R. Philip Hanes papers, 1928-2010

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Summary

Creator:
Hanes, R. Philip, 1926-2011
Extent:
119 Linear Feet
131,729 Items
Language:
English.
Collection ID:
RL.00503

Background

Scope and content:

The papers of R. Philip Hanes span the years 1928 to 1987 with the bulk occurring during the 1960s through the 1980s. Included are correspondence; printed material, such as brochures, leaflets, pamphlets, and programs; mimeographed material; clippings; press releases; newsletters; reports; financial records; minutes and agenda of meetings; agreements and contracts; pictures and slides; questionnaires; telephone logs; and plans.

The Hanes collection is useful as a study of a southern businessman and arts supporter, not only in North Carolina but also nationally, from the late 1950s to the mid-1980s. A principal focus of the collection is the arts involvement of Hanes on a local (Winston-Salem), state (North Carolina), regional, as well as national level. As a result of Hanes's encouragement for the arts, in part through board memberships on numerous arts organizations, the manuscripts contain much information about these organizations as well. Another related focal point is Ampersand, Inc., a Winston- Salem consulting firm Hanes established. It provided fund raising, management, and public relations services for non- profit organizations, especially arts groups.

To a lesser extent there is information in the collection about Hanes's concern for conservation of natural resources. There is only a small amount of material in the papers pertaining to his career as a textile company executive at Hanes Dye and Finishing Company. Chiefly these company records relate to some area of the arts, such as financial contributions to arts work; a small portion concern labor union activity. Also, there is not much in the collection relating to Hanes's family life.

The involvement of Hanes in arts organizations is evident throughout the collection. The Geographic Series, Subject Files Series, Audiovisual Series, and to a lesser extent the Personal and Boards Series all reflect this strong interest.

Hanes's interest in the arts probably was influenced by his early home life in a household filled with books, paintings, and music. Members of the Hanes family were individuals of culture and avid supporters of the arts. For example, his father, Ralph P. Hanes, Sr., was instrumental in saving and restoring Old Salem, an eighteenth-century Moravian community. Dr. Fred Hanes, Philip Hanes's uncle, was a friend of writer H. L. Mencken. Hanes's work for the arts began in the early 1950s, when Katharine Bahnson asked him to help raise funds for the Winston-Salem Arts Council. He then served on a task force for the organization. Hanes was also closely involved in the work of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art, the Winterthur Museum, and the Young President's Organization (YPO). Files for these organizations and institutions appear in the Personal and Boards Series. YPO material is also included in the Subject Files Series. One of Hanes's goals has been to bring outside interest and money to the arts in North Carolina.

One measure of the extent of Hanes's commitment to the arts is that he not only served on the boards and committees of numerous arts organizations but also was a founder of at least eight arts groups. These include the Associated Councils of the Arts, the Jargon Society, Tri-States Arts Council, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Arts, the North Carolina School of the Arts, North Carolina State Arts Council, the Winston-Salem Arts Council, and Piedmont Opera. He also was a founder of the Awards in the Visual Arts program and Ampersand, Inc. Most of these organizations are well-represented in the collection.

The Associated Councils of the Arts, a national private body, was first named Community Arts Councils, Inc. when Hanes was a founder in 1960. By 1964, the name was changed to Arts Councils of America to reflect more accurately the organization and work of the corporation. By 1966, the name became the Associated Councils of the Arts (ACA). Hanes served as vice-president and president of the organization, on the board, and on committees. ACA files, pulled together under the latest name, comprise about twenty percent of the Subject Files Series, with most of the correspondence falling in the 1960s. In addition to Hanes, the primary correspondents in the files are George M. Irwin and Ralph Burgard, with some scattered correspondence with Nancy Hanks. Irwin served as president and chairman of the board of the organization, and Burgard was executive director. Hanks also served as president. The ACA file includes information about the board of directors, conferences, and projects. ACA material also appears in the Personal and Boards Series and the Ampersand Central Files Series.

