Biographical/historical information

Janice Grey Hardison Faulkner worked in various posts at East Carolina University for 36 years from 1957 until 1992. Her primary position was a professor of English, but she also served as the director of Alumni Affairs and director of the Regional Development Institute. During her time at the university, she was also heavily active in the local Democratic Party. In the 1990s, she served the North Carolina state government as Secretary of Revenue, Secretary of State, and Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles. Faulkner's career was one of many firsts.

Faulkner was born on 19 January 1932 in Jamesville, North Carolina. The eldest of two children, she grew up helping on the family tobacco farm, playing baseball with her father and brother and their neighbors in her spare time. Shortly after graduating as valedictorian of her high school class in 1950, Faulkner moved to Greenville, N.C. to begin taking summer school courses at East Carolina University (still called East Carolina College at the time). She graduated in 1953 with her bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Social Studies. She then taught English at various schools in North Carolina, all while taking graduate courses at East Carolina on the weekends. Upon completion of her master's in 1956, Faulkner enrolled at the Bread Loaf School of English in Vermont.

She began her career at ECU teaching English in 1957. She later became director of Alumni Affairs before rejoining the English Department in September 1966. In 1981, she briefly left ECU to serve as the first female executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Party. She held that position for eighteen months until August 1982 when she returned to ECU as the assistant director of the Regional Development Institute, which promotes economic growth and improving quality of life for North Carolinians. The position quickly led to her executive directorship of the institute.

During her time at ECU, Faulkner published an English textbook, Grammar and the Language Arts (1975), along with numerous articles on folklore, local history, historic preservation, and economic development. In 1974, she married Walter Faulkner, a fellow North Carolinian and graduate of ECU. She retired from ECU in 1992. After her retirement, Faulkner continued to support ECU in other roles. In 1994, she was a founding member and the inaugural chair of the university's Board of Visitors, which advises and assists the Board of Trustees and the Chancellor. Then, in 2003, she was again a founding member and the first chair of the ECU Women's Roundtable.

Her retirement from ECU was not to be the end of her professional career. In 1993, she entered the North Carolina state government as the Secretary of Revenue. Her appointment came from Governor Jim Hunt, whom she had worked with since the 1960s. The governor called upon Faulkner's service again in April 1996 when he appointed her Secretary of State, the first woman to serve in that role. She served the state again as Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles from April 1997 to April 2001. In all of these positions, her appointment came with a directive to reorganize the department and restore it to a position of public trust. The end of her service as commissioner marked her retirement from government service.

Faulkner's contributions to ECU and local politics have not gone unnoticed. In 1993, she was presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award. The university then awarded her with an honorary doctorate in 1998. She received 2002 Citizen of the Year from the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce. In 2007, the ECU Women's Roundtable presented Faulkner as one of ECU's 100 Incredible Women. In 2009, she became the first woman to receive East Carolina's highest award, the Jarvis Medal, which recognizes extraordinary service to the university or society. Most recently, in January 2011, Faulkner was the recipient of the Legends Award from the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce, recognizing a person of distinction without whom the history of Greenville and Pitt County could not be written.

Scope and arrangement

The Janice Hardison Faulkner papers are arranged into political, professional, and personal papers separated by correspondence and printed materials.

Political papers contains correspondence with various members of the Democratic Party, primarily in North Carolina, between 1962 and 1982. It includes her work with the Democratic Women of Pitt County, the Pitt County Young Democrats Club, the North Carolina State Democratic Executive Committee, and the Democratic Women of North Carolina. There is correspondence with multiple congressmen, including Sam Ervin, Walter B. Jones, Nick Galifianakis, and B. Everett Jordan. Notably, there is a 1976 letter from Walter Mondale and a 1982 letter from John Glenn. There is also correspondence with a variety of individuals important to North Carolina state politics. These include Robert W. Scott, former Governor of North Carolina, and his wife, Jessie Rae Scott; Betty Smith Speir, ECU graduate and active participant in Democratic women's politics; Betty Ray McCain, former North Carolina Secretary of Cultural Resources; Terry Sanford, former Senator and Governor of North Carolina; and Margaret Harper, the first woman in North Carolina to seek the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. Janice's time as executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Party is covered in these papers.

The political printed material is comprised of four folders dating between 1962 and 1982. Along with news releases and newspaper clippings concerning Democratic politics, primarily in North Carolina, items included in the printed materials are a 1965 publicity handbook, 1966 reports of the North Carolina State Democratic Executive Committee, and a list of North Carolina votes by counties in the 1976 Presidential election. There are address listings for members of various political organizations, including the 1969 members of the Pitt County Democratic Women. The papers also contain the 1970 Plan of Organization for the Democratic Party of North Carolina, and the subsequent planning material for the first First District convention held under the new party plan of organization on 27 June 1970.

