Part 1:   The North Carolina Poetry Society   (1932 - 1972)

The first section of this history was prepared in 1972 by Christine Sloan. at the request of the 1972-73 president, Betty Daly. Appreciation is expressed to the following long-standing members for their valuable assistance: Zoe Kincaid Brockman, Charlotte Young, Mary Louise Medley, and Sallie Nixon. Special appreciation goes to Carolyn Kyles whose help with the verification and editing of the manuscript was indispensable.

Organized in Charlotte, North Carolina - 1932

Constitution and Bylaws adopted - 1933

Constitution and Bylaws revised and adopted - 1968-1969

Incorporated December 7, 1966

The North Carolina Poetry Society was organized in Charlotte at the home of Edna Wilcox Talley, with six members present. Membership was offered to North Carolina writers whose poetry measured up to standards set by the Society. Zoe Kincaid Brockman of Gastonia, well known poet and woman's editor of the Gastonia Gazette, was the organization's first president.

For a number of years, monthly meetings of workshop type were held. Once a year there was a formal banquet at which a prominent literary person spoke to the group. Most of these early meetings were held in Charlotte.

James W. Atkins, publisher of the Gastonia Gazette, was the Society's first patron, helping to finance its publication, The North Carolina Poetry Review. This magazine was published for three years by the Society. A complete file of copies may be found in the Gastonia Public Library and in the Pack Library of Asheville. At one time this publication had subscribers in twenty-six states.

As stated in the constitution, the objectives of the Society are to foster the writing of poetry; to bring together in meetings of mutual interest and fellowship the poets of North Carolina; to encourage the study, writing, and publication of poetry; and to develop a public taste for the reading and appreciation of poetry.

At present there are seven types of membership: Regular, Associate, Regular-Sustaining, Associate-Sustaining, Student, Life, and Honorary.

From its beginning, this organization has given awards for excellence in poetry submitted to it. At present awards are offered in the following categories:

Thomas H. McDill
any subject, any form

Sidney Lanier
any traditional sonnet form

Brotherhood
subject: Brotherhood, any form

Caldwell W. Nixon, Jr.
for children 2-12 years of age

Carl Sandburg
experimental forms

Ogden Nash
light verse

Student
any subject, any form

Contests have been sponsored individually from time to time. Cups and cash awards have been donated by Zoe Kincaid Brockman, Stewart Atkins, and Christine Sloan (Thomas H. McDill category); H. Glen Lanier (Sidney Lanier category); Caldwell W. and Sallie Nixon (Caldwell W. Nixon, Jr., category). Other cash awards have been given by Dorothy Summerow, Emily Councilman, Maud Oaks, Helen Enos Eaton, and Samuel L. and Martha McKay.

In 1965 the Society began the publication of two booklets, Award Winning Poems and Past the Flame of Words (a booklet of brotherhood poems), with covers designed by Esther Skeen. The latter publication was discontinued after the first year, and the brotherhood poems were included each year thereafter in Award Winning Poems.

The following have served as chairmen or managers of contests, or as booklet editors: Varie B. Brusso, Margaret Casselman, Leona Hayes Chunn, Emily Sargent Councilman, Donald A. Coulson, Betty S. Cox, Jean Ring Cude, Betty M. Daly, Carl D. Dockery, Helen Enos Eaton, Lu Overton Edwards, Elizabeth H. Emerson, Howard G. Hanson, Earl H. Hartsell, Geneva Highfill, Carolyne S. Kyles, Glen H. Lanier, Sandra Lynn Lett, S. L. McKay, Mary Louise Medley, Sallie Nixon, Maud R. Oaks, John M. Pipkin, Campbell Reeves, Alice K. Rogers, Joy Durham Rorie, Peggy Ann Leu Shriver, Christine Sloan, Betty W. Stoffel, Sidney Ann Wilson.

An awards meeting is usually held in May following the close of the contests, and for many years a meeting has been held in Raleigh during the Culture Week in December. Other necessary meetings are called at the discretion of the president and the board of directors.

