Wilma Dykeman Collection

Collection Overview

Title: Wilma Dykeman Collection

Predominant Dates:1959-1998

ID: RG 09/9.16

Creator: Dykeman, Wilma -- 1920-2006

Extent: 2.0 Boxes (General)

Arrangement:

This collection is generally arranged as follows:

(1) Print Materials

(2) Audio Visual Recordings

Languages: English [eng]

Abstract

Wilma Dykeman (1920-2006) lived all her life near the French Broad River in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. Born in Asheville, Dykeman traced her interest in writing to the stories her parents read aloud to her when she was a child. By the time she was in elementary school, she was making up her own stories, plays, and poems. After graduating from high school and Biltmore Junior College in Asheville, Dykeman attended Northwestern University and received a bachelor’s degree in speech. The summer after her graduation from Northwestern, Dykeman met and married James R. Stokely, Jr., of Newport, Tennessee, a poet and nonfiction writer. The Stokelys, who maintained homes in both Asheville and Newport, raised two sons and collaborated on several books.

Throughout her career as an author, speaker, historian, educator, and environmentalist, Dykeman wrote eighteen works of fiction and non-fiction, gave hundreds of speeches, held the office of Tennessee State Historian for twenty-two years, taught at and served as trustee for multiple colleges, worked tirelessly for the respect of Southern Appalachians, and was a pioneer in bringing national attention to civil and women’s rights and environmental issues. Dykeman’s critically acclaimed novels especially reflect her understanding of people in the North Carolina mountains. The Tall Woman (1966), which, like all of her books, has gone through numerous printings, tells of a determined mother’s fight for education and justice in the years after the Civil War. The Far Family (1966) picks up several generations later and shows how long-lasting her efforts were.

Dykeman’s close relationship with Berea College included serving on its Board of Trustees and speaking and lecturing often at the college. Appointed Goode Professor of Appalachian Studies in 1992, Dykeman taught two courses through the Berea College Department of English and Theatre: ENG 113 (Art of Autobiography) and ENG 284 (Appalachian Literature) and gave campus lectures. Additionally, in 1966, Dykeman published Prophet of Plenty (1966) a biography of W.D. Weatherford, a Southern leader who worked for racial peace and justice and greatly influenced the policies of Berea College (and who was father of Berea’s sixth president, Willis D. Weatherford, Jr.).

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions: Records can be accessed through the Reading Room, Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Hutchins Library, Berea College.

Use Restrictions: There are no restrictions on the collection other than federal copyright regulations.

Preferred Citation: [Record/Folder/Box], RG 9/9.16: Wilma Dykeman Papers. Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Berea, KY.

Processing Information: Finding aid completed June, 2017.

Box and Folder Listing

Box 1: Print Material

Folder 1: Biographical: Includes notices regarding lectures and classes taught at Berea College.
Folder 2: Writings, 1959-1980: Includes: (1) Piece from Writer's Conference held at Berea in 1959, written with James Stokley, How Nearly Does Writing in the Mountains Represent the Actual Situation of Life and Customs in the Mountains; (2) copies of articles and poems sent to Hutchins library in 1973 with a note by Dykeman stating publications in which "copies of some of these are rather scarce."; (3) copies of autobiographical notes by Wilma Dykeman; (4) other signed notes and pieces sent to Hutchins Library by Dykeman.
Folder 3: Correspondence: Includes: (1) Copies of two letters (1966) to Loyal Jones regarding Mountain Life and Work, Appalachian Volunteers, Council of the Southern Mountains, and her publication The Far Family; (2) Letter to Ellen and Wilson Evans, nd; (3) 1969 letter to Wilson Evans regarding her upcoming experience on Berea's Board of Trustees; (4) numerous letters (1971-1975) to Al Perrin regarding work with Berea College and Hutchins Library, seeing Wilderness Road; and, (5) Letter from Thomas Kreider to Berea College Faculty (1971) regarding high demand for Dykeman to speak to classes during a 1971 visit to Berea College.
Folder 4: News Clippings, n.d.: Includes reviews writen by, and interviews of, Dykeman.
Folder 5: News Clippings, 1966-1986: Includes reviews of Dykeman's work, articles about Dykeman and her work, and articles and reviews by Dykeman. Included in the folder are numerous articles regarding Dykeman's visits to, and work at, Berea College.
Folder 6: News Clippings, 1987-1990: Includes reviews of Dykeman's work, articles about Dykeman and her work, and articles and reviews by Dykeman. Included in the folder are numerous articles regarding Dykeman's visits to, and work at, Berea College and copies of her column in the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Folder 7: News Clippings, 1991-1992: Includes reviews of Dykeman's work, articles about Dykeman and her work, and articles and reviews by Dykeman. Included in the folder are numerous articles regarding Dykeman's visits to, and work at, Berea College and copies of her column in the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Folder 8: News Clippings, 1993-1998: Includes reviews of Dykeman's work, articles about Dykeman and her work, and articles and reviews by Dykeman. Included in the folder are articles regarding Dykeman's visits to, and work at, Berea College and copies of her column in the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Folder 9: Manuscript: Prophet of Plenty, pp 1-80: With handwritten notes and corrections.
Folder 10: Manuscript: Prophet of Plenty, pp 81-199: With handwritten notes and corrections.
Folder 11: Manuscript: Prophet of Plenty, pp 200-305: With handwritten notes and corrections.

