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Size | 5.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2500 items) |
Abstract | Robert Henry Mason worked as a writer and in other capacities for the "Virginian-Pilot" in Norfolk, Va., 1945-1952 and 1957-1978, and was editor of that paper, 1962-1978. Correspondence, speeches and writings, news clippings, and photographs documenting the career of Robert Henry Mason. Correspondence is with newspaper colleagues, other business associates, government officials and friends, including Jonathan Daniels (1902-1981), Doris Betts (1932- ), Alonzo Dill, and Burke Davis, and deals with such matters as the American Society of Newspaper Editors; the "Sanford Herald," Sanford, N.C., which Mason partly owned in the mid 1950s; and the editorial stance of the "Virginian-Pilot." |
Creator | Mason, Robert Henry, 1912- |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Gina Overcash, November 1987; Roslyn Holdzkom, March 1993 and July 1996
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Updated by: Dawne Howard Lucas, January 2022
Not fully processed pending additions.
Back to TopThe 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.
Robert Henry Mason was born on 1 September 1912 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and grew up in Mebane. He received an A.B. degree from the University of North Carolina in 1933. He married Frances Fulton of Walnut Cove, North Carolina, in 1939. The Masons have one daughter, Frances (Mrs. Robert F. Baldwin, Jr.).
Robert Mason was editor of the Virginian Pilot from January 1962 until his retirement in October 1978. He had been the newspaper's managing editor, Sunday editor, city editor, and a staff writer. Before joining the Pilot in 1941, he worked for The Sanford Herald, The Raleigh Times, and the Durham Morning Herald, all in North Carolina. He left the Pilot during World Was II when he served as a Naval Reserve lieutenant in the Pacific Amphibious Force, and again for five years (1952-1957) while editing the Sanford paper, of which he then was part owner.
For seventeen years beginning in 1960, Mason was a member of the board of trustees of the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences and its successor, the Chrysler Museum of Norfolk. As chairman of the Norfolk Civil War Centennial Committee, he cooperated with the Atlantic Amphibious Force training command in staging a scale-model reenactment of the Merrimack ( C.S.S Virginia) - Monitor battle on its hundredth anniversary. He has written and spoken extensively on Civil War naval topics, the Confederate cruisers especially.
Mason received a National Book Award for literary criticism in 1951 and twice was a Pulitzer juror. He was a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors for twenty years. In 1987, he was inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame. He is the author of One of the Neighbors' Children, published by Algonquin Books in 1987.
In 1980, Mason and his wife moved to Southern Pines, North Carolina. He is active in Weymouth, a regional cultural center. He continues to write, publishing articles in such journals as the William and Mary Law Review, the Virginia Quarterly Review, and the Naval Institute Proceedings
Back to TopCorrespondence, speeches and writings, news clippings, and photographs documenting the career of Robert Henry Mason. Correspondence is with newspaper colleagues, other business associates, government officials and friends, including Jonathan Daniels (1902-1981), Doris Betts (1932- ), Alonzo Dill, and Burke Davis, and deals with such matters as the American Society of Newspaper Editors; the "Sanford Herald," Sanford, N.C., which Mason partly owned in the mid 1950s; and the editorial stance of the "Virginian-Pilot."
Back to TopArrangement: loosely sorted by year.
Correspondence not included in subject files (see Series 2), mostly between Robert Mason and various colleagues, business associates, government officials, and friends.
Notable correspondents include:
Doris Betts (8 letters and postcards, 1973, 1978, 1981-1982, 1987)
Jonathan Daniels (5 letters and postcards, 1973-1976)
Clyde Edgerton (2 letters, 1985-1986)
William Friday (6 letters, 1978, 1981-1983)
Bob Jones, of Bob Jones University (2 letters, 1970)
Reynolds Price (4 letters, 1975, 1982-1983)
There is also scattered correspondence with Burke Davis and Alonzo Dill.
Folder 1 |
1933-1957 |
Folder 2 |
1958-1964 |
Folder 3 |
Editorial Correspondence, 1963-1964 |
Folder 4 |
1967 |
Folder 5 |
1968 |
Folder 6 |
1969 |
Folder 7 |
Meetings and Travel, 1968-1969 |
Folder 8 |
1970 |
Folder 9 |
1971 |
Folder 10-11
Folder 10Folder 11 |
1972 |
Folder 12-13
Folder 12Folder 13 |
1973 |
Folder 14 |
1974 |
Folder 15-16
Folder 15Folder 16 |
1975 |
Folder 17-19
Folder 17Folder 18Folder 19 |
1976 |
Folder 20-22
Folder 20Folder 21Folder 22 |
1977 |
Folder 23-24
Folder 23Folder 24 |
1978 |
Folder 25 |
1979 |
Folder 26 |
1980 |
Folder 27-28
Folder 27Folder 28 |
1981 |
Folder 29-30
Folder 29Folder 30 |
1982 |
Folder 31 |
1983 |
Folder 32 |
1984 |
Folder 33 |
1985 |
Folder 34 |
1986 |
Folder 35-35a |
1987 |
Folder 35b |
1988 |
Folder 35c |
1989 |
Folder 35d |
1990 |
Folder 35e |
1991 |
Folder 35f |
1992 |
Folder 35g |
1993 |
Folder 35h |
1994 |
Folder 35i |
1995 |
Arrangement: alphabetical by file title.
Correspondence, newspaper and magazine clippings, speeches, and other materials relating to Robert Mason's work as a newspaper writer and editor. Also included are a few items of personal correspondence, most notably a series of Christmas cards from Robert Betts. For the most part, Mason's original arrangement and labeling have been maintained.
Typescript draft of Robert Mason's book One of the Neighbors' Children, published by Algonquin Books in 1987. This series also contains correspondence with Louis Rubin related to the book. There are also miscellaneous short writings by Mason.
Folder 87-91
Folder 87Folder 88Folder 89Folder 90Folder 91 |
One of the Neighbors' Children |
Folder 92-96
Folder 92Folder 93Folder 94Folder 95Folder 96 |
Miscellaneous short writings |
Volume V-4494/1 |
Scrapbook, 1951Telegrams, letters, postcards, newspaper and magazine clippings, and photographs concerning Mason's National Book Award for literary criticism, awarded while he was Sunday editor of the Virginian-Pilot. |