particularly the North Carolina Arts Council and North Carolina Writers' Conference. Later correspondence files include applications for the Writers In Residence Program at Weymouth Center in Southern Pines. Frequent correspondents are Doris Betts, Virginia Love Long, Heather Ross Miller, and Thad Stem, Jr. among others.

Subject files include materials relating to the Freedom of Information Act and the Free Press-Fair Trial confrontation of 1968. There is a significant amount of material regarding the North Carolina Arts Council, North Carolina Writers' Conference, North Carolina Writers' Network, and Weymouth Center. Subject files also contain correspondence from writers, including Doris Betts, Charles Edward Eaton, Paul Green, Bernice Kelly Harris, Heather Ross Miller, and Charleen Whisnant, along with literary works submitted for publication in The Pilot.

Writings authored by Sam Ragan include manuscripts of the poems, correspondence, and production materials for A Tree in the Far Pasture (Blair, 1964). There are typescripts of and note cards from speeches on various newspaper and literary topics as well as introductions. Also included are book reviews, editorials, and other works written for The Pilot and the News and Observer. Works by Joe Clarke, Edward Dixon Garner, Heather Ross Miller, Ovid Williams Pierce, Thad Stem, Jr., Nell Joslyn Styron, and Ross Talarico are also included. There are materials relating to Heres to the Land: A Celebration of 60 Years by the North Carolina Poetry Society (North Carolina Poetry Society, 1992) and Weymouth: An Anthology of Poetry (St. Andrews Press, 1987).

There are also typescripts of the columns and letters to the editor used on the editorial page of The Pilot. There is financial information relating to the News and Observer, The Pilot, and Ragan's personal finances. Also included are photographs chiefly of Sam Ragan alone and with others and cassette recordings of North Carolina Writers' Conference banquet dinners.

Additions of 2002 and 2007 include material similar in nature to the original deposit. Additions have not been integrated.

Organization of Collection

Items Separated

Series Descriptions

This subseries includes materials received while Sam Ragan was the Managing Editor and later Executive Editor of the Raleigh News and Observer. Contained in the subseries are materials relating to the North Carolina Associated Press News Council, including minutes and weekly logs. There are some materials relating to the Associated Press Managing Editors Association, including letters from other managing editors congratulating Ragan on his election to the presidency of the organization in 1968.

Items of particular interest include a letter dated 1961 from Pierre Salinger, press secretary to John F. Kennedy; genealogical information about Adlai Stevenson sent to Ragan by Stevenson's sister Elizabeth S. Ives in 1968; an undated letter from Ben Dixon MacNeil (signed MacN) mentioning a letter written by Thomas Wolfe's sister to Maxwell Perkins; and an undated note from Randall Jarrell. There are also letters to Ragan regarding his "Southern Accent" column, letters attached to literary submissions, and some other materials. The dated material includes letters from Henry Belk, Jim Chaney, Jonathan Daniels, Paul Green, Bernice Kelly Harris, Hiram Haydn, Ruth Moose, Mike Ross, and Elizabeth S. Ives. Undated material includes letters from Doris Betts, Katherine Boyd, Jonathan Daniels, Charles Edward Eaton, William Friday, Lucy Inman, Guy Owen, Charles Poe, Thad Stem, Richard Walser, and Charleen Whisnant.

Correspondence created and received by Sam Ragan beginning with his tenure as Editor-in-Chief of The Pilot and ending with his death in 1996. Correspondence is of a personal and business nature and includes letters to the editor (some with Ragan's annotations), letters from North Carolina authors regarding their participation in the Writers In Residence Program at Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities, and letters attached to literary works. There are memoranda, minutes from meetings, newsletters, catalogs, flyers, invitations, and some other materials from various individuals and organizations.

Correspondents include:Adcock, Betty; Boyd, James; Rivers-Coffey, Rachel; Cooper, Pat; Dalmas, Victor; Daniels, Jonathan; Eaton, Charles Edward; Gurkin, Katherine; Holt, Rochelle Lynn; Ives, Elizabeth Stevenson; Macleod, Norman; Miller, Heather Ross; Owen, Guy; Reilly, Jack; Rudder, Virginia (Virginia Love Long), Sanford, Terry; Stem, Thad; Styron, Nell, Stephenson, Shelby; Wood, Jane; and Wellman, Manly Wade.

Organizations represented include:Arts Advocates of North Carolina, Friends of Weymouth, Lost Colony Foundation, North Carolina Arts Council, North Carolina Awards, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, North Carolina Press Association, North Carolina Writers' Conference, North Caroliniana Society, Paul Green Foundation, Ruth Pauley Lecture Series, Sandhills Community College, and University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Files created while Sam Ragan was Editor of the Raleigh News and Observer. The American Society of Newspaper Editors Association files include information about the Freedom of Information Law. There are also files with clippings and speeches by Ragan on the Free Press-Fair Trial confrontation between the American Press and the American Bar Association in 1968.

Included are files pertaining to Ragan's involvement with the North Carolina Arts Council. The Writers files include correspondence from Doris Betts, Charles Edward Eaton, Paul Green, Bernice Kelly Harris, Adrienne Marcus, Heather Ross Miller, Guy Owen, Campbell Reeves, Fred Ross, Phillips Russell, and Charleen Whisnant. There is also some general correspondence files and reference files relating to Ragan's civic and literary activities.

Included are correspondence files, author files, articles and poems submitted for use in The Pilot from various authors, and typescripts of speeches written by Ragan. There are materials relating to Weymouth Center, including correspondence regarding the Writers In Residence Program, administrative materials, and financial information.

There are a few files relating to The Pilot and newspaper-related organizations. Other files pertain to Ragan's civic and literary activities with various organizations including the North Carolina Arts Council, the North Carolina Writers' Network, and the Paul Green Foundation.