Another national organization of which Hanes was a founding board member is the Jargon Society, which published the works of nationally famous poets. The society was housed at the Penland School in Penland, N. C. Jargon Society files appear in the Personal and Boards Series, the Ampersand Casebooks Series, and to a lesser extent in the Ampersand Chronological Files Series. There is extensive correspondence of Hanes with Jonathan Williams, the Jargon Society founder. Williams, a poet and publisher, became curator of the Jargon Society Archive at the State University of New York, Buffalo Library in 1980. Williams correspondence appears particularly in the Geographic Series in the Penland, N.C. folders.

Two regional arts groups that Hanes helped establish are the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in 1956 and the Tri-States Arts Council in 1959. SECCA, located in Winston-Salem, N. C., was a major client of Ampersand, Inc. from 1976 to 1982. There are ten boxes in the Ampersand Casebooks Series on this organization, which represent about twelve percent of that series. The Personal and Boards Series also contains some files. The Tri-States Arts Council was a multi-states arts organization, encompassing North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. It was formed before any state arts council. There is material about this council in the Geographic Series, under the heading "North Carolina."

On the state level, Hanes was the primary founder of the North Carolina State Arts Council in 1964. He had persuaded then Governor Terry Sanford to address the American Symphony Orchestra League. Hanes talked to Sanford about creating the Arts Council, which became a part of the North Carolina Department of Administration. The agency later became part of the Department of Cultural Resources. Hanes also served as president and chairman of the council's executive committee. The Geographic Series contains almost two boxes of letters and memoranda, agendas, minutes, and reports on this organization, and there is some information in the Ampersand Central Files Series. There is extensive correspondence between Hanes and Robert V. Brickell, Executive Director of the Council, 1966-1968. Also, in the Geographic Series there are files for various local arts councils under the names of the state and city, such as "North Carolina. Greensboro."

Another state-level institution for which Hanes was a founder is the North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA), created in 1966 in Winston-Salem. He was also an early major fund raiser for the school as well as being on the board and various committees. Hanes was prominent among local leaders who raised one million dollars by telephone to provide a physical plant for the institution. There is NCSA material in the Personal and Boards Series, the Geographic Series, the Subject Files Series, as well as the Ampersand Casebooks Series. In the latter series, NCSA files account for 25 boxes, or almost one-third of the series. NCSA was a major Ampersand client from 1974 to 1985. These files pertain to donors for the school and fund-raising campaigns in various North Carolina cities such as Charlotte, Hickory, High Point, Gastonia, and the Research Triangle area.

There are also several folders in the Ampersand Casebooks Series (Arts Council, Downtown Revitalization, and NCSA files) for the Roger L. Stevens Center for the Performing Arts in Winston-Salem. The center, which had its grand opening in 1983, belongs to the NCSA. Ampersand promoted NCSA'S "Vision in Motion" campaign to fund the Stevens Center. It represents a partnership between the business community and the arts, in which Hanes and Ampersand played a major role. There were corporate and private contributions as well as an NEA challenge grant. The eleven-story Greek revival building also is a part of downtown Winston-Salem's revitalization, in which Hanes and Ampersand again were instrumental. Roger L. Stevens, a broadway producer for whom the center was named, is a former businessman who switched to a theatrical career in the 1950s. He was chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D. C. From 1965- 1969, he headed the National Council on the Arts, which became the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). He also was a board member of NCSA. His correspondence is scattered throughout the collection, and there is a file under his name in the Personal and Boards Series.