Box 2: Audio / Video User Copies

Item 1: AC-CT-012-001: Wilma Dykeman - 1973 Berea College Appalachian Studies Workshop. Discusses writers Harry Harrison Kroll, Mary Lee Settle, Richard Marius, Cormac McCarthy.
Item 2: AC-CT-012-002: Wilma Dykeman - 1973 Berea College Appalachian Studies Workshop. Discusses writers Elizabeth Madox Roberts, Mildred Haun.
Item 3: AC-CT-012-003: Wilma Dykeman - 1973 Berea College Appalachian Studies Workshop. Discusses use of language in literature
Item 4: AC-CT-012-004: Wilma Dykeman - Berea College 1973 Appalachian Studies Workshop. Discusses themes of time and change in literature
Item 5: AC-CT-012-005: Wilma Dykeman - 1973 Berea College Appalachian Studies Workshop. Discusses love and work, discipline and imagination, folk humor, Appalachian speech.
Item 6: AC-CT-012-006: Wilma Dykeman - 1974 Appalachian Studies Workshop 6-11-74. Appalachian Novel II. John Ehle, James Agee, Thomas Wolfe.
Item 7: AC-CT-012-007: Wilma Dykeman - 1974 Appalachian Studies Workshop 6-13-74. Appalachian Novel III. Family and Place - Elizabeth Roberts, Jesse Stuart, James Still, Harriette Arnow, Mildred Hawn.
Item 8: AC-CT-012-008: Wilma Dykeman - 1974 Appalachian Studies Workshop 6-27-74. Appalachian Novel I.
Item 9: AC-CT-012-009: Wilma Dykeman - 1974 Appalachian Studies Workshop 6-27-74. Appalachian Novel IV.
Item 10: AC-CT-012-010: Wilma Dykeman - 1978 Appalachian Studies Workshop 6-17-78. Dykeman and James Still discuss Elizabeth Madox Roberts. Still talks about and reads from his own writing.
Item 11: AC-CT-012-011: Wilma Dykeman - Side A Unnamed Conference at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, 1973. Rev. R. Baldwin Lloyd speaks on topic "The Human Spirit of Appalachia." Side B Wilma Dykeman reads from and discusses portions of Mildred Haun's Hawk's Done Gone and Harriette Arnow's The Doll Maker. (no place / no date) (? Berea College Appalachian Studies Workshop)
Item 12: AC-OR-130-001: Wilma Dykeman - 1977 Berea College Appalachian Studies Workshop. Discusses her own writing and that of Mildred Haun, in particular her book The Hawk's Done Gone. 6-12-77 (See Also WD's RG 9 Collection)
Item 13: AC-VR-007-001: INTERVIEW: Wilma Dykeman by Jim Wayne Miller 10-1-73. Discussion of Return the Innocent Earth and other writings. Produced by Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY
Item 14: SC-CT-960-001: Wilma Dykeman Berea College Commencement 1987
Item 15: SC-VD- 065-001: Wilma Dykeman Memorial Service 6-13-2007
Item 16: SC-VT-038-001: Berea College Convocation 4-16-92: Wilma Dykeman Stokley reading from her Explorations and The Tall Woman with wide ranging remarks on the themes of "discipline and freedom" and "imagination and reality."
Item 17: SC-VT-113-002: History of Appalachia: Wilma Dykeman Stokley 5-12-83, Knoxville, TN. Part of series Appalachia in Perspective produced by the James R. Stokely Institute for Liberal Arts Education. (n.p. - n.d.)(Mt. 302.74 H673) (Shelved with other Mountain Videos)
Item 18: SC-VT-113-003: Literature of Appalachia: Wilma Dykeman Stokley 5-12-83, Knoxville, TN. Part of series Appalachia in Perspective produced by the James R. Stokely Institute for Liberal Arts Education. (n.p. - n.d.) (Mt. 302.74 L766) (Shelved with other Mountain Videos)
Item 19: SC-VT-585-001: Mountain Maternal Health League 50th Anniversary Dinner 10-21-86. Main speaker - Wilma Dykeman. Includes numerous persons instrumental in the organization's founding, operation at the time, financial and community support. (See Also WD's RG 9 Collection) Some of these are Louise and Francis Hutchins, Eleanor Churchill, Julia Stammer, Dr. A.S. Holms, Betty Olinger, and Bill Suters.

