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Collection Number: 05153

Collection Title: Dannye Romine Powell Papers, 1975-1999

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 4.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2200 items items)
Abstract Dannye Romine Powell is an author and book editor for the Charlotte Observer. The collection includes correspondence, legal documents, clippings, and other materials relating to Dannye Romine Powell's tenure as book editor and columnist at the Charlotte Observer, as well as her work as an author and poet. Much of the correspondence is from North Carolina writers. Correspondents include novelists Doris Betts, Lee Smith, Gail Godwin, Kaye Gibbons, Reynolds Price, Simmons Jones, Josephine Humphreys, Fred Chappell, Lawrence Naumoff, Sue Ellen Bridgers, Louise Shivers, Jonellen Heckler, Mignon Ballard, and Shelby Hearon; poets Ruth Moose, Charles Edward Eaton, Sam Ragan, Mary Kratt, and Harriet Doar; and Charlotte Observer editors. Other letters are from readers commenting on Powell's Charlotte Observer articles or are from Charlotte Observer book reviewers. Also included are letters and other papers relating to Powell's 5 July 1987 Charlotte Observer article about adult children of alcoholics and to her 26 June 1999 Parade magazine article about Kay Smith, AKA Pamela Rodgers, who escaped from a Columbia, S.C., prison in 1978 and started a new life in Maryland before being recaptured in 1988.
Creator Powell, Dannye Romine.
Curatorial Unit Southern Historical Collection
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access
This collection contains additional materials that are not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact Research and Instructional Service staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options for consulting these materials.
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 Dannye Romine Powell Papers #5153, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Dannye Romine Powell of Charlotte, N.C., in April 2004 (Acc. 99761) and December 2004 (Acc. 99953).
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: Jesse Brown, January 2005

Encoded by: Jesse Brown, January 2005

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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

Dannye Romine Powell is a journalist and poet from Charlotte, N.C. Born in Miami, Fla., she graduated from Florida State University with a B.A. in English. From 1975 to 1992, she was book editor for the Charlotte Observer and continued with the paper after 1992 as a columnist. Powell is the author of Parting the Curtains: Interviews with Southern Writers (1994) and two books of poetry, At Every Wedding Somebody Stays Home (1993) and The Ecstasy of Regret (2002). Her poetry has appeared in The Paris Review, The Southern Review, The Georgia Review, The New Republic, Ploughshares, Poetry, and Prairie Schooner. She is married to Charlotte Observer editor and columnist Lew Powell.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes correspondence, legal documents, clippings, and other materials relating to journalist and writer Dannye Romine Powell's tenure as book editor and columnist at the Charlotte Observer, as well as her work as an author and poet. Much of the correspondence is from North Carolina writers. Correspondents include novelists Doris Betts, Lee Smith, Gail Godwin, Kaye Gibbons, Reynolds Price, Simmons Jones, Josephine Humphreys, Fred Chappell, Lawrence Naumoff, Sue Ellen Bridgers, Louise Shivers, Jonellen Heckler, Mignon Ballard, and Shelby Hearon; poets Ruth Moose, Charles Edward Eaton, Sam Ragan, Mary Kratt, and Harriet Doar; and Charlotte Observer editors. Other letters are from readers commenting on Powell's Charlotte Observer articles or are from Charlotte Observer book reviewers. Also included are letters and other papers relating to Powell's 5 July 1987 Charlotte Observer article about adult children of alcoholics and to her 26 June 1999 Parade magazine article about Kay Smith, AKA Pamela Rodgers, who escaped from a Columbia, S.C., prison in 1978 and started a new life in Maryland before being recaptured in 1988.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 14 June 1976-29 June 1999.

About 2000 items.

Arrangement: chronological by year.

Letters, cards, notes, and other material sent to and from Dannye Romine Powell from 1976 to 1999. Many of the letters are from North Carolina writers, particularly those from the North Carolina area. These letters discuss reviews written by Dannye Romine Powell about their work, literary events in the North Carolina area, interviews conducted by Dannye Romine Powell for the Charlotte Observer and for her book, Parting the Curtains: Interviews with Southern Writers, and general updates on events in their lives. Some letters are from readers commenting on articles written by Powell for the Charlotte Observer. Other letters are from book reviewers for the Charlotte Observer, commenting on books they had read, or asking to be added to the book review staff. Correspondents include novelists Doris Betts, Lee Smith, Gail Godwin, Kaye Gibbons, Reynolds Price, Simmons Jones, Josephine Humphreys, Fred Chappell, Lawrence Naumoff, Sue Ellen Bridgers, Louise Shivers, Jonellen Heckler, Mignon Ballard, and Shelby Hearon; poets Ruth Moose, Charles Edward Eaton, Sam Ragan, Mary Kratt, and Harriet Doar; and Charlotte Observer editors Rich Oppel, Rolfe Neill, Bob Ashley, Cynthia Struby, and Mark Ethridge.

Folder 1

1976-1977

Folder 2-3

Folder 2

Folder 3

1980

Folder 4

1981

Folder 5

1982

Folder 6

1983

Folder 7

1984

Folder 8-9

Folder 8

Folder 9

1985

Folder 10-11

Folder 10

Folder 11

1986

Folder 12-14

Folder 12

Folder 13

Folder 14

1987

Folder 15-16

Folder 15

Folder 16

1988

Folder 17-19

Folder 17

Folder 18

Folder 19

1989

Folder 20-23

Folder 20

Folder 21

Folder 22

Folder 23

1990

Folder 24-28

Folder 24

Folder 25

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

1991

Folder 29-36

Folder 29

Folder 30

Folder 31

Folder 32

Folder 33

Folder 34

Folder 35

Folder 36

1992

Folder 37-38

Folder 37

Folder 38

1995

Folder 39-45

Folder 39

Folder 40

Folder 41

Folder 42

Folder 43

Folder 44

Folder 45

1996

Folder 46-47

Folder 46

Folder 47

1997

Folder 48

1998

Folder 49

1999

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Adult Children of Alcoholics Article, 16 June 1987-5 August 1987.

12 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Letters written to Dannye Romine Powell concerning her article of 5 July 1987 in the Charlotte Observer about adults suffering from the effects of being raised by alcoholic parents. Some of the letters are from counselors, authors, and administrators of treatment centers who were interviewed by Powell for the article. Other letters are from readers commending Powell for addressing the subject.

Folder 50

Adult children of alcoholics story

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Kay Smith Article, 10 March 1975-16 February 1990.

About 125 items.

Arrangement: by type.

Correspondence, legal documents, and newspaper clippings related to an article written by Dannye Romine Powell for Parade magazine, 25 June 1989, entitled "She Led Two Lives." The article deals with Kay Smith, AKA Pamela Rodgers, who escaped from a Columbia, S.C., prison in 1978 and started a new life in Maryland before being recaptured in 1988. Most correspondence is from readers of the article, expressing sympathy for Kay Smith and hoping that she would be granted an early release from prison. Documents include Kay Smith's arrest and trial records, as well as a timeline of Kay Smith's life created by Powell for the Parade article. Newspaper clippings include the Parade article and other articles dealing with Kay Smith's return to prison in 1988.

Folder 51-55

Folder 51

Folder 52

Folder 53

Folder 54

Folder 55

Correspondence

Folder 56

Legal documents

Folder 57

Clippings

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Oversize Papers

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-5153/1-2

OPF-5153/1

OPF-5153/2

Oversize papers

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

Items separated include oversize papers (OP-5153).

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