The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories

Bass-De Vries interviews

Repository: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Southern Oral History Program

Collection Description (Extant): The Bass-De Vries group of interviews includes discussions with political leaders, journalists, editors, party officials, political scientists, campaign directors, union officials, civil rights leaders, and congress people from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. These interviews were conducted as part of a study of politics in the South between 1945 and 1974 that resulted in The Transformation of Southern Politics: Social Change and Political Consequence Since 1945 (Basic Books, 1976). Some of these interviews are exclusively related to the impact of the civil rights movement, black political participation, the rise of the Republican Party, and the results of industrialization and urbanization. Others include information on a broad range of events and movements. Interviews with leaders of regional importance, civil rights activists, and those persons who exercised political power over long spans of time are of particular interest. Also included are a group of interviews, largely conducted by the Southern Oral History Program (SOHP) and other University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) groups, that expand on those collected by Bass and De Vries. Among these are in-depth biographical memoirs of national figures, regional commentators, state party leaders, and local officials. In addition to discussing political issues, each interview aims at revealing the forces that shape the lives of public people--family culture, childhood experiences, education, self-concepts, and early political involvements. The process of political decision-making is also examined.

SCOPE AND CONTENT: Bass and De Vries interviewed more than 300 respondents from 1973 through 1975. Through a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Southern Oral History Program provided transcripts for 215 of the most important interviews. Some of these interviews are exclusively related to the themes in The Transformation of Southern Politics : the impact of the civil rights movement, black political participation, the rise of the Republican Party, and the results of industrialization and urbanization. Others include information on a broad range of events and movements. Interviews with leaders of regional importance, civil rights activists, and those persons who exercised political power over long spans of time are of particular interest.

Jack Solomon Bass (1936- ) is a political reporter. He received a B.A. degree in journalism from the University of South Carolina and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. From 1966 to 1973, he served as Columbia, S.C., bureau chief for the Charlotte Observer. He is the author of Porgy Comes Home: South Carolina After 300 Years (1972) and other books. Walter De Vries (1931- ) is a political consultant. He received his Ph.D. degree in political science from Michigan State University. From 1962 to 1967, he was executive assistant to Governor George Romney of Michigan. Since 1973, he has served as associate professor in the Institute of Political Sciences and Public Affairs at Duke University. He is also director of the North Carolina Institute of Politics.

The additional interviews expand on those collected by Bass and De Vries through in-depth biographical memoirs of national figures, regional commentators, state party leaders, and local officials. In addition to discussing political issues, each interview aims at revealing the forces that shape the lives of public people-family, culture, childhood experiences, education, self-concepts, and early political involvements. The process of political decision-making is also examined. Most of these interviews were conducted by the Southern Oral History Program and students and faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Three interviews were received on exchange, one each from Rice University, Columbia University, and Louisiana State University. Two interviews with Terry Sanford were donated by the interviewer, Joe B. Frantz. The three interviews with Sam Ervin have been extensively abstracted rather than transcribed, and one interview with L. M. Wright has not been transcribed.

The original deposit contained the 215 interviews for which transcripts were prepared. They are arranged alphabetically within state groupings. Transcripts for interviews marked with an plus sign (+) are available on microfilm. Following these interviews is the appendix, containing interviews conducted by Bass and De Vries that were not transcribed. These are also arranged in state groupings. The Southern Oral History Program was unable to supply any information on how or by whom transcribing decisions were made. Appendix tapes were transferred to the Southern Historical Collection in December 1976. Some attempt has been made to identify interviewees in this group. Please note that, since tapes are used in lieu of transcripts, quotation is permitted. Interviews marked with a number sign (#) share a tape with another interview.

Access Copy Note: Some interviews are restricted or closed as noted in the finding aid.
Interview transcripts are CLOSED while they are being digitized. Please contact the The Southern Historical Collection for more information.
If an interview has been transcribed, researchers should quote from the transcript. If no transcript is available, reference to material in the interview should be taken from the audio recording. Some interviews have restrictions imposed by the interviewees or interviewers; restricted interviews are clearly marked. Researchers may, for example, be required to obtain written permission from the interviewee or interviewer to quote from the interview.
Use of audiotapes or videotapes may require production of listening or viewing copies.

Collection URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/sohp/projects.html

Date(s): 1973-1975

Digital Status: Partial

Existing IDs: Collection Number: 04007 A.1

Extent: 310 items

Finding Aid URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/s/Southern_Oral_History_Program_Collection.html