In 1966 the Society's first anthology, A Time for Poetry, was published by John F. Blair of Winston-Salem. Serving with the president, Sallie Nixon, on a special anthology committee were Charlotte Young, Carolyne Kyles, and Christine Sloan. Thirty-seven of the Society's members were included in the volume which continues to be favorably received. Judges for the anthology were Mark Van Doren, W. L. Carr, Ralph E. McNees, and Jean Chirusky.

Through the years many outstanding writers have helped in the selection of the award-winning poems and have served as speakers at meetings. Among these have been Edgar Lee Masters (who, while living in Charlotte, was a member of the Society), Archibald Rutledge, Harry Meacham, Sam Ragan, Richard Walser, Guy Owens, Sam Bradley, Sister Mary Kevin, Paul Newman, Thad Stem Jr., Almonte C. Howell, 0. B. Hardison and others.

Because of their vital interest in the Society, many members throughout the state have given freely of their time, effort, and means to further its objectives. Thomas H. McDill, minister of the First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church of Gastonia, served as president for many years, helping to keep the Society active when some other organizations were unable to function because of war conditions.

At different times the Society has honored James Larkin Pearson, one of its long-standing members and Poet Laureate of North Carolina. Readings from his books have been given, and he has been awarded special plaques in recognition of his contribution to poetry.

October 15 has been proclaimed as Poetry Day in North Carolina by several governors. In 1970 John M. Pipkin's poem for Poetry Day was included in Award Winning Poems.

The Society is an affiliate of:
         The North Carolina Literary and Historical Association
         The Poetry Council of North Carolina
         The National Federation of Poetry Societies
         The Academy of American Poets

The Society's permanent address is Archives Building, Raleigh, N.C. The current address is that of the president.

As stated in the constitution, no member of the Society shall profit financially from any of its activities. In the event of dissolution of the Society, all remaining assets, after discharge of any indebtedness, shall become the property of the North Carolina Literacy and Historical Association, Inc., for the purpose of promoting poetry in North Carolina.

Since its inception, the Society has grown to an organization with members in 64 towns and cities throughout North Carolina and seven other states. At present there are 151 members scattered from Fontana Dam to Beaufort.

It is interesting to note the varied occupations of the Society's membership. Through the years it has included ministers, physicians, professors, teachers, planters, writers, business men and women, nurses, housewives and students. The urge to sing is felt at times in almost every heart.

Part 2:   The North Carolina Poetry Society   (1972 - 1992)

The North Carolina Poetry Society enters its sixth decade having grown from six founders to nearly three hundred members. Here we chronicle the years between the publication of the first history which was written by Christine Sloan in 1972 and the Diamond Anniversary Year of 1992.

The Society met in November of each year during Culture Week in Raleigh and participated in the statewide interaction of the arts. Other meetings during the year were the Awards Day in the spring which came to be traditionally held at Weymouth Center at Southern Pines, and one other meeting held anywhere from a beach location at one end of the state to an inn at Tryon or Lenoir Rhyne College near the other end. The Andrews/Earnhardt family hosted this late summer meeting on many occasions at their home, Bolin Brook Farm, near Chapel Hill. The cancellation of Culture Week in 1987 led the Society to adopt Weymouth Center as the permanent site for meetings - home for the Society - the third Saturday of January, May and September.

In 1972, the North Carolina Poetry Society published the eighth edition of Award Winning Poems. Having been launched in 1965, it was now a growing, developing publication of prize winning poems in seven categories: Thomas H. McDill, Sidney Lanier, Caldwell W. Nixon, Jr., Carl Sandburg, Ogden Nash, Brotherhood, and a Student Award.

The first revision in the appearance of the AWP was made in 1979 when Talmadge Moose designed a new cover to replace the original one. It featured a wrap-around line of stars and an Award ribbon. A commercial printer was employed for the first time in 1980 and in 1982 a standard page format was adopted.

In 1987, the whole appearance of the book and much of the content changed. Photographs were introduced. The front cover pictured the front door of Weymouth Center, and the back cover pictured Weymouth from the garden side. Photos inside included one of the Poet Laureate, Sam Ragan, in whose honor a new contest was instituted, and Christine Sloan, to whom the first dedication was made. That edition also carried a photo of the winner of the Zoe Kincaid Brockman Book Award, along with a poem from the winning book. The purpose of the Society was printed in the front, past presidents were listed, and perfect binding replaced stapling.