Box 3: Original Audio Cassette Recordings (Not Public Use)

Item 1: AC-CT-012-001: Wilma Dykeman - 1973 Berea College Appalachian Studies Workshop. Discusses writers Harry Harrison Kroll, Mary Lee Settle, Richard Marius, Cormac McCarthy.
Item 2: AC-CT-012-002: Wilma Dykeman - 1973 Berea College Appalachian Studies Workshop. Discusses writers Elizabeth Madox Roberts, Mildred Haun.
Item 3: AC-CT-012-003: Wilma Dykeman - 1973 Berea College Appalachian Studies Workshop. Discusses use of language in literature
Item 4: AC-CT-012-004: Wilma Dykeman - Berea College 1973 Appalachian Studies Workshop. Discusses themes of time and change in literature
Item 5: AC-CT-012-005: Wilma Dykeman - 1973 Berea College Appalachian Studies Workshop. Discusses love and work, discipline and imagination, folk humor, Appalachian speech.
Item 6: AC-CT-012-006: Wilma Dykeman - 1974 Appalachian Studies Workshop 6-11-74. Appalachian Novel II. John Ehle, James Agee, Thomas Wolfe.
Item 7: AC-CT-012-007: Wilma Dykeman - 1974 Appalachian Studies Workshop 6-13-74. Appalachian Novel III. Family and Place - Elizabeth Roberts, Jesse Stuart, James Still, Harriette Arnow, Mildred Hawn.
Item 8: AC-CT-012-008: Wilma Dykeman - 1974 Appalachian Studies Workshop 6-27-74. Appalachian Novel I.
Item 9: AC-CT-012-009: Wilma Dykeman - 1974 Appalachian Studies Workshop 6-27-74. Appalachian Novel IV.
Item 10: AC-CT-012-010: Wilma Dykeman - 1978 Appalachian Studies Workshop 6-17-78. Dykeman and James Still discuss Elizabeth Madox Roberts. Still talks about and reads from his own writing.
Item 11: AC-CT-012-011: Wilma Dykeman - Side A Unnamed Conference at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, 1973. Rev. R. Baldwin Lloyd speaks on topic "The Human Spirit of Appalachia." Side B Wilma Dykeman reads from and discusses portions of Mildred Haun's Hawk's Done Gone and Harriette Arnow's The Doll Maker. (no place / no date) (? Berea College Appalachian Studies Workshop)
Item 12: SC-CT-960-001: Wilma Dykeman Berea College Commencement 1987

Box 4: Original Audio and Video Recordings (Not Public Use)

Item 1: AC-VR-007-001: INTERVIEW: Wilma Dykeman by Jim Wayne Miller 10-1-73. Discussion of Return the Innocent Earth and other writings. Produced by Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY
Item 2: AC-OR-130-001: Wilma Dykeman - 1977 Berea College Appalachian Studies Workshop. Discusses her own writing and that of Mildred Haun, in particular her book The Hawk's Done Gone. 6-12-77
Item 3: SC-VT-038-001: Berea College Convocation 4-16-92: Wilma Dykeman Stokley reading from her Explorations and The Tall Woman with wide ranging remarks on the themes of "discipline and freedom" and "imagination and reality."
Item 4: SC-VT-585-001: Mountain Maternal Health League 50th Anniversary Dinner 10-21-86. Main speaker - Wilma Dykeman. Includes numerous persons instrumental in the organization's founding, operation at the time, financial and community support. (See Also WD's RG 9 Collection) Some of these are Louise and Francis Hutchins, Eleanor Churchill, Julia Stammer, Dr. A.S. Holms, Betty Olinger, and Bill Suters. SEE ALSO Mountain Maternal Health League Collection SAA 53