Southern Folklife Collection

The early faculty included Ralph Steele Boggs [de], Arthur Palmer Hudson, and Guy B. Johnson, all of whom donated materials that were ultimately placed in the SFC.

Its holdings document all forms of southern musical and oral traditions across the entire spectrum of individual and community expressive arts, as well as mainstream media production.

Centered around the John Edwards Memorial Collection, the SFC is rich in materials documenting the emergence of old-time, country-western, bluegrass, blues, folk, gospel, rock and roll, Cajun and zydeco musics.

Notable collections held by the SFC include those of Apollo Records (1944), Broadside magazine, Guy and Candie Carawan, Eugene Earle, William R. Ferris, Folk Alliance International, Alice Gerrard, Archie Green, Peter Guralnick, John Edwards Memorial Foundation, Stuart Hamblen, George Hamilton IV, Highlander Research and Education Center, John D. Loudermilk, Peter B. Lowry, McCabe's Guitar Shop, Merge Records, Music Maker Relief Foundation, Mike Seeger, and Sons of the Pioneers.

The last of the initial three releases will be a live recording of Doc Watson, a prolific guitar player and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient known for his "flatpicking" skills.