The number of adult single poem contests had now grown to 9. They were: Poet Laureate, Thomas H. McDill, Brotherhood, Caldwell W. Nixon, Jr., Christine Sloan, Dean Hale (Limerick), Hayman "America", Light Verse, and Sallie Paschall (Haiku).

The Student Contests took a great leap when a Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation Grant provided money for sending out the word about the Student Contests. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh agreed to attach contest rules to a newsletter sent to all NC public school teachers. This, together with expanded publicity and rules sent to most private schools and colleges, made it possible to reach practically every student in North Carolina. The number of entries zoomed from 16 in 1988 to 558 in 1989. Of even more significance, the quality of submitted poems vastly improved.

Consequently, to the Travis Tuck Jordan and the Marie Barringer Rogers Awards, the student contest added in 1991-92 the Bessie Willis Hoyt Award for grades 3 through 8 on Man and the Environment, and the Richard de los Mar Haiku Award for grades 9 through undergraduate college level. With these four student categories, the total now stands at 13 single poem contests and the Z. Kincaid Brockman Book Award, which has its own endowment established by Christine Sloan.

Through the years, finding excellent out-of-state judges through personal contact has insured the quality of all contests.

Sam McKay's last issue in 1990 crowned earlier improvements with the addition of color on the cover - a complete surprise to the membership. The new Editor, Raymond P. Dotson, continued the use of color on the cover and added several color pictures inside.

The society's second anthology, Soundings In Poetry, was published in 1981, by The Pilot lnc., with Lois Holt as chairman of the Anthology Committee. As part of the celebration of America's 400th Anniversary, The North Carolina Poetry Society published North Carolina's 400 years: Signs along the way, edited by Ronald Bayes, with Marsha White Warren, Associate Editor. A. R. Ammons wrote the introduction. Included was the work of Lumbee Artists, and a dedication to the Lost Colonists. Both of these anthologies were published with assistance from the North Carolina Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. The success of these ventures made possible the financing of an anthology to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the Society.

For many years, the Newsletter took the form of several 8 x 14 pages stapled together. In 1987 the format was changed to a booklet of eight to twelve pages sent to all members three times a year, four or five weeks prior to each meeting of the Society. Each issue includes information on programs, dates for meetings and workshops, a message from the president, and other items of interest to membership as well as news of members accomplishments including publications, contest awards and other activities related to poetry.

An important step in the Society's progress has been a change in procuring, distributing, and managing funds. This includes an emphasis on securing grants since grants are an essential part of financing several of our projects. It is with appreciation that we acknowledge the grants that make possible many events to further the reading, appreciation, and writing of poetry. These are mentioned individually in connection with the events.

Revision of the Constitution and By Laws was accomplished between 1984 and 1986. Barbara McCoy chaired a committee including Ruby Shackleford and John Pipkin with Sallie Nixon as consultant. This two-year undertaking involved many. Sallie Nixon, Maud Oaks, Emily Councilman, Carolyne Kyles, and Christine Sloan were advisors in the early phase. The Chairman contacted all Board members for input in what was an updating to the times and increased size of the membership.

Dr. Everett Emerson, Professor of English and American Studies at UNC-CH, invited the North Carolina Poetry Society to participate in a three-day International Emily Dickinson Conference planned for April 1986, one hundred years after the date of her death. The Poetry Society involvement drew interest from the general community while others there were serious Dickinson scholars, some from as far away as Japan and Europe.

The success of this conference proved academic alliances to be ideal. In 1987 and 1988, with grants from the North Carolina Arts Council, the Society cosponsored conferences with Elon College. Since that time, spring Poetry Day at Elon College in April is a traditional Regional Workshop. Other successful w6rkshops are at UNC-Wilmington in February; St. Andrews College, usually in March; Guilford College; and Davidson. These alliances have greatly enriched our programs and provided stimulating atmosphere.

