February 2011 – Page 3 – NC Miscellany

Link dump arrives in egg, Miscellany fans go gaga

— Break-in at Central Prison!

— Muskogee, Paducah or Chapel Hill?

— Reel-to-reel of MLK in Winston-Salem makes digital debut.

— Sorry, just couldn’t resist writing “Dateline: Spearfish.”

— Would historic Skyco be better remembered if it didn’t have to share its name with a mobile home builder, a paragliding outfitter and a supplier of knuckle boom grapple trucks?

Chapel Hill’s Eagle Hotel

As I was looking through some mid-nineteenth century issues of the Hillsborough Recorder, I noticed the following advertisement:

Have you ever heard of the Eagle Hotel or Miss Nancy Hilliard? If not, see below:

Ann Segur Hilliard (1807-1873), known as “Miss Nancy,” came to Chapel Hill in about 1814 with her parents. After they died, she bought from Elisha Mitchell a lot on Columbia Street and began to board students in 1825. Over the years she gained an excellent reputation for her hospitality and cooking, and in 1846 she bought the Watts Hotel property on Franklin Street for $1250, renaming it the Eagle Hotel. She operated this inn and boarding house until she sold it to Hugh B. Guthrie in 1853. Then she built a large two-story house just east of the hotel and continued to serve students meals in her large basement until after the Civil War. Destitute by 1869, the court sold her remaining household goods for $484.25 to pay some of her creditors. She died penniless in 1873 and was buried in the village cemetery. Cornelia Phillips Spencer solicited contributions from alumni to purchase a gravestone, which reads in part, “ERECTED 1886, By certain alumni of this University, in grateful remembrance of her unfailing kindness and hospitality” (Vickers, James, Thomas Scism, and Dixon Qualls. Chapel Hill: An Illustrated History. Carrboro, NC: Barclay Publishers, 1985. pp. 61, 78). [Sketch of “Miss Nancy” found in “True and Candid Compositions: The Lives and Writings of Antebellum Students at the University of North Carolina.”]

Can Watson match Mary Eubanks’ championship?

The latest “Jeopardy!” contestant — debuting today — is a computer.

The first “Jeopardy!” contestant — on March 30, 1964 — was “Mrs. Mary Eubanks, a housewife from Candor, N.C.” To hear those very words out of the mouth of Don Pardo, click here and go to the second square under “This is Jeopardy!”

The Final Jeopardy! answer on that inaugural show, under the category Famous Quotes, was ” ‘Good night sweet prince’ was originally said to him.”

I haven’t been able to determine whether Mary Eubanks nailed down her victory with “Who was Hamlet?” but she did take home $345.

Bill of Rights? How ‘American’ is THAT?

“In the autumn of 1940 James Boyd, the engaging historical novelist and essayist from North Carolina, recruited an outstanding cast of writers to prepare a series of radio scripts…. Unsponsored and unpaid, this group called itself the Free Company and took as its mission a dramatic presentation of the Bill of Rights. ‘Our only purpose,’ Boyd explained, ‘is to remind people, in this hour of danger, how precious the American way of life is.’

“The writers felt determined to reach the broadest possible audience and by May 1941 there were, indeed, more than 5 million faithful listeners. Despite the self-evident ‘Americanism’ of the scripts, however, more conservative listeners and the Hearst papers disliked the internationalism and liberal tone….

“Boyd’s ‘team’ included William Saroyan, Archibald MacLeish, Stephen Vincent Benet, Orson Welles and Paul Green. Their 11 programs were heard on CBS and enjoyed extensive rebroadcasting despite the flak…. More than 7,000 copies of the scripts were sold, and the Free Company received more than 10,000 fan letters.”

— From “Mystic Chords of Memory: The Transformation of Tradition in American Culture” by Michael Kammen (1991)

Link dump: Mercy, mercy, what controversy!

— Tourism insurgents: “There’s more to Mount Airy than Mayberry.”

— Barbecue Confidential: “It’s so minimalist — dressed with only a little bit of vinegar, salt and pepper. It’s hard to argue with that.”

