<span>Article, "Communist Paper at Chapel Hill," Southern Textile Bulletin, 10 December 1931</span>
<a href="http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/uars/">Digital University Archives</a>
Letter, Frank Porter Graham to Kemp Plummer Lewis
Contempo controversy and labor issues
In this letter, University President Frank Porter Graham thanks Kemp Plummer Lewis, a University trustee and Durham textile executive, for his support on several labor issues, including the "reduction of hours and abolition of night work for women and children." Graham goes onto describe the controversy surrounding the Scottsboro issue of Contempo magazine and states his intent not to interfere Langston Hughes' visit to Chapel Hill.
Contempo was a small literary magazine published in Chapel Hill by co-editors Milton “Ab” Abernethy and Anthony Buttitta, both former UNC students. Although only lasting from 1931-1934, Contempo was able to build a strong reputation among critics and also managed to attract contributions from William Faulkner, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and many other well-known writers. The December 1931 issue of Contempo caused a stir in Chapel Hill due its inclusion of two controversial pieces by African American writer Langston Hughes.
Abernethy and Buttitta had decided to devote the entire issue to writings about the case of the Scottsboro Boys – a series of trials in Alabama involving nine African American boys who had been accused of the rape of two white women. Hughes submitted a poem called, “Christ in Alabama,” (which appeared with a drawing called, “Black Christ,” by artist Zell Ingram) and an essay called, “Southern Gentlemen, White Prostitutes, Mill-Owners, and Negroes.”
The publication of the Scottsboro issue was timed to appear several days before Hughes was to visit Chapel Hill for a public reading. Citizens of the town of Chapel Hill were incensed by the visit. Newly-inaugurated University of North Carolina President Frank Porter Graham and Chapel Hill town officials received a flood of letters denouncing Hughes as “sacrilegious” and calling for his engagement to be canceled. Graham did not interfere and the reading went on as planned.
Frank Porter Graham
Kemp Plummer Lewis Papers #3819, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
16 December 1941
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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Letter, Kemp Plummer Lewis to David Clark
David Clark's alleged antagonism to the University of North Carolina.
Kemp Plummer Lewis
Kemp Plummer Lewis Papers #3819, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
16 February 1932
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Speech, "Communism and Socialism at Chapel Hill," delivered by David Clark before the Charlotte (N.C.) Lion's Club
David Clark's views on the prevalence of communism and socialism at the University of North Carolina.
David Clark
Office of President of the University of North Carolina (System): Frank Porter Graham Records #40007, University Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
12 August 1940
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Letter, David Clark to Kemp Plummer Lewis
Langston Hughes and Contempo controversy
In this letter, David Clark, editor of the Southern Textile Bulletin, writes to Kemp Plummer Lewis, president of the Alumni Association of the University of North Carolina, condemning the University's inaction toward Contempo magazine and Langston Hughes' visit to Chapel Hill.
Contempo was a small literary magazine published in Chapel Hill by co-editors Milton “Ab” Abernethy and Anthony Buttitta, both former UNC students. Although only lasting from 1931-1934, Contempo was able to build a strong reputation among critics and also managed to attract contributions from William Faulkner, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and many other well-known writers. The December 1931 issue of Contempo caused a stir in Chapel Hill due its inclusion of two controversial pieces by African American writer Langston Hughes.
Abernethy and Buttitta had decided to devote the entire issue to writings about the case of the Scottsboro Boys – a series of trials in Alabama involving nine African American boys who had been accused of the rape of two white women. Hughes submitted a poem called, “Christ in Alabama,” (which appeared with a drawing called, “Black Christ,” by artist Zell Ingram) and an essay called, “Southern Gentlemen, White Prostitutes, Mill-Owners, and Negroes.”
The publication of the Scottsboro issue was timed to appear several days before Hughes was to visit Chapel Hill for a public reading. Citizens of the town of Chapel Hill were incensed by the visit. Newly-inaugurated University of North Carolina President Frank Porter Graham and Chapel Hill town officials received a flood of letters denouncing Hughes as “sacrilegious” and calling for his engagement to be canceled. Graham did not interfere and the reading went on as planned.
David Clark
Kemp Plummer Lewis Papers #3819, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
17 February 1932
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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Portion of draft of Strike Song
Strike Song and labor issues
Just as students used creative writing to test the limits of their free expression on campus, UNC faculty also used creative outlets to explore contentious issues of the day. In 1931, the Carolina Playmakers produced Strike Song, a three-act play co-written by James Osler Bailey of the English Department and his wife, Loretto Carroll Bailey. The play was based loosely on the events surrounding the 1929 revolts in Gastonia and Marion, North Carolina. The production debuted the same month as the Contempo controversy and the visit by Langston Hughes to Chapel Hill. Much like the Contempo incident, the production of Strike Song caught the ire of University critic, David Clark, outspoken editor of the Southern Textile Bulletin. Clark felt that the play misrepresented life in North Carolina’s textile industry and he especially objected to the music created for the production, saying that the play’s inclusion of music gave striking workers new songs to sing.
James Osler Bailey
James Osler Bailey papers #4113, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
1931
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