Legette Blythe papers

Collection

Identifier: MS0064

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection primarily consists of typescripts, recordings, and other material documenting outdoor dramas relating to Mecklenburg County history. Also contains interviews between Blythe and subjects of several of his non-fiction books, including Mabel Wolfe Wheaton, sister of Thomas Wolfe. Contains no material about his novels.

Dates

Creation: 1948 - 1976

Creator

Blythe, LeGette (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Conditions Governing Use

Biographical / Historical

William LeGette Blythe was a journalist and writer of novels, biographies, and outdoor dramas based on the history of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. He was born in Huntersville, N.C. He graduated in 1921 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the original Carolina Playmakers and a classmate of Thomas Wolfe, Paul Green, and Jonathan Daniels. Blythe began his career in journalism, first with the Charlotte News and then, in 1927, with the Charlotte Observer. In 1950 he left the newspaper to write books full time. Blythe twice won the Mayflower Cup for nonfiction, first in 1953 for Miracle in the Hills, the story of Dr. Mary Martin Sloop's crusade to improve the lives of mountain people, and again in 1961 for Thomas Wolfe and His Family.

Extent

2 Linear Feet (2 boxes (1 shared document box; 1 oversize box))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Contains typescripts, recordings and other material documenting Blythe's outdoor dramas. Also contains interviews between Blythe and several notable North Carolinians.

Arrangement

Files are arranged in alphabetical order.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of LeGette Blythe, 1976. Purchases from Carolina Bookshop, 1989-90.

Related Materials

Lynne Allred Collection (UNCC Manuscript 189) ; United States. Army. Evacuation Hospital, 38th Records (UNCC Manuscript 4) ; A. Grant Whitney Papers (UNCC Manuscript 243) ; UNC Charlotte Oral History Collection (interviews by Blythe) ; UNC Charlotte University Archives.