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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 | 63.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 32,000 items) |
| Abstract | George C. Stoney (1916- ), a documentary filmmaker who specialized in socially relevant films, was a mentor and teacher to generations of filmmakers and media activists worldwide and a pioneer in the movement for the creation and use of public access television to enact social change. The collection consists of papers chiefly relating to George C. Stoney's professional work as a documentary filmmaker, teacher, and early advocate of public access television. Correspondence, 1944-1993 (bulk 1960-1990), is chiefly work-related in content, though many of Stoney's correspondents were long-time friends and colleagues and wrote personally as well. Letters, 1944-1945, from Stoney to his future wife, Mary Bruce (1926-2004), are chiefly personal in nature and include love letters, but also, to a lesser extent, describe Stoney's experiences as a photo intelligence officer with the 8th United States Army Air Forces in England, France, Belgium, and Germany. Correspondence between Stoney and his long-time companion Betty Puleston (d. 2009), 1967-1968, also blend description of personal and working life. Subject files comprise the bulk of the collection and include materials relating to films Stoney wrote, directed, and/or produced for the Southern Educational Film Production Service and George C. Stoney Associates. Topics include sexually transmitted disease; outreach programs of the Methodist Church; cardiovascular healthcare; education; community mental health; race relations in the South; police training; old age and retirement; midwifery; urban redevelopment in New York, N.Y., Philadelphia, Pa., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Washington, D.C.; and other social issues. Some of Stoney's early work as a journalist and social researcher is also documented in essays, a report on race relations in Mississippi, and materials relating to his work for the Farm Security Administration. Subject files also document classes and workshops Stoney taught, especially at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, and his involvement with the growth of public access and local cable television, the Challenge for Change project of the National Film Board of Canada, the Alternate Media Center, and the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers. Additionally, there are film treatments and research materials for prospective projects and printed and other material relating to the documentary film and cable television industries. Loose papers, 1980-1990s, consist of memobooks that likely relate to Stoney's filmmaking, and clippings, reports, readings, conference advertisements, miscellaneous printed materials, handwritten notes, and writings by others that are not clearly connected to his film projects or cable and public access advocacy work. Photographs depict the documentary filmmaking process for several of Stoney's films, public access projects and the Alternate Media Center, the work of Farm Security Administration photographers in the South in the early 1940s, and Stoney's family life. |
| Creator | Stoney, George C. |
| 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.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
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Biographical Information
George Cashel Stoney was born in Winston-Salem, N.C., in 1916. He studied journalism at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and while still a student, wrote feature articles for the Raleigh News and Observer and the Greensboro Daily News. Upon graduation in 1937, Stoney set out traveling across the South and wrote a daily column for the News and Observer in which he recorded his observations of the region as it faced fundamental social change. He moved to New York, N.Y., in 1938, where he freelanced as a writer on the South, pursued graduate studies in social research methods at the Henry Street Settlement and at the New School for Social Research, and was associate editor of Survey Graphic magazine. In 1940, he went to work for Ralph Bunche as a field research assistant in the South on Gunnar Myrdal's study of American race relations ( An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy ). Stoney next worked as a publicist for the Farm Security Administration (FSA), trying to raise middle class support for sharecropper and tenant farmer programs in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Stoney's interest in photography began during this time period when he toured FSA photographers around the South.
During World War II, Stoney served as a photo intelligence officer for the 8th United States Army Air Forces in England, France, Belgium, and Germany. He met his future wife, Mary Newcomb Bruce (1926-2004), while stationed in England. In 1946, he joined the Southern Educational Film Production Service at the University of Georgia as writer of educational films for federal and state agricultural, educational, and public health agencies. The first film he wrote, directed, and produced was Palmour Street, about an African American family in Gainesville, Ga. Then in 1950, he moved to Washington, D.C., to make films for the Association of Medical Colleges. He also started with Nicholas Read a production company, Potomac Film Producers, that specialized in socially relevant films for government agencies, non-profit organizations, and corporate sponsors. In 1957, Stoney started his own production company, George C. Stoney Associates Inc. in New York, N.Y. Stoney's films were characterized by social interpretation and addressed such issues as disease and health care, mental health, race relations, education, farming, retirement, and urbanism. One of his earliest and most important films is the award-winning All My Babies (1953), produced for the Georgia Department of Health.
