"Diary of a Downtown Cat" by Ronald Kimber

1980s
Manuscript Collection #1299
Portions of this collection are digitized (18 items)
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Creator(s)
Kimber, Ronald, 1950-
Physical description
0.054 Cubic Feet, 1 archival box, consisting of poetry
Preferred Citation
Ronald Kimber Papers (#1299), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions

This collection contains a selection of seventy-two poems entitled Diary of a Downtown Cat that is a portion of his collection titled "Eccentric City." Mr. Kimber is a native of Greenville, North Carolina, now residing in Durham, N.C. The selection is divided into eight sections and Section I, titled "Migration from Mars to Downtown," relates to his experience growing up in the Shore Drive community in downtown Greenville. Those poems were written in the 1980s. Kimber, born in 1950, lived in this community until 1965 at which time the buildings in this community were beginning to be demolished as part of the Urban Renewal Plan and the location is now the Town Common on the Tar River.

Biographical/historical information

Ronald Kimber, born 1950, is a Greenville, NC, native who grew up in the Shore Drive community in downtown Greenville. He lived in this community until 1965, when the community buildings were demolished as part of the Urban Renewal Plan. The community was located in what is now the Town Common Park on the Tar River. In the 1980s, Kimber wrote a collection of poems relating to his experience growing up in downtown Greenville.

Scope and arrangement

This collection contains a selection of seventy-two typescript poems entitled Diary of a Downtown Cat that is a portion of his collection titled "Eccentric City." The content is split into eight sections: "Migration from Mars to Downtown," "Tell it Like it T'is", "Say it Loud," "Light in the Tunnel," "Social Issues," "Emotion Pictures," "Street Life," and "See the Sea." Also included are two copies of a poem entitled "Picture....Poem....Song.." and a poem entitled "Afterthought."

Administrative information
Custodial History

July 3, 2017, 0.054 cubic feet; This collection contains a selection of seventy-two poems entitled Diary of a Downtown Cat that is a portion of his collection titled "Eccentric City." Mr. Kimber is a native of Greenville, North Carolina, now residing in Durham, N.C. The selection is divided into eight sections and Section I, titled "Migration from Mars to Downtown," relates to his experience growing up in the Shore Drive community in downtown Greenville. Those poems were written in the 1980s. Kimber, born in 1950, lived in this community until 1965 at which time the buildings in this community were beginning to be demolished as part of the Urban Renewal Plan and the location is now the Town Common on the Tar River. Gift of Ronald Kimber.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Ronald Kimber

Copyright notice

For educational purposes only. Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Metadata Rights Declaration
Key terms
Personal Names
Kimber, Ronald, 1950-
Topical
African American neighborhoods--North Carolina--Greenville
African Americans--North Carolina--Greenville
Housing--North Carolina--Greenville
Poets, American--North Carolina
Urban renewal--North Carolina--Greenville
Places
Greenville (N.C.)--Poetry
Greenville (N.C.)--Race relations--Fiction