Two significant festivals were hosted by Duke University Office of Continuing Education. In 1989, the Society cosponsored with Duke the Poet Laureate Festival with funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council and the North Carolina Arts Council. The theme of the festival was The Poet and Human Values. Main features included readings and a panel discussion by national Poet Laureates Howard Nemerov and Richard Wilbur, and North Carolina Poet Laureate Sam Ragan, moderated by Sally Buckner. Besides Ragan, North Carolina poets participating were Betty Adcock, James Applewhite, Gerald Barrax, and Fred Chappell. The consensus among panelists was that poetry is alive and well, and speaks to a multiplicity of voices out of an ever-changing culture.

In 1991, the International Poetry Festival and Duke Office of Continuing Education, with funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, and the Durham Merchants Association Charitable Foundation, featured Poet Laureates Joseph Brodsky and Mark Strand, and Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill and Li-Young Lee. The theme, POETRY, A COMMON LANGUAGE, pinpointed poetry as an excellent avenue of internal understanding. The theme, ONE STATE, MANY VOICES, spoke to the multicultural richness of our state, and the people-to-people opportunity this diversity offers. North Carolina poets participating were Poet Laureate Sam Ragan, Margaret Boothe Baddour, Gerald Barrax, Jim Wayne Miller, and Shelby Stevenson.

These festivals, workshops, conferences, panels have strengthened our purposes. Our in-house leadership continues to seek out and to plan challenging programs which serve to foster the study, the writing, and the appreciation of poetry. Our society objectives remain intact; our horizons have been considerably widened.

Moving into the sixtieth year celebration, fourteen volumes of The North Carolina Poetry Society scrapbooks are now part of The North Carolina Collection and the non-current records are with the Manuscript Department. Through the MARC facility, people using 40,000 libraries around the world know that the records of our society are in the archives of The University of North Carolina Library, Chapel Hill.

Projects in progress include the cataloging of books written by members, recording in transcript and on audio-visual tape our special events and programs. and the publishing of an anthology of our best poems in our diamond anniversary year.

The scanning of our past reveals myriad voices that have pushed the organization to wider purposes and to greater achievements. Few individuals can be cited as responsible because each president, each officer, each committee chairman, laid groundwork for accomplishment completed by others. We seek the long sight, profit from continuity. We anticipate a future bright with attainments.

Part 3:   The North Carolina Poetry Society   (1992 - 2002)

The 60th anniversary [1932-1992] celebration of the North Carolina Poetry Society lasted over a year and stretched between two sets of officers, thereby stressing the continuity in the life of the organization. The celebration included a skit written and produced by Margaret Baddour to honor the founders and presented at meeting. Also at that meeting, the contest winning logo, a feather pen and ink well design by Beth Hoyt, a design still used today, was displayed on notepaper, post cards, and stationery. Beth also presented it on tee shirts. On the back of those shirts was a likeness of Sam Ragan in a red bow tie, traditional with him. Sam Ragan, the Poet Laureate of North Carolina [1982-1996] and a constant supporter of the NCPS, was completely surprised.

Past presidents were asked to speak of their times, exploits, and tribulations. One president startled everyone when she told of the time the NCPS’s good name almost became tarnished. A bogus group, using the name of the Poetry Society, announced a contest and requested entries and a sizable entry fee to be sent to a post office box. The ruse was discovered just in time.

One of the first thoughts for the celebration was an anthology to show what we were writing in our 60th year. Sam Ragan came up with the name Here’s to the Land from a poem that began "Here’s to the land of the long leaf pine" written by a homesick North Carolinian the same year the Poetry Society was founded. The editor was Judith Holmes Settle. She and Marie Gilbert promoted the book by planning readings all over the State. A copy or two is still periodically sold at the Bull’s Head Bookshop on the UNC-CH campus. The mission of this anthology is best stated in the Preface:

Before the Anthology Committee finishes the process of producing this volume, the North Carolina Poetry Society will be into a new fiscal year and will have installed new officers - an indication of a healthy entity that absorbs energy from many, and from continuity, gathers strength far beyond that of any individual.

