Restrictions to Access

For the lifetime of the donor, researchers must request permission from the donor for duplication or digitization of collection materials.

Use of audio or video materials may require production of viewing copies.

This collection contains additional born digital materials that are not processed and are currently not available to researchers. For information about access to these materials, contact Research and Instructional Services staff. Please be advised that preparing unprocessed materials for access can be a lengthy process.

Access to streaming audio or moving image materials may be restricted to researchers who can authenticate with an ONYEN or who are physically present on campus. For further information about access to streaming audiovisual materials, contact Research and Instructional Services staff at Wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

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 David Morton Collection #20373, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Received from David Morton of Reno, N.C., in 2003 (Acc. 99473, Acc. 99488, Acc. 99513, Acc. 99632), in 2005 (Acc. 100287), in 2006 (Acc. 100305, 100306, 100316, 100337, 100358, 100474), in 2007 (Acc. 100663, 100729, 101212), in 2012 (Acc. 101537), in 2013 (Acc. 101835), in 2016 (Acc. 102672), and in December 2021 (20211207.5).

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.

Processed by: Allyn Meredith, February 2004; Emily Jack, March 2006; Jodi Berkowitz, January 2017; Nancy Kaiser and Patrick Cullom, April 2021; Rebecca Stubbs, October 2023

Encoded by: Allyn Meredith, February 2004

Revisions: Sarah Arnold, February 2011

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

This collections contains images that depict white performers wearing blackface makeup.

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.

• African Americans--Music.
• Bailey, DeFord.
• Blackface entertainers--United States--History.
• Country music.
• Country musicians.
• Film.
• Grand ole opry (Radio program).
• Harkreader, Sidney J.
• Harmonica music.
• Morton, David, 1945-
• Racism--North Carolina--Photographs.
• WDAD (Radio station : Nashville, Tenn.)
• WSM (Radio station : Nashville, Tenn.)

In 1991, along with Charles K. Wolfe, David C. Morton (1945- ), a white author, published a book titled DeFord Bailey: A Black Star in Early Country Music (University of Tennessee Press). DeFord Bailey (1899-1982) was a legendary African American harmonica player, who performed on WSM's Grand Ole Opry, a weekly radio show broadcast from Nashville, Tenn. Bailey began his career soon after WDAD came on the air in 1925. He continued to play on the radio show until 1941, becoming well known for his tune, "Pan American Blues." Bailey traveled extensively, entertaining audiences along with Roy Acuff and other members of the Grand Ole Opry throughout the South and the Midwest during what was a dangerous and difficult period for African Americans to receive basic services in hotels and restaurants.

In 1973, David Morton was employed by the Metropolitan Housing and Development Agency in Nashville, Tenn. Morton set out to write a story for the public housing newsletter about DeFord Bailey's musical accomplishments. Bailey was then a resident of Nashville's public housing. Morton was warned that Bailey would be unwilling to be interviewed. He eventually found Bailey, developed a friendship with him, and spent many hours recording Bailey's stories and songs. In 1974, soon after the interviews began, Morton wrote an article for Nashville! magazine about the legendary country music player, entitled "Every Day's Been Sunday." Later, with the urging of DeFord Bailey and the help of Charles K. Wolfe, a biography was written.

A historical marker in honor of DeFord Bailey's contributions to the musical community was erected in Nashville's Edgeville neighborhood where Bailey lived and maintained a shoeshine shop after his career with the Grand Ole Opry ended in the early-1940s. His cemetery grave marker, also located near Nashville, reads, "Harmonica Wizard."

The David Morton collection contains text and photographic documentation, sound recordings, and videotapes chiefly relating to the work of David C. Morton, a white author, with African American harmonica player DeFord Bailey.

Documentation consists of correspondence concerning Morton's biography of DeFord Bailey; the placement of a historical marker dedicated to Bailey in the Edgehill community in Nashville, Tenn.; and a letter from a German auto parts manufacturer requesting approval to use a photograph of Bailey in an advertising campaign. There are also newspaper and magazine clippings referring to Bailey's contributions to country music, including a 1974 article that David Morton wrote for Nashville! magazine. Other items are calendars with photographs of Bailey, memorial information with a map pointing to Bailey's gravesite, and a tributary brochure. Also included are publicity and other photographs of Bailey, including images for WSM's Grand Ole Opry and a poster created by the Hatch Show Print Company for the segment on DeFord Bailey and the Grand Ole Opry that aired on 24 November 2000 as part of National Public Radio's Lost and Found Sound series.

Sound recordings consist of reel-to-reel tapes and audiocassettes. Reel-to-reel tapes document interview sessions between David Morton and DeFord Bailey; they contain conversations and music recordings of Bailey on harmonica, guitar, and banjo. Most audiocassettes were made between 1973 and 1980 and include DeFord Bailey interview sessions, music recordings, and performances. Other audiocassettes include interviews of other Grand Ole Opry performers and of WDAD employees, conducted by David Morton; and recordings of National Pubilc Radio programs related to DeFord Bailey. The videotapes are a 28-minute production called DeFord Bailey: A Legend Lost that was developed for Nashville Public Television, Inc., and and Waiting in the Wings: African Americans in Country Music, a 90 minute documentary produced by Henri Giles in 2004. There is also a 16mm film with sound of a DeFord Bailey performance.

Other materials include Hohner advertising posters featuring Walter Horton, an African American harmonica player, and promotional photographs and a hand-held fan that depict white performers Sidney J. "Fiddlin' Sid" Harkreader and Jamup and Honey wearing blackface makeup.

Image Folder (PF-20373/1-18)

Oversize Paper (XOP-20373/1, OPF-20373/1)

Audiocassettes (FS-7572-7643, FS-18189)

Audiotapes (FT-11672-11675)

Film (F-20373/1)

Videotape (VT-20373/1-2)