The newsletter of the Society of North Carolina Archivists Number 47/48, Spring/Summer 1997
The fall meeting will be in Raleigh and the sessions are being planned around evaluation
responses from the Spring meeting. If you could not attend the spring meeting, but would like to
suggest program topics, please contact any member of the board.
The Technology Committee's initial charged is to explore options for the SNCA Web site,
including a permanent site and additions to make it more useful to SNCA members and their
patrons.
We'll be meeting again in August and welcome comments, suggestions, questions, and volunteers.
Jan Blodgett
President
Society of North Carolina Archivists
SNCA Executive Board, 1997-98
President
Jan Blodgett, Davidson College Archives
PO Box 1837, Davidson NC 28036
Work: 704/892-2632, Fax: 704/892-2625
E-mail: jablodgett@davidson.edu
Vice President/President Elect-Program Chair
Russell Koonts, Special Collections Library
Duke Univ., Box 90185, Durham, NC 27708-0185
Work: 919/660-5833 Fax: 919/660-5934
E-mail: rkoonts@acpub.duke.edu
Secretary
Michele Justice, Forest History Society, Inc
701 Vickers Avenue, Durham, NC 27612
Work: 919/682-9319 Fax: 919/682-2349
E-mail: mjustice@acpub.duke.edu
Treasurer
Paul Kiel, Special Collections, NCSU Libraries
Campus Box 7111, Raleigh, NC 27695-7111
Work: 919/515-9059 Fax: 919/515-3628
E-mail: paul_kiel@ncsu.edu
Publications Chair
Ed Southern, NC Div. of Archives and History
109 E. Jones St., Raleigh, NC 27601-2807
Work: 919/733-3540 Fax: 919/733-3627
E-mail: esouthern@ncsl.dcr.state.nc.us
Past President/Development & Ed. Chair
Linda McCurdy, Special Collections Library
Duke Univ., Box 90185, Durham, NC 27708-0185
Work: 919/660-5825 Fax: 919/660-5934
E-mail: lam@mail.lib.duke.edu
Membership Chair
Debbie Blake, NC Div. of Archives and History
109 E. Jones St., Raleigh, NC 27601-2807
Work: 919/733-3952
E-mail: dblake@ncsl.dcr.state.nc.us
Members at Large
Antionette Gaddy, Bennett College
1506 Hampstead Dr., High Point, NC 27260
Work: 910/370-8685 Fax: 910/378-0511
E-mail: antionette@pals.guilford.edu
Ann Wright, Asheville-Buncombe Library System
67 Haywood St., Asheville, NC 28801
Work: 704/255-5203 Fax: 704/255-5213
E-mail: awright@ablsys.abls.lib.nc.us2/THE NORTH CAROLINA ARCHIVIST
(SPRING/SUMMER 1997)
Around the State . . .
Tim Pyatt was appointed Curator of Manuscripts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill on March 1, 1997. The previous Curator, David Moltke-Hansen, has been re-appointed as
Director of the Center for the Study of the American South at UNC-CH and has been granted
administrative leave from the Libraries. Mr. Moltke-Hansen still retains the title of Director of
the Southern Historical Collection and assists with development. Lynn Holdzkom has been
appointed Manuscripts Cataloger, at UNC-Chapel Hill, effective October 1, 1997. Lynn leaves
her position as University Archivist at the University of Washington and returns back to Chapel
Hill where she previously worked as Technical Services Archivist.
Dick Lankford (State Archives) was honored by being nominated for Governor's Award for
Excellence in the category of devotion to duty. Secretary of Cultural Resources, Betty McCain
presented his certificate on June 23, 1997. Sion H. Harrington III (State Archives) was selected
for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army Reserve. Si also is coordinator for the
North Carolina State Archives' "Military Collection Project," a statewide effort to better
document the state's twentieth-century military experience. Collecting photographs, letters,
diaries, reminiscences, military discharges, and other related documents, as well as conducting
interviews of veterans. Cathy Morris, Records Service Branch manager at NC Division of
Archives and History received the 1997 Manager of the Year award from the State Government
Chapter of the National Managers Association at the association's awards luncheon on June 10.
Cathy was nominated by Cultural Resources Secretary, Betty McCain.
