P48: Thomas Wolfe Photograph Collection

The Thomas Wolfe Photograph Collection documents the life of North Carolina novelist Thomas Clayton Wolfe (1900-1938) and his family. The collection comprises almost 5,000 individual images distributed over six series. Among these are more than 200 photographs of Thomas Wolfe and about forty non-photographic likenesses of the author. The scope of the collection is broad both in terms of subject matter and time frame. The earliest photographs, dating from the mid-nineteenth century, document the Pennsylvania family of Thomas Wolfe's father, William Oliver Wolfe. The most recent photographs are of Wolfe's brother, Fred, who lived until 1980.

The earliest photographs of Thomas Wolfe in the collection date from 1901. The last photograph of Wolfe was made in July 1938, during his hospitalization near Seattle, Washington. Collection holdings are strongest from 1901 through 1920, the years in which Wolfe lived in North Carolina, but his later life is also well represented in the collection. More than thirty photographs document Wolfe's 1938 automobile tour of the western United States. The collection also has original prints of the novelist by noted New York photographers Doris Ulmann and Carl Van Vechten.

The use of items in the Wolfe Collection is restricted by the North Carolina Collection and the Estate of Thomas Wolfe. Advance appointments are required to examine the photographs, and some of the images may be available for viewing only on microfilm. The Photographic Archives telephone number is 919-962-7992. The email address is: photoarchives@unc.edu
About sixty low resolution sample images are provided for reference purposes.

A partial listing of individuals other than Thomas Wolfe represented in the collection include the following:

Aswell, Edward
Bernstein, Aline
Boyd, Madeleine
Dykeman, Wilma
Gambrell, Effie Wolfe
Hoagland, Kathleen
Nowell, Elizabeth
Perkins, Maxwell Evarts
Roberts, Margaret
Terry, John Skally
Walser, Richard Gaither
Wheaton, Mabel Wolfe
Wolfe, Benjamin Harrison
Wolfe, Cynthia Hill
Wolfe, Hattie J. Watson
Wolfe, Julia Elizabeth Westall
Wolfe, Frank C.
Wolfe, Frederick W.
Wolfe, Grover Cleveland
Wolfe, R. Dietz
Wolfe, William Oliver

List of Series and Subseries

Series: CW, Wolfe Family Series

Subseries:

1, Albums

2, Photographs of Thomas Wolfe

2.1, Non-photographic likenesses of Thomas Wolfe

2.2, Oversized likenesses of Thomas Wolfe

3, Portraits not including Thomas Wolfe

3.1, Oversized portraits not including Thomas Wolfe

4, Miscellaneous photographs and print material

4.1, Oversized miscellaneous photographs and print material

Series: CW1, John Skally Terry Series

Subseries:

1, Photographs of Thomas Wolfe

2, Portraits not including Thomas Wolfe

3, Miscellaneous photographs and print material

Series: CW5, Fred Wolfe Series

Subseries:

1, Photographs of Thomas Wolfe

1.1, Non-photographic likenesses of Thomas Wolfe

2, Portraits not including Thomas Wolfe

3, Miscellaneous photographs and print material

Series: CW6, St. Mary's College Series

Series: CW7, Braden-Hatchett Series

Subseries:

1, Photographs of Thomas Wolfe

1.1, Non-photographic likenesses of Thomas Wolfe

1.2, Oversized likenesses of Thomas Wolfe

2, Portraits not including Thomas Wolfe

3, Miscellaneous photographs and print material

3.1, Oversized miscellaneous photographs and print material

Series: CWM, Miscellaneous Series

Subseries:

1, Photographs of Thomas Wolfe

1.1, Non-photographic likenesses of Thomas Wolfe

1.2, Oversized likenesses of Thomas Wolfe

2, Portraits not including Thomas Wolfe

3, Miscellaneous photographs and print material

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