Hanes was very active as a founder of local arts organizations in his hometown of Winston-Salem, including the Winston-Salem Arts Council. In the late 1940s, a group of citizens and community groups worked to form a united organization for the arts, which became the Winston-Salem Arts Council on August 9, 1949. Hanes began his association with the arts in 1950 as one of the founding members of this council, the first arts council in the United States. Its purpose was to unite arts associations in fund raising, scheduling of events, advertising, and budgeting. From this beginning grew the North Carolina Arts Council, regional arts councils, and the American Council for the Arts. Hanes was vice-president of the Winston-Salem Arts Council and served on several committees, including personnel, nominating, development, executive, endowment, and long- range planning. There are several folders on the Council in the Geographic Series, under the heading of "North Carolina, Winston-Salem," and some in the Personal and Boards Series. However, the bulk of the material is in the Ampersand Casebooks Series, where eleven Council boxes comprise almost fifteen percent of that series. It was a major Ampersand client from 1977 to 1985.

Another Winston-Salem organization Hanes helped to establish was the Piedmont Opera. He was a founding board member and served as vice-president, but there does not appear to be any material on this group in the collection.

In addition to founding the eight arts organizations, Hanes was also a founder in 1979 of the Awards in the Visual Arts program (AVA). It was a competition for regional artists from throughout the United States which granted fellowship money to artists. AVA was co-sponsored by the NEA, the Rockefeller Fund, and the Equitable Life Assurance Society, and coordinated by the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA). SECCA hired Ampersand to direct the program, bring people together, organize the competition, obtain judges, and establish the divisions in the United States. The AVA material in the collection is contained in the Ampersand Casebooks Series, and forms a part of the SECCA files.

Another major arts institution that Hanes served was the National Endowment for the Arts. He was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and served on the board and on the Music Committee. Hanes also was a National Council on the Arts member and served under two chairmen, Roger Stevens and Nancy Hanks. Hanes worked to support the arts council movement from within NEA along with NEA chairman Nancy Hanks and Chuck Mark, head of the State and Local Arts Agencies Division of NEA. Both Hanks and Mark letters appear throughout the collection. NEA files are scattered throughout the collection in the Personal and Boards, Subject Files, Ampersand Central Files, and Slides Series. The Slides Series contains slides of early NEA meetings in 1965 and 1966. Included in particular are pictures of Harper Lee, Roger Stevens, John Steinbeck, Agnes de Mille, Gregory Peck, and Lady Bird Johnson. Also, photographs of various arts centers are included in the Miscellaneous Series.

In 1976, by which time Hanes's reputation in the arts was well-established, he and S. Kathryn Page founded Ampersand Inc. The company was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hanes Dye and Finishing Company, Hanes's employer for 28 years. In forming Ampersand, Inc., Hanes combined his business acumen with his experience as an active participant in the arts as consultant, board member, patron, fund raiser, and advisor to arts organizations. The company, a management service organization, specifically targeted the managers and boards of cultural organizations as its clients. These clients often were from North Carolina, many from Winston-Salem. The name of the company was derived from the symbol "and," a connecting symbol used to join things together. The firm provided fund raising, management, and public relations services for non-profit organizations, especially arts groups. Other services which Ampersand supplied included long and short-range planning, project feasibility studies, marketing, staff and executive recruitment, trustee development, special event management, custom research, and volunteer program and board development. The company provided a uniform approach to promoting the arts with these services.

Ampersand employed a relatively small number of staff members. President and chief administrative officer was co- founder Kathryn Page. To complete the staff Ampersand filled the following positions at various times: research associate, consultant, client consultant, senior consultant, executive assistant, public relations specialist, administrative associate, and intern. Hanes was chairman of the board and chief executive officer.

Although Hanes had anticipated working with Ampersand for the rest of his life, the experiment in Hanes's own words "was unsuccessful" (See letter of Dec. 1, 1988 in Information Folder). Ampersand lasted for a decade until 1986. There were several problems, one of which appeared to be financial, because often clients did not pay the fees. Consequently the business lost a considerable amount of money. Ampersand also wanted to show its client organizations "how to strengthen the board, build up public relations, develop good administrative practices, and essentially do their own fund raising." (Dec. 1, 1988 letter) This attempt to show arts and other non-profit organizations how they could apply business practices to their own operations often was only marginally successful.

