William R. Ferris Collection, 1910s-2011

Resource Type

ArchivalResource

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Title

William R. Ferris Collection, 1910s-2011

Resource Link

http://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/f/Ferris,William_R.html

Abstract

William R. Ferris (1942- ), born andraised in Vicksburg, Miss., is an author, folklorist, filmmaker, professor,photographer, administrator, and scholar chiefly working in the areas of AfricanAmerican and southern culture. Among his many published works is the , which he co-editedwith Charles Reagan Wilson. Encyclopedia of Southern Culture The collection consists of papers, photographs, slides,sound recordings, videotapes, films, and other materials documenting Ferris's lifeand work. Professional papers relate to his teaching career at Jackson StateUniversity, Yale University, the University of Mississippi, and the University ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill, and to his activities at the Center for SouthernFolklore, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Center for theStudy of Southern Culture, the Center for the Study of the American South, and aschair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Personal papers include studentmaterials, family correspondence, and other papers from the 1940s to 2002. Papers,images, and recordings document life in Mississippi and the Mississippi Delta; folk,blues, gospel, fife and drum corps music, and other musical types; folk and musicfestivals; folk arts, culture, and humor; ;the Ku Klux Klan; prisons, especially Parchman Farm (Mississippi StatePenitentiary); auctioneers; and other topics. Films and videotapes include footageof Ferris's documentaries. Individuals important in the collection include writers,artists, musicians, political figures, and others. The Addition of 2012 contains papers, photographs, audio recordings, moving images, digital files, and artifacts relating to William Ferris's life and work, 1949-2011. There are materials relating to Ferris's book (2009) and research and notes related to Ferris's book project on southern voices. There are journals kept by Ferris, 1995 and 2003-2011, containing his schedules and notes related to events and meetings; correspondence with Alice Walker, B.B. King, students and advisees, and professional colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and other universities; subject files relating to his research, projects, and events; notes, letters, holiday cards, and other papers sent to Ferris; and published items collected by Ferris. The Addition also contains black-and-white photographic prints of images taken by Ferris in the 1960s and 1970s primarily depicting African Americans and whites in Mississippi including images of musicians Louis Dotson, James Thomas, and others; a significant number of snapshots taken by Ferris, 2000-2011, of musical events, gatherings, and travel; slides depicting various people and scenes important to Ferris's research; digital family and travel photographs; digital photographs given to William Ferris from friends and associates; and photocopies of the contact prints from photographs taken by Ferris in the 1960s and 1970s. There are sound and video recordings of classes taught by Ferris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill featuring performances by guest speakers and musicians; interviews with Ferris; digital files of presentations given by him; audio recordings, moving images, and artifacts collected by or given to Ferris; posters for book signings, and other items. Highway 61 Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Delta Blues Son

Extent

About 173,000 items (about 409.0 linear feet)

Languages

eng,

Holding Repository

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6626618

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.

Related Entities

There are 76 Entities related to this resource.

King, B. B., 1925-2015

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60m2zsp (person)

B.B. King was born Riley B. King Sept. 16, 1925 in Itta Bena, MS. He got the nickname "Beale Street Blues Boy", later shortened to "Blues Boy", and finally to B.B. while working as a disc jokey. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, King was a part of the blues scene on Beale Street and by the 1950s he became one of the most important names in R&B music. He died May 14, 2015 in Las Vegas, NV....

William R. Ferris Collection, 1910s-2011

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