Maurice Toler announced his retirement as University Archivist at NC State University. With
more than 30 years of service, Maurice will retire on August 29, 1997. A reception for him will
be held at NC State on August 19, 1997, from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Call 919/515-2273 for more
information. Cristina Favretto has been named Interim Condition Assessment Project Librarian
at NCSU Libraries. Her responsibilities will include developing a program to review physical
condition of the Libraries' general and special, collections and recommend preservation
strategies. Cristina earned an MLS degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Linda McCormick
has been named Assistant Curator for Research at NCSU Libraries' Special Collections
Department. In addition to research and reference responsibilities for the department, Linda will
also be responsible for rare book collection development and cataloging. Linda earned an MLS
degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Nell Medlin joined the Special
Collections Department at NCSU Libraries as Library Technical Assistant. Her chief
responsibilities will involve registrarial work. Nell holds an MLS degree from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Stephanie McCall will be assisting with processing of manuscript collections and cataloging
pamphlet collection at the Presbyterian Church USA Department of History in Montreat.
Stephaniegraduated from Montreat College in May.
Ella Ross (UNC-G), after 30 years of service with the State of North Carolina, retired in August
1996. Janis Pardue, formerly an assistant in the Special Collections and Rare Book area joined
the Archives in November 1996. Also joining Special Collections in February 1997, on a
part-time basis, was Linda Jacobson. Ella rejoined Special Collections on a part-time basis in
January to work on a backlog of photographic negatives. In April 1997, after 30 years, Emmy
Mills, Special Collections Librarian, retired.
Patrice Slattery has been named Archivist at the North Carolina School of the Arts in
Winston-Salem. She received her MLS degree with a concentration in archives from Simmons
College in Boston and has worked on internships at Bowdoin College and the Maine Historical
Society. Previously she was curator/registrar for the Kennebunkport, Maine Historical Society.
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Collections Acquired and Preserved across North Carolina
Atkins Library of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has recently acquired or opened
for research the following collections: papers, 1754-1942, of the Davidson family of Rural Hill
Plantation; papers, 1779-1984 of the Caldwell and Davidson families of Rosedale Plantation;
letters, 1824-1830, of the Latta family of Mecklenburg, County, NC and York County, SC;
papers, 1855-1905, of Dr. John Brevard Alexander, including his medical journals and letters
written during his service as a surgeon with the 37th NC Regiment; transcript of the memoirs,
1861-1866, of Nicholas Biddle Gibbon; addition, 1880-1980, to the papers of George Ivey,
relating primarily to the Ivey Department Store chain; papers, 1908-1972, of Louis Asbury,
including approximately 300 sets of architectural drawings; minute book, 1926-1948, of the
Charlotte Law Building, Inc.; records, 1978-1991, of the North Carolina Print and Drawing
Society; and papers, 1979-1985, of Nancy Tilly, relating to her novel Golden Girl, which won the
1986 NC AAUW Juvenile Literature Award.
The Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received an
addition of four original E.E. Cummings letters to the J. Spencer Love papers. Cummings, a
childhood friend of Love, wrote to Love from his boyhood home of Joy Farm, Silver Lake, N.H.,
during the period of 1908-1910. The letters contain several ink drawings by Cummings,
including a self-portraits and a picture of his study. The letters also include an acrostic on "James
Spencer Love" and several lines in verse. Also acquired were the Joseph M. Bryan Archives,
1862-1995, 60 linear feet. The papers of Bryan, noted businessman and philanthropist, reflect a
wide range of interests over a very long life. Subject areas covered by the business papers
include broadcasting, insurance, and philanthropy. Within the family history papers, subject
areas include the social and civic history of Greensboro, the Civil War and World War II, travel
and recreation, and the Bryan/Price family genealogy.
The North Carolina Baptist Historical Collection, Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest
University has microfilmed the following church records: New Baptist Church, Henderson,
North Carolina (1872-1994), Parkview Baptist Church, Durham (1955-1994), New Bethel
Baptist Church, Garner (1990-1993), First Baptist Church, Forest City (1943-1991), Mount Holly
Baptist church, Gaston County (1928-1989), Mount Harmony Baptist Church, Rougemont
(1993-1995), Temple Baptist Church, Henrietta (1940-1994), Soldier Bay Baptist Church, Ash
(1926-1985), Hominy Baptist Church, Candler (1842-1994), Rolesville Baptist Church, Raleigh
(1975-1996), Chadbourn Baptist Church, Columbus County (1958-1989), Bethany Baptist
Church, Kenly (1879-1995), and Piney Forest Baptist Church, Chadbourn (1877-1905). All
other North Carolina Baptist churches including Missionary, Primitive, and Black Baptist
churches are invited to take advantage of this free service to have their records preserved.
Interested churches or individuals should contact John Woodard at 910/759-5472 or write to him
at the North Carolina Baptist Historical Collection, Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest
University, Box 7777, Winston-Salem, NC 27109.
