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Collection Number: 04510

Collection Title: John W. Dixon and Vivian Slagle Dixon Papers, 1920s-2000s

This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


expand/collapse Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size 60.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 10,000 items)
Abstract The collection includes correspondence, writings, photographs, and other materials of the married couple John Wesley Dixon, Jr., (1919-2004), a white faculty member of the Religion Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, whose chiief scholarly interest was the interdisciplinary field of religion and art, and Vivian Slagle Dixon (1919-2007), a white author with research interestes in eldercare, grief, and museum education. John Wesley Dixon's correspondence concerns academic and scholarly matters, such as the publication of various works, presentations he made, teaching, and his work with graduate students. There also are letters and other items related to his efforts to organize faculty opposition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to the war in Vietnam, his efforts to improve race relations on campus in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and his ideas about religious faith and higher education. His writings are chiefly published and unpublished essays concerning various dimensions of religion and art and issues in higher education. Materials relating to Vivian Slagle Dixon document her early life and education at Blackstone College for Girls, family, friendships, settling of the Slagle estate, and her research and writing. Materials include correspondence, school publications, travel diaries, journals, and writings. There are also photographs, including travel snapshots and portraits.
Creator Dixon, John W.

Dixon, Vivian Slagle.
Curatorial Unit Southern Historical Collection
Language English.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access
The addition of July 2003 is CLOSED pending screening for student records.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the John W. Dixon and Vivian Slagle Dixon Papers #4510, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Provenance
Received from John W. Dixon, Jr., through the UNC-CH Dept. of Religious Studies and University Archives in March 1988 and July 2003 (Acc. 99583) and in May 2013 (Acc. 101813).
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Gina Overcash, 1988; Laura Knodel, 2004; Meaghan Alston and Nancy Kaiser, 2022

Encoded by: Linda Sellars, 2004

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, 2022

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

John Wesley Dixon, Jr., was born in Richmond, Va., on 18 August 1919. In 1941, he graduated from Emory and Henry College with a B.A. in history and English. He studied history at the University of Bristol, England, 1938-1939, and at Columbia University in the summer of 1950. In 1953, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in the interdepartmental program called the Committee on Social Thought.

Dixon was an instructor at Michigan State University, 1950-1952. He taught at Emory University, 1952-1957; Dickinson College, 1957-1960; and Florida Presbyterian College, 1960-1963. From 1963 until his retirement in the 1980s he was a member of the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a professor of religion and art. While on a leave of absence from Emory University, he served as the executive director of the Faculty Christian Fellowship of the National Council of Churches.

John Wesley Dixon authored numerous works, including Form and Reality: Art as Communication (1957), Nature and Grace in Art (1964), Art and the Theological Imagination (1976), and The Physiology of Faith: A Theory of Theological Relativity (1979).

Vivian Ardelia Slagle Dixon was born in Rural Retreat, Virginia, on 18 July 1919. She earned a diploma from Blackstone College for Girls in 1939 and later went on to graduate from Emory and Henry College in 1941. She married John W. Dixon Jr. In 1943. In 1971 she earned her Master of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Vivian Slagle Dixon was an avid artist and writer. She authored manuscripts on numerous topics including family finances, geneology, museum education, and grief: A Model for the Selection of Common Stocks and other unpublished works, including "Life's Endings: The Experience of Grief," "Growing Up Country," and a project on the Capitol dome. She also was instrumental in establishing the elder care ministry at Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church.

John Wesley Dixon died in 2004 and Vivian Slagle Dixon in 2007.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes correspondence, writings, photographs, and other materials of the married couple John Wesley Dixon, Jr., (1919- ), a white faculty member of the Religion Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, whose chiief scholarly interest was the interdisciplinary field of religion and art, and Vivian Slagle Dixon, a white author with research interestes in eldercare, grief, and museum education. John Wesley Dixon's correspondence concerns academic and scholarly matters, such as the publication of various works, presentations he made, teaching, and his work with graduate students. There also are letters and other items related to his efforts to organize faculty opposition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to the war in Vietnam, his efforts to improve race relations on campus in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and his ideas about religious faith and higher education. His writings are chiefly published and unpublished essays concerning various dimensions of religion and art and issues in higher education. Materials relating to Vivian Slagle Dixon document her early life and education, family, friendships, settling of the Slagle estate, and her research and writing. Materials include correspondence, school publications, travel diaries, journals, and writings. There are also photographs, including travel snapshots and portraits.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. John W. Dixon Correspondence and Writings, 1952-1987.

About 700 items.

Correspondence of John W. Dixon with colleagues and faculty members at various colleges and universities. Original folder labels have been maintained.

Articles and essays, some presumably unpublished, written by John W. Dixon. Topics include art, religion and theology, and colleges and universities.

Folder 1-6

Folder 1

Folder 2

Folder 3

Folder 4

Folder 5

Folder 6

Formal and academic correspondence

Folder 7-11

Folder 7

Folder 8

Folder 9

Folder 10

Folder 11

Formal correspondence

Folder 12

Formal and private letters and memos

Folder 13-14

Folder 13

Folder 14

Personal and formal correspondence

Folder 15-18

Folder 15

Folder 16

Folder 17

Folder 18

Miscellaneous correspondence

Folder 19

Personal letters

Folder 20-21

Folder 20

Folder 21

Politics: Personal letters and materials relating to the University (UNC-Chapel Hill)

Folder 22-36

Folder 22

Folder 23

Folder 24

Folder 25

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

Folder 29

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Folder 36

Writings

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1A. John W. Dixon Correspondence, Writings, and Teaching Materials, 1971-1987 (Addition of July 2003).