Born in the depth of the Great Depression, survivor of four wars, the Poetry Society has stood as a resource for poets and readers of poetry in difficult times as well as joyous times. We review our past in appreciation, and to set the line straight and true into the future. We celebrate the richness of the heritage upon which we build.

This book is offered as a chronicle of our art in our time. May it say to the future what we were and what we are, and become a cherished volume.

Even as Here’s to the Land [1992] was still being promoted around the State, plans were being made for a millennium anthology. This was a venture requiring time and effort from many sources. Ultimately Fred Chappell, who was then Poet Laureate [1996-2002] of North Carolina, proposed the title. The title reveals the magnitude of the undertaking: Word and Witness: 100 Years of North Carolina Poetry [1999]. Sally Buckner was the editor, and she relied on the fund raising ability of Marsha Warren, Susan Meyers, and Sharon Sharp. This anthology of 305 pages was produced with the generous financial assistance of the North Carolina Arts Council. A Touring Theatre Ensemble followed, This is the Place Where I Live, written and directed by Brenda Schleunes. This was a theatrical and musical production that wove together more than 50 poems from Word and Witness. Again, assistance came from the North Carolina Arts Council, and from the North Carolina Humanities Council and Peace College. This very professional production delighted audiences at thirty-eight performances in twenty-six counties.

Into the 21st century the Poetry Society sailed on the wings of a computer expert. Ray Dotson established a web site for the NCPS on his own domain in 1998, and he served as Webmaster for the first four years. The web site grew to be more elaborate with the assistance of Earl Huband. This state-of-the-arts web site is quite an asset to the North Carolina Poetry Society. The address is www.sleepycreek.org/poetry.

With E-mail came new means of leadership and organization. Membership settled between 325 and 350. Guy and Carolyn York enhanced record keeping with the creation of a new membership database.

The Newsletter changed from a booklet type bulletin of coming events out before meetings three times a year. This bulletin had won recognition in its category. The new publication, twelve letter sized sheets, contains not only agenda and announcements, but also publishing opportunities, news of member successes and publications, and articles of and about members.

The Poetry Society also publicized and supported Earth and Soul: An Anthology of North Carolina Poetry [2001]. This anthology was published in Kostroma, Russia, in both English and Russian, and it contains poems by many NCPS members.

To its three meetings (the 3rd Saturday of January, May and September), the Poetry Society added Sam Ragan Poetry Day, then adopted the name Sam Ragan Poetry Festival for the 70th Anniversary [2002] of the NCPS and set its time for the fourth Saturday in June. At the inaugural event a giant birthday cake was served, Shelby Stephenson and Margaret Baddour led the festivities, members wore Bow Ties (made by Beth Hoyt and Margaret Parrish) in the tradition of Sam Ragan, and many poets sang, read their favorite poetry, and played music.

Looking to the future, Bob Collins had promoted long-range plans and polled the Poetry Society for preferences. One of those was educational, a desire for more workshops. To meet this wish some of the major meetings, instead of having a speaker or other program, offered a choice of four workshops. Also, workshops were planned all over the State. Under the chairmanship of Nancy King the number reached thirteen. Many of these have become traditional, belong to their areas, and are expected every year.

The title of Award Winning Poems, the yearly anthology, was changed in 2002 after due consideration by a committee chaired by Susan Meyers. The new title is Pinesong.

The Poet Laureate Award for a single poem continues. Eight categories are offered for adult contests and five in the student contests. On two occasions the student contest entries were so numerous and outstanding the Contest Chairpersons, Beth Hoyt and David Holt, put together chapbooks chosen from poems that would not be in Award Winning Poems. The books were entitled Chairman’s Choice. Copies of these books stand today in the NCPS archives as a tribute to teachers who encouraged the young poets, those who managed the contests, and the poets themselves.

One of Sharon Sharp’s last acts as President [2000-2002] was to begin under the chairmanship of Lois Wistrand a Program Endowment Campaign to establish long-term financial support for expanded NCPS programming.

The time and efforts of many and the blending of minds set the sails to move the North Carolina Poetry Society forward with the new winds of the new century.