The University of North Carolina Press was incorporated as a non-stock company in 1922. Its original purpose was threefold: to publish periodicals devoted to the research and writing of University of North Carolina faculty; to publish catalogs and other documents for the University; and to promote the arts, sciences, and literature by publishing generally deserving works. Throughout its history, the Press has been espeically strong in the areas of southern history and literature. Although supported in part by the University, the Press remained administratively independent until 1951, when it was brought under the supervision of the University of North Carolina System's General Administration. Today the Press is a major publisher of scholarly journals and books. Records include correspondence and other files relating to the administration and publishing activities of the University of North Carolina Press. Included are minutes and other records of the Press's Board of Governors, 1922-1970 and 1979-1997; files of the Director, 1922-1993; extensive financial records from the office of the Controller of the Press, 1925-1979; and Marketing Division records pertaining to publicity and distribution, 1932-1963. There are also extensive files on rejected manuscripts and out-of-print titiles, including correspondence with leading intellectual figures, both southern and national. Among these are Josephus Daniels, Paul Green, Bernice Kelly Harris, Howard W. Odum, and Rupert Vance. The files of William T. Couch as Director are of particular interest; they include materials pertaining to the Federal Writers' Project and to the journal . Social Forces