About 600 items.

Acquisitions Information: Accession 99583

CLOSED pending screening for student records.

Correspondence, teaching materials, writings, and student papers from John W. Dixon's years as a professor at Religion Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Correspondence documents departmental affairs and Dixon's work with graduate students. Also included are syllabi and other materials from classes taught by Dixon, and writings by Dixon and others.

Box 3

Correspondence, writings, and teaching materials, 1971-1987

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1A. John W. Dixon Correspondence, Writings, and Teaching Materials, 1930s-2000s (Addition of May 2013).

About 2000 items.

Acquisitions Information: Accession 101813

Personal and professional correspondence, writing, teaching materials, speeches, from John W. Dixon Jr.'s early life and career to his years as a professor in the Religion Department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and beyond. Personal correspondence stretches from the 1930s to the 2000s, the bulk being from the 1930s and 1940s between his mother and wife Vivian Slagle Dixon. Professional correspondence documents his work and departmental affairs at multiple universities in addition to UNC-Chapel Hill. Writings include multiple articles and essays on art and religion and editorial material for his books on the topic. Also included are syllabi and other classroom material and speeches and writings in opposition to the war in Vietnam.

Box 29

Personal correspondence, 1930s-1940s

Box 30

Personal correspondence, 1940s

Box 31

Personal correspondence, 1940s-1990s

Box 32

Personal correspondence, 1990s-2000s

Education

School souvenirs from Emory and Henry College.

Writers Digest short story writing course

Box 33

Army records

Graduate school admission and work

Early professional career and Florida Presbyterian College

News clippings

Professional correspondence

Box 34

Anti-war speeches, writings, and correspondence

Includes a signed letter from Noam Chomsky.

Nature of Grace in Art and Art and Theological Imagination reviews and editorial material

Box 35-36

Box 35

Box 36

Writings on art and religion

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2A. Vivian Slagle Dixon Papers, 1920s-2000s (Addition of May 2013).

About 7000 items.

Acquisitions Information: Accession 101813

Educational material, correspondence, writing projects, and other items from Vivian Slagle Dixon. Educational material includes notes and assignments from Blackstone College for Girls, Emory and Henry College, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in addition to school newspapers and newsletters. There is a scrapbook for Blackstone College for Girls. Personal correspondence spans from the 1930s to the 2000s with the majority from the 1930s and 1940s between her parents and husband John W. Dixon Jr. There are drafts and research material for numerous writing projects including "Life's Endings: The Experience of Grief" and "Growing up Country."

Box 4

Early life and education

School material for grade school, high school and (Rural Retreat High School '37, Blackstone College for Girls, Emory and Henry College '41). Documents include: report cards, achievement certificates, diploma, The Onyx (Blackstone College publication), Emory and Henry Yearbook, Phi Beta Kapa certificate, notes, and exams.

Box 5

Early life and education

Includes The Cabbage Patch (Rural Retreat High School Newspaper) and The White Topper (Emory and Henry College Newspaper. Vivian wrote for both papers and John Dixon served as editor at some point during their time in school.

Correspondence, 1930s

Box 6-7

Box 6

Box 7

Correspondence, 1930s

Box 8

Correspondence, 1930s-1940s

An extensive correspondence between Vivian Slagle and John Dixon Jr. begins during his time in militar service, before and after their marriage.

Box 9-17

Box 9

Box 10

Box 11

Box 12

Box 13

Box 14

Box 15

Box 16

Box 17

Correspondence, 1940s

Box 11 includes a folder with employment inquiries illustrates struggles during this time.

Box 18

Correspondence, 1940s-1950s

Box 19-20

Box 19

Box 20

Correspondence, 1950s-1960s

Box 21

Correspondence, 1970s-2000s

Box 22

Personal papers, 1940s-2000s

Topics include: wedding to John W. Dixon Jr., art exhibition.

Journals

Travel diaries

Graduate school thesis and other work

Box 23-24

Box 23

Box 24

Eldercare

Slagle helped to found the Chapel of the Cross eldercare ministry.

Box 24

Slagle estate material

Videotape VT-4510/1

Vivian Dixon Interview

Box 25

Writing projects

Unpublished manuscript "Life's Endings: The Experience of Grief" and "Growing Up Country" genealogy project and research.

Box 26

Writing projects

Museum education project

Box 27-28

Box 27

Box 28

Writing projects

Capitol Dome guide drafts and research material.

Oversize Volume SV-4510/1-2

SV-4510/1

SV-4510/2

Scrapbook, 1938-1939

Correspondence, ephemera, photographs collected at Blackstone Girls College. Includes annotations.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3A. Slagle and Dixon Family Papers, 1940s-2000s (Addition of May 2013).

About 500 items.

Acquisitions Information: Accession 101813

Box 37-38

Box 37

Box 38

Family correspondence and miscellaneous, 1940s-2000s

Box 39

Family correspondence

Travel journals

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4A. Photographs, 1940s, 1980s (Addition of May 2013).

About 500 items.

Acquisitions Information: Accession 101813

Image Box IB-4510/1

Photographs, 1940s

Black-and-white photographic prints

Many are snapshots of Vivian S. Dixon and include images of wedding color photographs (circa 1980s) European travels

Phtographs, 1980s

Color photographic prints snapshots

European travel.

Image Box IB-4510/2

Photography class notebook

John W. Dixon portraits (headshots)

Vivian Slagle graduation

Henry Slagle and Mamie Slagle portrait

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

Photographs (IB-4510/1-2)

Oversize volume (SV-4510/1-2)

Videotape (VT-4510/1)

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