The Ampersand Series is the largest one, comprising a little over one-half of the Hanes collection. The series provides four different approaches to access because it is divided into sections. One point of access is by client name as evidenced in the Casebooks. They functioned as an organizational tool for Ampersand to evaluate the client and its needs, to develop a system of obtaining economic support, and to assist in finding appropriate personnel. Correspondence varies in content from mass-produced letters to personal ones from Hanes or his staff. The alphabetical run of clients in the Casebooks section provides an overall view of the process involved in working with individual organizations. Between 1977 and 1984 Ampersand averaged 15 clients a year and contracted with 40 different clients during its existence.

The North Carolina School of the Arts, the Arts Council (Winston-Salem), and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art were the three major Ampersand clients, as evidenced by the amount of material in the casebooks. These three organizations remained as clients for the majority of the company's lifespan. The SECCA files also contain material about the Awards in the Visual Arts program, 1979- 1982.

Other clients, with at least two or three boxes each of material in the Casebooks, include the James B. Hunt political campaigns, the North Carolina Dance Theatre (Winston-Salem), the North Carolina Museum of Art (Raleigh, N.C.), Old Salem, St. John's Art Gallery (Wilmington, N.C.), Salem College and Academy (Winston-Salem), the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild (Asheville, N.C.), and the Walnut Street Theater (Philadelphia). The Hunt campaign files chiefly pertain to outgoing two-term North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt's unsuccessful Democratic bid in the 1984 U. S. Senate race. He attempted to unseat the incumbent, Senator Jesse Helms (Republican). Ampersand headed a Friends of the Arts division of Governor Hunt's campaign, and Hanes evidently was a consultant to the Hunt campaign. In the files there is also material about "A Celebration of the Arts," a Hunt North Carolina fund raiser. Although the Hunt material centers around the 1984 campaign, there is a little material about his 1979-1980 race for a second term as governor.

The Arts and Crafts Association files and the Sawtooth Center for Visual Design folders also fill over two boxes total. The Association began as the Arts and Crafts Workshop, a project of the Junior League of Winston-Salem, in 1945. It officially became the Arts and Crafts Association in 1948, organized as a private, non-profit venture in arts education. In 1982 the name was changed to Sawtooth Center for Visual Design, when the organization moved into its new quarters in Winston Square in downtown Winston-Salem. By changing the name, the organization also hoped to end the confusion between its name and the Arts Council. The two Sawtooth Center folders from 1984 relate to the Tom Davis Design in Flight Competition, sponsored by the Sawtooth Center for students of all ages in the Winston- Salem schools.

There is additional information relating to Winston- Salem in the Winston-Salem Symphony Association files and the Winston-Salem Downtown Revitalization files. Also, there is downtown revitalization information in the Arts Council file. Hanes was very involved in this downtown renewal. He and other interested citizens began examining the possibility of building a new downtown area around the performing arts in the mid-1970s. The Winston-Salem Arts Council was also a promoter of the idea. The new downtown Winston-Salem arts center included Winston Square, the Stevens Center, and supporting businesses. A vacant theater, formerly known as the Carolina Theater, was renovated to become the Stevens Center. The dedication ceremony occurred in 1983. The Winston-Salem Journal and the Winston-Salem Sentinel faithfully reported on local arts developments and thus are good secondary sources on that topic.

There are several clients in the Casebooks, for which there are one or one-and-one-half boxes. These include the Alabama School of Fine Arts (Birmingham), Dance St. Louis, the (N.C.) Governor's Business Council on the Arts and Humanities, the Jargon Society, the Moravian Music Foundation (Winston-Salem), the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (Winston-Salem), the North Carolina Symphony (Raleigh), and the Spoleto Festival (Charleston). Spoleto Festival material as well as Governor's Business Council information also appear in the Personal Series. Other clients with smaller files include the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (Anniston), the Chicago City Ballet, the Frank Holder Dance Company (Greensboro, N.C.), the International Wilderness Leadership Foundation (Ft. Collins, CO.), the Raleigh Cultural Arts Action Plan, Roanoak Project (Roanoak, N.C.), Upstairs Gallery (Tryon, N.C.), and the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.

