Southern Folklife Collection

Call Directions Website Contact the school

Southern Folklife Collection Archival resource dedicated to collecting and preserving roots music, art, and culture.
(318)

The Southern Folklife Collection is an archival resource dedicated to collecting, preserving and disseminating traditional and vernacular music, art, and culture related to the American South. We do this to advance the study and public recognition of these art forms, and support the educational, research and service missions of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We are part of the Wilson Special Collections Library at UNC-Chapel Hill’s University Libraries.

10/09/2026

Originating with enslaved Africans, the banjo is now being reclaimed by Black musicians in contemporary music

10/07/2026

Like some kind of miraculous stray artifact from the postwar canon, the tales in Guralnick’s Lost
Love are each in themselves perfectly lucid, yet form a shape around a mystery, the ultimately
elusive passage into selfhood.

— Jonathan Lethem, author of The Fortress of Solitude

PHOTO BY ROBERT PRINGLE
From Harvard Square an Illustrated History since 1950

Peter Guralnick’s brand new collection of stories, Lost Love is available for pre-order now from Godine. Link in first comment.

We’re filling in gaps in our holdings of Chapel Hill-based Colonial Records! These newly acquired recordings feature art...
10/02/2026

We’re filling in gaps in our holdings of Chapel Hill-based Colonial Records! These newly acquired recordings feature artists including Deacon Andy Griffith, George Hamilton IV, Johnny Dee (John D. Loudermilk), and the Bluenotes—offering a richer look at the region’s musical history.

Founded by Chapel Hill publisher Orville Campbell, Colonial Records operated from the late 1940s through the mid-1960s. The independent label recorded a wide range of music—including country, bluegrass, pop, comedy, novelty, folk, and early rock ’n’ roll—and often used recording facilities at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Swain Hall. Colonial helped launch the careers of several North Carolina artists, including Griffith, Hamilton, Loudermilk, and Billy “Crash” Craddock. (ncpedia.org)

Many thanks to donor John McCorkle for helping us preserve and share these important pieces of North Carolina’s recording heritage! 🎶

09/18/2026

Remembering Hank Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953). Born Hiram King Williams in Mount Olive, Butler County, Alabama.

What treasures can be uncovered through archival description and access work? In this guest blog post, UNC University Li...
09/18/2026

What treasures can be uncovered through archival description and access work? In this guest blog post, UNC University Libraries’ Southern Folklife Collection graduate assistant Barrett Brooks shares highlights from a summer project that brought greater access to unique instantaneous discs featuring Hank Williams, Nathan Abshire, and more. Read on!

Recommended to our friends in the DC area
09/10/2026

Recommended to our friends in the DC area

08/31/2026

Address

200 South Road, Wilson Library, University Of North Carolina At
Chapel Hill, NC
27514

Telephone

+19199627105

Website

, ,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Southern Folklife Collection posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Southern Folklife Collection:

Shortcuts

Share