Through the next two decades, Stoney pioneered the field of socially relevant documentary filmmaking while teaching and training the next generation of filmmakers at the University of Southern California, the City College of New York, Columbia University, Stanford University, the International Honors Program, and at other leading American universities with film study programs. From 1968 to 1970, Stoney served as executive producer for the Challenge for Change project, a socially active documentary production wing of the National Film Board of Canada, that encouraged ordinary people to use media as a means to improve the quality of their lives. Stoney returned to the United States in 1970 to head up the undergraduate film department at New York University and to continue to produce his own films and videos.
George Stoney also is considered the father of public access television. Building on his work at the National Film Board of Canada, Stoney advocated the use of cable television channels by the public to enact social change. In 1972, he co-founded the Alternate Media Center, which trained citizens in the uses of video technology for use on public access television. In 1976, he was a founding member of the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers (now called the Alliance for Community Media) as an advocacy and support group for the cable movement.
Over the course of his career, Stoney wrote, directed, and produced over 50 documentaries and television series, including The Invader (1954), The Cry for Help (1962), How the Myth Was Made (1978), The Weavers: Wasn't that a Time (1982), Southern Voices (1985), Images of The Great Depression (1990), and The Uprising of '34 (1995). He has been a mentor and teacher to generations of filmmakers worldwide.
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Scope and Content
The collection consists of papers chiefly relating to George C. Stoney's professional work as a documentary filmmaker, teacher, and early advocate of public access television. Correspondence, 1944-1993 (bulk 1960-1990), is chiefly work-related in content, though many of Stoney's correspondents were long-time friends and colleagues and wrote personally as well. Letters, 1944-1945, from Stoney to his future wife, Mary Bruce (1926-2004), are chiefly personal in nature and include love letters, but also, to a lesser extent, describe Stoney's experiences as a photo intelligence officer with the 8th United States Army Air Forces in England, France, Belgium, and Germany. Correspondence between Stoney and his long-time companion Betty Puleston (d. 2009), 1967-1968, also blend description of personal and working life.
Subject files comprise the bulk of the collection and include materials relating to films Stoney wrote, directed, and/or produced for the Southern Educational Film Production Service and George C. Stoney Associates. Topics include sexually transmitted disease; outreach programs of the Methodist Church; cardiovascular healthcare; education; community mental health; race relations in the South; police training; old age and retirement; midwifery; urban redevelopment in New York, N.Y., Philadelphia, Pa., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Washington, D.C.; and other social issues. Some of Stoney's early work as a journalist and social researcher is also documented in essays submitted to Survey Graphic, a background report on race relations in Mississippi for Gunnar Myrdal's An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy , and materials relating to his work for the Farm Security Administration.
Subject files also document classes and workshops Stoney taught, especially at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Stanford University, and Columbia University, and his involvement with the growth of public access and local cable television, the Challenge for Change project of the National Film Board of Canada, the Alternate Media Center, and the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers. Additionally, there are film treatments and research materials for prospective projects and printed and other material relating to the documentary film and cable television industries.
Loose papers, 1980-1990s, consist of memobooks that likely relate to Stoney's filmmaking, and clippings, reports, readings, conference advertisements, miscellaneous printed materials, handwritten notes, and writings by others that are not clearly connected to his film projects or cable and public access advocacy work. Photographs depict the documentary filmmaking process for several of Stoney's films, public access projects and the Alternate Media Center, the work of Farm Security Administration photographers in the South in the early 1940s, and Stoney's family life.
Because there is considerable overlap in subjects, especially between Series 1. Correspondence and Series 2. Subject Files, researchers should be sure to check both series for materials of interest.
Note that final prints of many of Stoney's films, as well as production materials and use copies, will be added to this collection at a future date.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Correspondence Files, 1957-1993 and undated.
Arrangement: chronological list followed by alphabetical list.