The North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem has begun a pilot project to transfer audio recordings from reel to reel to CD-ROM, using some of the state-of-the-art sound equipment from the Design and Production School laboratories. The School's archives would welcome suggestions from anyone who as has experience with this type of reformatting project. Contact: Patrice Slattery, Archivist, North Carolina School of the Arts, 200 Waughtown Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27117, 910/770-3272.
The North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently acquired a 23-page autograph manuscript by Thomas Wolfe entitled, "What a Writer Reads." Five additional pages of apparently rejected writing on the same subject were also acquired. After considerable editing, the manuscript was published in 1935 and contains Wolfe's thoughts on his favorite writers and his advice on what a serious writer should read.
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Technology Subcommittee
A related aspect to the publishing of the SNCA web page is how we can use technology within
the organization. The Publications committee, under the direction of Ed Southern, has formed an
ad-hoc Technology Subcommittee to see how electronic issues can be made more current and
better used among SNCA members. This subcommittee could be a resource for communication
on automation issues (i.e. software support among users, digitization methods and ideas, use of
technology in preservation, and migrating from card indexes to a database).
Some questions to ponder: Are you interested in methods for delivering a web-based version of your collection descriptions? Would you like to venture down the path of SGML? What are SNCA institutions using for scanners, hardware, or software (and are they happy with their choices)? Are other people using the same database package I am? Would others like to get a group discount on a popular database program? How do we deal with electronic records in the digital age? Who is archiving and/or collecting electronic records?
Have you done any of these things and would like to share your experiences with others?
If you have other ideas you would like to discuss or want to get involved, please drop a note to
Ed Southern (esouthern@ncsl.dcr.state.nc.us), myself (paul_kiel@ncsu.edu), or Russell Koonts
(rkoonts@acpub.duke.edu).
Paul Kiel
Interim Assistant Curator
NCSU Libraries Special Collections
Robert Anthony (UNC-CH North Carolina Collection) prepared "North Carolina Bibliography,
1995-1996," in the North Carolina Historical Review 74 (April 1997): 183-212. This is the
latest installment in an annual series that began in 1934. The bibliography is based on
acquisitions made by the North Carolina Collection at UNC-CH.
Donna Kelly (State Archives) edited the June 1997 issue of FOA News and prepared a new
membership directory for that organization, modeled after SNCA's directory.
Michele A. Justice (Forest History Society) wrote Archival Collections of the Forest History
Society: An Annotated Guide. Published by the Forest History Society, Inc., 1997. 41 leaves.
Index. Spiral-bound. $13.00. The Forest History Society is a nonprofit historical society
dedicated to identifying, collecting, preserving, interpreting, and disseminating information on
the history of relationships among forests, their related resources, and people. Orders for this
publication and requests for further information about the Society's collections should be directed
to: Archives, Forest History Society, 701 Vickers Ave., Durham, North Carolina, 27701.
Telephone inquiries may be made to (919) 682-9319.
Julie Doyle (Presbyterian Church), and
John David Smith (NC State), co-wrote "'If This War Does Not Make a Man of Me Nothing
Will': The Letters of George F. Runyon, Confederate Prisoner of War." Their article appeared in
The Filson Club Historical Quarterly, January 1997. They also co-wrote "'The very best soldiers
in the world': Two Surgeons Examine California's Civil War Recruits," appearing in the Spring
1997 edition of Military History of the West.
Jan Blodgett (Davidson College) wrote Protestant Evangelical Literary Culture and
Contemporary Society. It is now available from Greenwood Press.
Dennis Daniels, Reference Archivist at the State Archives has recently completed a bibliography
of sources relating to Edward Teach "Blackbeard" available at the North Carolina State Archives.
The bibliography is available upon request from the Archives and will soon be included on the
Archives, Web site.
Thorton W. Mitchell, (State Archives, retired), as a volunteer, is preparing a volume of the
papers of William Woods Holden, Provisional Governor, 1865, as governor 1868-1870, for
publication by the North Carolina Division of Archives and History.
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For Your Information
Mattox Coin and Stamps has become the philatelic agent for Yale University in New Haven,
Connecticut.
The Conservation Division at Information Conservation, Incorporated in Brown Summit, North
Carolina has been reformed, and is now known as The Etherington Conservation Center at ICI.
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Anyone for the Windy City?
Any SNCA members who will be attending the 61st Annual Meeting of the Society of American
Archivists in Chicago, and wish to get together, give Michelle Francis a call. She will be
gathering the North Carolina delegation together for an evening of great food and jazz music!!
Call Michelle at her office in Montreat:
704/669-7061 or
E-mail: pcusadoh@mercury.interpath.com