The political campaigns with which Janice was largely involved are arranged separately at the end of the political papers. These include the Richardson Preyer campaign for Governor of North Carolina in 1964, the Jim Hunt campaign for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina in 1972, and the George McGovern campaign for President in 1972. There are printed materials for planning the campaigns and publicity for them.

Professional papers contains correspondence with ECU faculty and staff, former graduates, and fellow educators between 1962 and 1982. It includes papers from her time as the director of Alumni Affairs, professor of English, and director of the Regional Development Institute. As director of Alumni Affairs, there is correspondence in planning a visit for Senator George McGovern to ECU in November 1971 and in planning homecoming/reunion festivities for ECU graduates. Correspondence and printed material from the publication of Grammar and the Language Arts (1975) is included. There is also correspondence with former ECU Chancellors Leo Jenkins and Thomas Brewer, recommendation letters for past students, and discussion of conferences attended.

The printed material includes programs from the various conferences and workshops she spoke at and/or attended, newspaper clippings, and news releases. There is also a grouping of printed material pertaining to the McGovern visit. There is a collection of papers concerning ECU's relations with the Board of Elections (1971–1972). There is another collection of papers from the 1976 conference on Human Values and Public Policy. One folder contains drafts of papers for the Tar Heel journal, written by Janice and Walter Faulkner around 1980.

There is a selection of papers from her work on the 1980 Intercollegiate Athletics Task Force, which was set up to evaluate the benefits of intercollegiate athletics and areas where improvement was needed; correspondence and printed material are included. The correspondence is primarily with the other members of the committee planning meeting times and the topics which will be discussed. The printed material includes a description of the purpose of the committee, reports on the questions they have answered, and the final report of the committee from March 1980.

Personal papers contains correspondence with various individuals who were also involved in politics and education, along with family friends, between 1952 and 2011. It contains printed materials of the same nature. It includes a grouping of 56 letters sent in a bundle from a U.S. soldier, Steve Green, stationed in Germany in 1952. There is a copy of her wedding invitation from 1974, included with letters of congratulations, and recent correspondence with her grade school principal and his wife. There are papers on her involvement with the North Carolina State Ballet Company. The printed materials contain her sixth grade SAT scores, high school graduation exercises program, and Christmas cards. There are two undated photographs—one a headshot of Janice and the other of her working with four unidentified women, possibly dated to 1974.

Oversize material contains six printed material documents. The first is a program from the 7th annual convention of the Democratic Women of North Carolina held in Greenville on 29–30 September 1967. There is also a program for the Democratic Women of North Carolina 10th annual convention held in Raleigh on 2–3 October 1970. There is a promotional broadside for the Jim Hunt campaign for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina in 1972. The fourth document is a broadside for the Terry Sanford presidential campaign of 1975. It includes two newspaper interviews with Sanford from May 1975. There is a map of Pitt County with writing on it, which plots Richardson Preyer's tour of Pitt County in 1964. Lastly, there is The Weekly Herald from Robersonville, N.C., dated 8 October 1986. The issue highlights the excitement surrounding the filming in town of scene for the 1987 movie "Summer Heat" (referred to in the paper as "Roxy").

Administrative information

Custodial History

November 10, 1969, Personal correspondence, clippings, and miscellaneous. Gift of Mrs. Janice Hardison Faulkner.

September 18, 1975, (addition 1), Personal correspondence files. Gift of Mrs. Janice Hardison Faulkner.

June 10, 1987, (addition 2), Papers, including correspondence, clippings, reports, minutes, literary materials, and miscellaneous items. Gift of Mrs. Janice Hardison Faulkner.

March 29, 2013, (addition 3), .05 cu. ft.; Included are correspondence (1996-2011) from Janice Faulkner to Mr. and Mrs. Milton Griffin of Jamesville, N.C.; documents related to Mrs. Faulkner's personal life such as achievement scores (1944), high school graduation program (1950) from Farm Life High School in Williamston, N.C., and her wedding invitation (1974); and newspaper clippings (1985, 1996) and the October 8, 1986, issue of the Robersonville Weekly Herald. Gift of Mrs. Janice Hardison Faulkner.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Mrs. Janice Hardison Faulkner

Processing information

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Processed by Allison N. Miller, 2013

Copyright notice

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

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