For immediate use
North Carolina storyteller Orville Hicks to perform a selection of traditional Jack Tales at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Wilson Special Collections Library on April 28
(Chapel Hill, N.C. – April 25, 2016) – North Carolina storyteller Orville Hicks will perform a selection of traditional Jack Tales at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Wilson Special Collections Library at 5:30 p.m. on April 28 in the Pleasants Family Assembly Room.
The free, public program celebrates the opening of the exhibition “Corruption of the Innocents: Controversies about Popular Children’s Books,” which will be on view in Wilson Library through Aug. 7.
Undergraduate students curated the exhibition as part of their work for Carolina professor of English Laurie Langbauer’s spring research seminar, “Popular Forms of Children’s Literature.”
“Students soar when they can do their own original work,” said Langbauer. “The libraries provided expert help and world class collections, and the students took off from there.”
Exhibit items explore historical ideas about childhood and the ways that British and American children’s literature has reflected or challenged these ideas. For example, a World War II propaganda poster by children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel (“Dr. Seuss”).
Storyteller Orville Hicks was born on Beech Mountain in Watauga County and grew up in a family steeped in the storytelling tradition that he carries on today. His mother told tales to her children as nighttime entertainment and to pass time while they were doing tedious farm work. Orville has become a regular performer for groups visiting the Appalachian Cultural Museum in Boone; he was a featured performer at the N.C. Stories festival-opening of the new Museum of History. In 1997, the North Carolina Folklore Society presented him its Brown-Hudson Folklore Award.
Attendees can view the exhibition in the Melba Remig Saltarelli Exhibit Room starting at 5 p.m. For program information, contact Liza Terll, Friends of the Library, liza_terll@unc.edu, (919) 548-1203.
To learn more about the exhibition, contact Wilson Library at (919) 962-3765 or wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
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About the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, is a global higher education leader known for innovative teaching, research and public service. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, Carolina regularly ranks as the best value for academic quality in U.S. public higher education. Now in its third century, the University offers 77 bachelor’s, 113 master’s, 68 doctorate and seven professional degree programs through 14 schools and the College of Arts and Sciences. Every day, faculty – including two Nobel laureates – staff and students shape their teaching, research and public service to meet North Carolina’s most pressing needs in every region and all 100 counties. Carolina’s more than 308,000 alumni live in all 50 states and 150 countries. More than 167,000 live in North Carolina.
Library contact: Judy Panitch, (919) 843-3619, panitch@email.unc.edu
Communications and Public Affairs contact: (919) 962-7090, mc.vangraafeiland@unc.edu