This collection contains one-of-a-kind woven bookmarks whose design was inspired by specific works by Southern writers and were created by former East Carolina University School of Art and Design faculty member Catherine Billingsley. Also includes clipping files related to Southern writers.
Catherine Billingsley was born and educated in Miwaukee, Wisconsin. She received her bachelor's degree in Fine Art in Weaving and Textiles from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1969. Ms. Billingsley, along with her family, moved to Greensboro, N.C. in 1986 and relocated to Greenville, N.C. in 1992. In 2003, Ms. Billingsley earned her master's degree in Fine Art in Textile Design from East Carolina University, Greeville, N.C. She was part of the adjunct faculty at East Carolina University for the next five years and taught the entry-level textile survey course along with all levels of weaving.
Ms. Billingsley also worked as an independent artist doing commissions and exhibiting mainly in the midwest and southeast. Her largest commission was done for the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, N.C. in 1992 and hangs in their administrative wing. Her most recent commission was for St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Greenville and was completed just before Easter, 2013.
Having been raised by parents who loved and collected books, Catherine Billingsley became a book lover and collector herself. Over time, she met many North Carolina writers and collected southern literature. Combining her interest in weaving with books, Ms. Billingsley began weaving one-of-a-kind "literary" bookmarks using a technique called, "name draft" in which a message would be woven into the cloth. These patterns in the bookmarks would be based on a book title and the author's name. She marketed the bookmarks in Greensboro and in the Greenville area. Ms. Billingsley, however, would gift writers with one of the bookmarks.
Source:
Catherine Billingsley Collection, #1362, East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
Catherine Billingsley's love for books, particularly for southern literature and its writers, are reflected in this collection for the bulk of the collection's contents are the result of her years of attending literary events and collecting literary information on writers. There are articles, newspaper clippings, bookmarks, flyers, brochures, programs, and photographs on well-known southern writers. Some of these southern authors include Maya Angelou, Charles Frazier, Carl Sandburg, Fannie Flagg, Reynolds Price, Pat Conroy, and Thomas Wolfe. One item of interest is a caricature drawing of Fred Chappell, a North Carolinian writer. Ms. Billingsley's interest in poetry is reflected in poems written about the collard leaf vegetable and information she collected about A.R. Ammons. There is information she collected on Joyner Library's Eastern NC Literary Homecoming, a literary event held at East Carolina University each year in Greenville, NC, as well as on other literary events.
Biographical information on Catherine Billingsley is also included in the collection. Of particular interest are samples of the unique woven bookmarks that she made over the years along with business cards attached to those samples. There is a document in the collection that explains the technique called "name draft" that she used to make these bookmarks. This information along with the bookmark samples would certainly be of interest to persons who study and work with textiles and weaving.
March 30, 2020, 1.0 cubic feet; This collection contains one-of-a-kind woven bookmarks whose design was inspired by specific works by Southern writers and were created by former East Carolina University School of Art and Design faculty member Catherine Billingsley. Also includes clipping files related to Southern writers. Gift of Catherine Billingsley
December 7, 2021, 0.5 cubic feet; This addition includes 3 more one-of-a-kind woven bookmarks whose design was inspired by specific works by Southern writers and created by Catherine Billingsley; autographed framed photographs of author Fred Chappell with Catherine Billingsley and a caricature of Fred Chappell; clipping files (2002-2019), photographs and bookmarks related to Southern writers; and material related to the Greensboro Bound Literary Festival (2017-2019). Gift of Catherine Billingsley
Gift of Catherine Billingsley.
Processed by Nanette Hardison, March 2022
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Reid and Susan Overcash Literary Collection: A.R. Ammons Papers, #1096-001
Stuart Wright Collection: A. R. Ammons Papers, #1169-046
Stuart Wright Collection: Fred Chappell Papers, #1169-017
Stuart Wright Collection: Robert Morgan Papers, #1169-062
Stuart Wright Collection: Stuart Wright Papers, #1169-039