The second approach to access in the Ampersand Series is the Chronological Files. They are chiefly correspondence of Hanes and other Ampersand staff, arranged by date, and therefore provide a clearer view of the sequence of events. Representative topics are clients, such as NCSA and its "Vision in Motion" campaign, grants, funding, potential donors, executive searches, gifts, contracts, meetings, and general business. There is reference in 1977 to the Creative Problem Solving Course that Ampersand established, and plans for another in 1978. In addition there is a file on the course in the Personal Series and the Ampersand Central Files Series. Hanes also wrote some letters as chairman of the board of Hanes Dye and Finishing and discussed environmental and conservation concerns, and the arts. Scattered letters pertain to topics which supplement files in other parts of the collection, such as NCSA, the Winston-Salem Arts Council, the Nature Conservancy, the Jargon Society, Winston-Salem Downtown Revitalization, the Sawtooth Building and Center City Development. There are references to Joan Mondale's visit to Winston-Salem in 1978.

The third approach to access in the Ampersand Series is the Central Files. Like the Chronological Files, this is also primarily a correspondence file, but arranged by topic, providing an overall picture of the business by subject. The letters are mainly those of Hanes and other Ampersand staff. Included are files for various clients, institutions and organizations, reference material on these organizations, and financial information about Ampersand.

The fourth access point is company records. This section contains not only financial records of Ampersand but also information about clients and proposals. It reveals information about clients which are not included in the casebooks and the initial steps of the consulting process, even if unsuccessful subsequently.

Other aspects of Hanes's life as revealed in the collection are the interconnected interests of conservation of natural resources and outdoor recreation. His commitment to preserving the environment, especially in North Carolina, extended to both the seacoast and the mountains. He purchased most of Stone Mountain, five miles west of Roaring Gap, N.C., which became a state park. Also, Hanes was concerned as well about the preservation of the Appalachian Trail and Roan Mountain, which was threatened by commercial development. He expressed his love of the outdoors also as a hiker; hunter, especially of wild duck, pheasant, and dove; and trout fisherman.

Hanes's interest in the environment led him to serve several conservation societies as governor, director, national advisor, and committee member. These include the Nature Conservancy, the National Audubon Society, the American Land Trust, the Izaak Walton League of America, Appalachian Trail Conference, and the Appalachian Highlands Association. In addition, Hanes was a founder of the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and the North Carolina Land Heritage Trust. The Personal and Boards Series in particular reflect these interests in ecology and outdoor recreation. There are large files for the National Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy, and to a lesser extent the Appalachian Greenway. Other related files in this series include the Izaak Walton League, the Appalachian Trail, Currituck, Shooting Clubs, Ecology, Conservation, Hunting, New River, Roan Mountain, Cane River, and Stone Mountain. There also is some information on The Nature Conservancy in the Ampersand Chronological Files Series. The North Carolina Recreation Commission has some information in the Geographic and Subject Files Series, and the National Recreation Association is represented in the Subject Files Series.

In the Subject Files Series many different topics are represented. Four major ones which have not been noted above include the National Council on the Arts, the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities, the American Symphony Orchestra League, and Arts Management.

