Exploring the Southern Historical Collection
Looking for a few numbers to jazz up your party playlist tonight? Then break out the piano and clarinet for Kay Kyser’s 1947 big band hit, “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”
From the Kay Kyser and Georgia Carroll Kyser Papers #5289, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Happy Holidays! Please enjoy a few of Wilson Library’s favorite photographs of seasonal celebrations across the South:
Group on their way to Ronda, N.C. for a Christmas dance, circa 1913. From the Thomas F. Hickerson Papers, #3809, Southern Historical Collection.
Hatteras Island “Old Christmas” celebrations in Rodanthe, N.C., circa 1940s From the North Carolina County Photographic Collection #P0001, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.
For more on “Buck” and Old Christmas on the Outer Banks, click here.
Nashville Community Sing, 1949. From the Charles S. Killebrew Photographic Collection (P0091), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.
Bunn Family Christmas, 1951. From the Charles S. Killebrew Photographic Collection (P0091), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.
Elizabeth Spencer with unknown companions, New Year’s Eve party, 1994. From the Elizabeth Spencer Papers #5145, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Poster, A Rockabilly Christmas Party, Hideaway BBQ, Raleigh, N.C., 14 December 2007. From the Jason Lonon Poster Collection #20451, Southern Folklife Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Paul Green, a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and Carolina alum, was known for writing “The Lost Colony” and many other outdoor dramas. However, during the holidays he and his wife Elizabeth put their creative genius to a specifically festive use. Each year, the Greens crafted a Christmas card featuring lyrics, and sometimes sheet music, to seasonally-themed songs. Some of the tunes were borrowed, but the words were the Greens’ own writing, sometimes featuring songs from Paul’s published plays. Check out a few of these cards below:
From the Paul Green Papers, #3693, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Paul Green, a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and Carolina alum, was known for writing “The Lost Colony” and many other outdoor dramas. However, during the holidays he and his wife Elizabeth put their creative genius to a specifically festive use. Each year, the Greens crafted a Christmas card featuring lyrics, and sometimes sheet music, to seasonally-themed songs. Some of the tunes were borrowed, but the words were the Greens’ own writing, sometimes featuring songs from Paul’s published plays. Check out a few of these cards below:
From the Paul Green Papers, #3693, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Check out these Christmas wish lists from cousins Niles Grosvenor and Phoebe Evans of Memphis, Tennessee from November, 1932. The corresponding orders to Sears, Roebuck, and Co. from their grandmother and Phoebe’s father show that Santa got it right.
From folder 293 in the Hill and Grosvenor Family Papers #4191, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
For reference, it appears that a transcript was made:
With exams in full swing here at UNC, we thought we’d take a moment to appreciate the subjects we’re no longer graded on. Take a look at these report cards from years past – which categories and wordings would you least like to be added to your transcript? Our nomination is “total failure.”
This UNC Chapel Hill student appears to have missed 65 recitations, but at least his deportment was “uniformly good.” From folder 34 of the John S. Henderson Papers #327.
Calista Ramsey wasn’t doing all that well in arithmetic at the Concord Female College, but she did avoid the “total failure” mark. From folder 9 in the J. G. Ramsey Papers #1568.
Eliza London seems to be doing very well in French, German, and Greek at the School of the Misses Nash and Kollock. From folder 14 in the Emily London Short Papers #5181.
(For more on the history of this Hillsboro girls’ school, check out A Sketch of the School of the Misses Nash and Miss Kollock.)
Siblings W. H. and Bettie Joyner both did well in these Franklinton Schools report cards, but both missed the opportunity to take “Wax Work.” Note that W. H.’s penmanship received perfect marks. From folder 41 in the Joyner Family Papers #4428.