— But really, Mr. Bourdain, for an old-fashioned barbecue tempeh sandwich you still can’t beat Asheville.

Bulldozing through the Harlem of the South

“In a kind of parting shot… as whites fled, those highways [to suburbia] were often routed specifically through African American neighborhoods….

“In Durham, for example, [N.C.] Route 147 was built to help connect the downtown manufacturing and business center with land being developed and sold almost exclusively to whites in suburbs north of the city. That highway… displaced Durham’s main African American business district, so well known for its cultural vitality and economic success that it was called the Harlem of the South in the years when Harlem was its most vibrant.”

— From “Carjacked: The Culture of the Automobile and Its Effect on Our Lives” by Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez (2010)

Department of Dramatic Art Photographs and Related Materials, 1911-1970s–New Finding Aid

Also, check out the new finding aid and lots of digitized images for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Dramatic Art Photographs and Related Materials, 1911-1970s.

Here is a description of the collection from the new finding aid:

The Department of Dramatic Art at the University of North Carolina was established in 1936; prior to that, instruction in the history of theater and comparative drama was given in the Department of English. In addition to academic instruction, the new department produced plays and supported dramatic efforts. The Carolina Playmakers, founded in 1918 by drama professor Frederick Henry Koch (1877-1944), became its production unit. Koch and the Playmakers specialized in folk drama and were considered seminal in the Little Theatre movement of the early 20th century. The group performed plays (many of which were written by students) on campus, and also toured North Carolina and other states. The Carolina Dramatic Association, begun in 1922, was a cooperative program of the Department of Dramatic Art and the University Extension Division’s Bureau of Community Drama. A new semi-professional theatrical group, the PlayMakers Repertory Company, was established in 1976. Many persons associated with the study of dramatic art at the University of North Carolina later achieved professional prominence, including Thomas Wolfe, Paul Green, Betty Smith, Shepperd Strudwick, Jack Palance, Louise Fletcher, Anne Jeffries, and Andy Griffith. The collection spans the time period from 1911 through the 1970s and includes photographs and related material documenting theatrical productions, personnel, tours, programs, events, and other activities of the Department of Dramatic Art. Images primarily document the Carolina Playmakers (1918-1975), and often depict Caucasian actors portraying African American, Native American, and Asian characters. Many of these early play images were taken and produced by the photographer Bayard Wootten or by Wootten-Moulton Studios. Productions and activities of the PlayMakers Reperatory Company, the North Dakota Playmakers (founded by Frederick Henry Koch in 1905 before he came to the University of North Carolina), and the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Theatre Project are also depicted. The collection consists primarily of photographic material (prints, negatives, and 35mm slides), but also contains programs from productions, notes on tour dates, reviews, and other materials.

See how many images you can find of North Carolina’s own Andy Griffith!

Paul Cuadros Photographic Collection in the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives

Check out the new finding aid for the the Paul Cuadros Photographic Collection, one of the most recent photograph acquisitions in the North Carolina Collection. A description of the collection (from the finding aid) is below:

Paul Cuadros was born in Ann Arbor, Mich., the third son of parents who immigrated from Peru. He attended the University of Michigan and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and focused his career in journalism on writing and reporting on issues of race and poverty. In 1999, he was awarded an Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellowship to write and report on the impact of emerging Latino communities on the rural South. This resulted in the book A Home on the Field: How One Championship Team Inspires Hope for the Revival of Small Town America (2006). The Paul Cuadros Photographic Collection is primarily composed of images related to the Latino immigrant community in central North Carolina, particularly in Siler City. They were taken when Cuadros was living there researching the Latino migration to the American South. The subjects of the images include the living conditions of immigrants; poultry and agricultural workers, including injured poultry workers; social and community events such as quinceaneras and festivals; religious events, including a passion play; children in school, including a contentious meeting of the Siler City School Board in September 1999; and anti-immigration rallies, including one led by David Duke in February 2000 and the response to that rally. Also included are a few images from North Carolina locations outside Siler City and a few from outside North Carolina.