There are many letters of prominent persons who were involved in the arts world as artists, as patrons of the arts, or as members of advisory boards of organizations. These correspondents include Edward B. Benjamin, Ralph Burgard, Lammot duPont Copeland, Agnes De Mille, John Ehle, Nancy Hanks, Paul Hudgins, George M. Irwin, Jarold A. Kieffer, Margot Logan, W. McNeil Lowry, Charles Christopher Mark, Sam Ragan, Alvin H. Reiss, Samuel R. Rosenbaum, Michael Whitney Straight, Robert Suderburg, Alvin Toffler, Richard P. Trenbeth, Eric Walter White, and Jonathan Williams. Other correspondents, who were not chiefly artists, shared Hanes's interest in promoting the arts. There are occasional letters from North Carolina governors and other political figures including Jesse Helms, James E. Holshouser, James B. Hunt, Benjamin Everett Jordan, Joan Mondale, Daniel Killian Moore, Terry Sanford, and Robert Walter Scott. Celebrities, such as Helen Hayes and Charlton Heston, also appear in the letters. Other correspondents include John Mason Brewer, Milton Esterow, William Coffield Fields, Siebolt Henry Frieswyk, Norman Lloyd, Sir Peter Ramsbotham, John D. Rockefeller, Laurance S. Rockefeller, James H. Semans, Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, and Edward Weeks.

Names have been indexed only where both quantity and quality (research content) were present. Often the correspondence of one person in this collection is scattered throughout, rather than grouped in one series.

The collection includes 28 boxes from unprocessed additions, which have no boxlist or other descriptions available. These boxes are numbered by Accession number. Unprocessed additions (5479 items; dated [1950s]-2004) include correspondence, greeting cards, subject files, financial records, reports, memorabilia, photographs, videotapes, and a large poster of Hanes' family tree. Materials reflect especially Hanes' interest in the arts, conservation (particularly in western North Carolina and Virginia), and the city of Winston-Salem.

Addition includes correspondence, both incoming and outgoing, as well as appointment books, clippings, and miscellaneous materials relating to Hanes' philanthropy and community involvement in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Prominent topics include the Hanes farm and other conservation and agricultural enterprises; his role in various arts councils and arts movements throughout the city and country, including the National Endowment for the Arts; his interactions with Wake Forest University and other academic institutions; his communications with Wachovia Bank; and other issues or movements that he supported. The majority of the materials are loosely arranged in a chronological file, dating from 1940-2010 (bulk dating from 1991-2009).

Biographical / historical:
Chronology
Date Event
1926, Feb. 25
Born, Winston-Salem, N.C.
1944
Graduated, Woodberry Forest School.
1944-1946
Student at the University of North Carolina.
1949
B.A., Yale University.
1950, Jan. 14
Married Joan Audrey Humpstone (died Jan., 1983).
1950
Employed at Hanes Dye and Finishing Company (now Hanes Companies, Inc.).
1956-1962
Vice-president of Hanes Dye and Finishing.
1962-1965
Executive Vice-president of Hanes Dye and Finishing.
1965-1968
President, Hanes Dye and Finishing.
1968-
Chairman of the Board, Hanes Dye and Finishing.
1973-
Chairman of the Board, Bunch-Kelly Co., Conover, N. C.
1976-1985
Chairman of the Board, Ampersand, Inc.
1981
L.H.D. (honorary), St. Andrews College, Laurinburg, N.C.
l984, Dec. 23
Married Mary Charlotte Metz.

Mr. Hanes has held board memberships in over fifty arts and conservation organizations, including the American Council for the Arts, the Winston-Salem Arts Council, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Business Committee for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, and the American Symphony Orchestra League.

Hanes has also been presented with several awards. These include the Governor's Award for Preservation of Natural Areas (North Carolina), the Public Service Award (State of N.C.), the Morrison Award for the Arts, the Swan Award, the N. C. Society of New York City Award, the Community Service Award (Winston-Salem Urban League), and an award from the Winston-Salem chapter of NAACP.

Acquisition information:
The papers of R. Philip Hanes (1926- ), textile company executive, arts organization administrator and conservationist, were a gift to the Duke University Library in 1988.
Processing information:

Processed by Sharon E. Knapp

Completed July 31, 1989

Accessions included in this finding aid: 1990-0060, 1992-0066, 1996-0136, 2004-0081, and 2010-0201

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
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Describing Archives: A Content Standard

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Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

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[Identification of item], R. Philip Hanes Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.