Correspondence, 1944-1993 (bulk 1957-1968), is chiefly related to Stoney's work as a documentary filmmaker and teacher. Many of Stoney's correspondents were long-time friends and colleagues who wrote personally as well. Letters, 1944-1945, from Stoney to his future wife, Mary Bruce (1926-2004), are chiefly personal in nature, but also, to a lesser extent, describe Stoney's experiences as a photo intelligence officer with the 8th United States Air Force in England, France, Belgium, and Germany, with some commentary about the people and war-time conditions in these places and his growing interest in documentary film. There are a few letters from Neal Bruce to his sister, Mary Bruce, and from Mary to her mother. Correspondence between Stoney and his long-time companion Betty Puleston (d. 2009), 1967-1968, also blend description of personal and working life.
Note that correspondence related to Stoney's documentary films may be found here, as well as in Series 2. Subject Files.
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Series 2. Subject Files, 1940-2009.
Restrictions to Access: Student records in the Class and Teaching Materials (folders 364, 366, 367, 369, 371, 372, 377, 378, 384, 386, 390, 391, 392, 400, 403, 405, and 407), New York University (folder 734), and Stanford University (folders 1009 and 1011) in Series 2 are CLOSED to researchers until 75 years after the date of the item. The juvenile crime case files created by COMP (folder 416) in Series 2 are CLOSED to researchers until 2037. Psychiatric patient evaluations (folder 1036) in Series 2 are CLOSED until 2029. Prior to these dates, researchers may gain access to redacted versions of the closed documents. The redaction process will remove personally identifying information, and the costs associated with redaction will be paid by the requesting researcher. Please be advised that the redaction process can be lengthy, and depending on the volume and complexity of the documents, redaction may take a few weeks or even a few months to complete. Should you require access to these documents, please contact Research and Instructional Services staff as early in your research process as possible.
Restrictions to Use: Use of audio materials may require production of listening copies; use of electronic record materials may require special equipment.
Processing Information: Note that original file folder titles have been retained, but frequently annotated by the archivist for clarity. Material related to a film originally may have been filed under its final title, a working title, a portion of its final or working title, or a related subject. Where possible, the final film title has been added to the various related file names and related subject material has been brought together. Likewise, materials relating to cable television and the public access movement have been brought together under the heading Cable/Public Access; however, additional materials likely may be found throughout this series.
Subject files comprise the bulk of the collection and include materials relating to films Stoney wrote, directed, and/or produced for the Southern Educational Film Production Service and George C. Stoney Associates. Topics include sexually transmitted disease; outreach programs of the Methodist Church; cardiovascular healthcare; education; community mental health; race relations in the South; police training; old age and retirement; urban redevelopment in New York, N.Y., Philadelphia, Pa., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Washington, D.C.; and other social issues. Some of Stoney's early work as a journalist and social researcher is also documented in essays submitted to Survey Graphic, a background report on race relations in Mississippi for Gunnar Myrdal's An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy , and materials relating to his work for the Farm Security Administration.
Subject files also document classes and workshops Stoney taught, especially at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Stanford University, and Columbia University, and his involvement with the growth of public access and local cable television, the Challenge for Change project of the National Film Board of Canada, the Alternate Media Center, and the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers. Additionally, there are film treatments and research materials for prospective projects and printed and other material relating to the documentary film and cable television industries.
SEE ALSO Series 1. Correspondence and Series 4. Photographs for additional materials related to Stoney's documentary films.
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Series 3. Loose Papers, 1980-1990s
and Undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Loose papers, 1980-1990s, are chiefly clippings, reports, readings, conference advertisements, miscellaneous printed materials, handwritten notes, and miscellaneous writings by others that are not clearly connected to George Stoney's film projects and cable and public access advocacy work. Memobooks are likely related to film projects.
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Series 4. Photographs, 1940s-1970s.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Photographs depict the documentary filmmaking process for several of George Stoney's films, public access projects and the Alternate Media Center, the work of Farm Security Administration and Soil Conservation Service photographers in the South in the early 1940s, and Stoney's family life.
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Items Separated
Processed by: Caroline Moakley, Megan Bricker, and Nancy Kaiser, September 2009
Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, September 2009
Final prints of many of Stoney's films, as well as production materials and use copies, will be added to this collection at a future date.
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