Walt Wolfram Papers 1971-2012

Walt Wolfram is currently (2016) the William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of English Linguistics at North Carolina State University. Wolfram has pioneered research on social and ethnic dialects since the 1960s, authoring or co-authoring 20 books and more than 250 articles on varieties of American English. Since joining NC State University faculty in 1992, Wolfram's has concentrated his efforts on preserving the rich linguistic heritage of North Carolina and raising public awareness of its cultural significance. He established the North Carolina Language and Life Project (NCLLP) in 1993, a project that focuses on research, graduate and undergraduate education, and outreach programs related to language in the American South. Wolfram has received many awards and honors, including the 2008 John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities; Linguistic Society of America Fellow (inducted in inaugural class of Fellows in 2006); Honorary member, Golden Key International Honour Society, North Carolina State Chapter in 2003; 1995-1996 NC State Alumni Outstanding Research Award; 1995-1996 College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS )Distinguished Research Award; and the CHASS Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professorship Award, NC State University, for 1994-1995. Wolfram has also held positions as Interim Head of English, 2005-2006; Interim Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, 2006-2007, at N.C. State; adjunct appointment positions with University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Linguistics Dept., 1993-present; Duke University, English Linguistics, 1998-present. Before joining the N.C. State faculty, Wolfram was employed at the University of the District of Columbia, Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, 1970-1992, as Professor, 1973-1992; Associate Professor, 1970-1973; Center for Applied Linguistics, 1967-1992; Distinguished Scholar, 1992; Director of Research Division, 1980-1992; Senior Researcher, 1970-1980; Research Associate, 1967-1970; and lecturer in Linguistics, Georgetown University, 1969-1971. Walt Wolfram was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in February 1941. In 1963 he married Margaret Linder and they have four children: Tyler (1966), Todd (1968), Terry (1971), Tanya (1973). Wolfram graduated from Wheaton College in 1963 where he received a B.A in Anthropology and minored in Greek. In 1964, he received a B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Chicago. Wolfram also holds a M.A. (1966) and Ph.D. (1969) in Linguistics and Anthropology from Hartford Seminary Foundation.

This collection contains the Walt Wolfram Sociolinguistic Collection, 1971-1998, contains audio recordings of interviews conducted during Wolfram’s career with speakers of Appalachian English, Puerto Rican English, Vietnamese English, Ozark English, and African-American vernacular English. The collection also features transcripts of many of the interviews and manuscripts of Wolfram’s resulting work on these dialects, along with copies of various broadcast documentaries on North Carolina dialects.

This collection has not yet undergone full archival processing. Materials are arranged in the order received.

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[Identification of item], Walt Wolfram Papers, MC 00354, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Gift of Walt Wolfram, 2009 (Accession no. 2009-0090); Accession number 2016.0136 (May 2016)

Processed by Judy Allen Dodson, 2009 May, Finding aid created by Judy Allen Dodson, 2009 May; updated by Hannah Chapman March 2021 because of addition; Finding updated to reflect an addition to the collection by Ella Mayfield, 2026 August.