Language: English

Interviewees: Richard Arrington, Bill Baxley, Jere Beasley, Winton Blount, Albert Brewer, U. W. Clemon, Johnny Ford, Charles G. Gomillion, John Grenier, Howell Heflin, Ray Jenkins, Frank Johnson, John L. LeFlore, Harold Martin, Bert Nettles, Alan Parker, John Patterson, Pierre Pelham, Joe Reed, Thomas Reed, Arthur Shores, John Sparkman, Robert Vance, George Wallace, Bill Becker, Dale Bumpers, Bill Clinton, Ken Coon, G. Thomas Eisele, Dale Enoch, Orval Faubus, John Paul Hammerschmidt, Jerry Jewell, Brownie Ledbetter, Cal Ledbetter, Richard Mays, James O. Powell, David Pryor, Charles Ward, John Ward, Henry Wilkins, Claud Anderson, Jose
Anqueira, Jim Apthorp, Reubin Askew, Gray Boylston, Gwen Cherry, Lawton Chiles, Leroy Collins, Bill David, Art Hallgren, Marshall Harris, Paula Hawkins, Mallory Horne, Allen Morris, Claude Pepper, Don Pride, Don Reed, Terrel Sessums, L. E. Thomas, Ralph Turlington, Jimmy Bentley, Norman Bishop, Benjamin Brown, George Busbee, Jimmy Carter, Mike Egan, George Esser, Grace Hamilton, Roy Harris, Bobby Hill, Charles Kirbo, John Lewis, Herb Mabry, Edward McIntyre, Reg Murphy, Rita Jackson Samuels, Carl Sanders, Robert Shaw, Andrew Young, Al Beguard, Lindy Boggs, Victor Bussie, Jim Chubbuck, Edwin Edwards, Alphonse Jackson, Bennett Johnston, Adrian Laborde, Moon Landrieu, Gillis Long, John McKeithen, Ernest Morial, Edgar Mouton, Roy Reed, Ed Steimel, David Treen, T. Harry Wiliams, Henry Bowie, Gil Carmichael, Hodding Carter, Robert Clark, James P. Coleman, Thad Cochran, Ken Dean, Patricia M. Derian, Brad Dye, Aaron Henry, Paul Johnson, Eugene McLemore, W. F. (Bill) Minor, Jerry O'Keefe, Claude Ramsey, Clarke Reed, George Rogers, William Simmons, Charles Sullivan, John Bell Williams, Bert Bennett, James Broyhill, Thad Eure, Joel Fleishman, William C. Friday, Ferrel Guillory, Jesse Helms, Wilbur Hobby, Luther Hodges, Jr., Hamilton Horton, Jay Jenkins, Leo Jenkins, Graham Jones, Tom Lambeth, Howard Lee, Martha McKay, Floyd McKissick, H. M. Michaux, Robert Morgan, Richardson Preyer, Charles Rose, Frank Rouse, Terry Sanford, Ralph Scott, Claude Sitton, Bill White, Rex Carter, James Clyburn, Mendell Davis, Harry Dent, William Jennings Bryan Dorn, J. Drake Edens, James B. Edwards, Ernest A. Finney, Arnold Goodstein, Marion Gressette, George Hamilton, Max Heller, Fritz Hollings, Gedney Howe, III, James Mann, Matthew Perry, Ken Powell, Arthur Ravenel, Charles Ravenel, Richard Riley, Fred Sheheen, Barbara Sylvester, Strom Thurmond, Sinway Young, Gwen Awsumb, William E. Brock, William C. Carter, William L. Carter, Winfield Dunn, Harold Ford, Albert Gore, James Hall, Ned McWherter, C. B. Robinson, James Sasser, John Seigenthaler, James White, Robert Armstrong, Gonzalo Barrientos, Leonel Castillo, George Christian, Ronnie Dugger, Frances Farenthold, Rudy Flores, Lawrence Goodwyn, Bob Hardesty, Harry Hubbard, John Knaggs, Stuart Long, Richard Murray, Nancy Palm, Ben Reyes, Alan Steelman, G. J. Stutton, DeLoss Walker, Dick West, Ralph Yarborough, Ray Boone, Harry Byrd, Jr., John Warren Cook, Virginius Dabney, Colgate Darden, Joe Fitzpatrick, Linwood Holton, Henry Howell, Joseph Jordan, Jr., Charlie McDowell, Richard Obenshain, Jessie Ratley, Bill Robertson, William Spong, Douglas Wilder, Richard Bennett, Jerome Cooper, Clifford Durr, Al Fox, Virginia Garrett, Donald Strong, Barney Weeks, John Bennett, Ernie Dumas, Robert Fisher, Charles Kelley, Jim Johnson, Jim Ranchino, Pat Caddell, John De Grove, Louis De la Pare, Martin Dyckman, Greg Fauve, John French, Barbara Frye, Robert Huckshorn, Bill Mansfield, John Moyle, Gene Patterson, Julian Bond, Newt Gingrich, Hal Gulliver, J. R. Kirkland, Bert Lance, Howell Raines, Bobby Rowan, Bill Shipp, Martin Feldman, Charlie Ferguson, Bernard Marcus, John Martzell, John Q. Adams, Herman DeCell, Leslie McLemore, Perrin Purvis, Nick Roberts, William Winter, Fred Alexander, Allen Bailey, Herman Fox, Joe Doster, James Holshouser, Roy Parker, Jane Patterson, McNeill Smith, Julius Baggett, Maurice Bessinger, Rembert Dennis, Donald Fowler, Brantley Harvey, Gedney Howe, I. S. Leevy Johnson, Robert McNair, C. Marshall Cain, Earle Morris, James Redfern, William Rone, Charles Wickenburg, Joe Sapp, Robert Stoudmire, Terrell Glenn, Thomas Waring, John West, W. D. Workman, E. N. Zeigler, Bill Casteel, J. Leiper Freeman, Jim Hall, Eddie Jones, Ken Morrell, John Nixon, Anna Belle O'Brien, DanFord Thomas, Fred Travis, Bo Byers, Nick Chriss, Marvin Collins, Jon Ford, Robert Heller, Molly Ivins, Lewis Timberlake, Craig Washington, Staige Blackford, Ray Boone, William Buchanan, Mel Carico, Julien Carper, Helen Dewar, Guy Friddell, W. McClure Gilliam, Dick Howard, James Latimer, Larry Sabato, William Tazewell, Jay Wilkinson, Margaret Carter, Rex Lyle Carter, Jonathan Worth Daniels, Sam Ervin, Martha Evans, James Folsom, Edwin Gill, Russell Long, Maury Maverick, Zeno Ponder, Herman Talmadge, Capus Waynick, L. M. Wright, George A. LeMaistre

Rights (Extant): When the copyright has not been assigned to the University of North Carolina, copyright is retained by the interviewers/interviewees, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Subjects:

African American politicians
Civil rights movements--Southern States
Journalists
Politicians
Southern States--Politics and government

Genres:

Interviews
Transcripts