Dean of the College. Edwin Graves Wilson Records
Edwin Graves Wilson is Professor Emeritus of English and Provost Emeritus of Wake Forest University, as well as a former Dean of the College. This collection documents Wilson's work as a college professor and Dean of the College, as well as personal materials through 1968. Material types in the collection include clippings, correspondence, legal documents, meeting agendas and minutes, memorandums, pamphlets, programs, publications, and reports. A small amount of materials document Wilson's high school and college years, as well as his U.S. Navy service. Selected digitized materials from both Edwin G. Wilson record collections are available through Special Collections and Archives' Digital Collections.
Biographical and Historical Note
Edwin Graves Wilson, known affectionately as "Mr. Wake Forest," was Professor Emeritus of English and Provost Emeritus for Wake Forest University. Wilson was born February 1, 1923, in Leaksville, N.C., in Rockingham County, and began classes at Wake Forest at age 16. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. (1943) in English, a member of honor societies Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa.After graduation, he served as a U.S. Navy officer on three destroyer escorts during World War II (1943-1946): U.S.S. Coffman, U.S.S. Lewis, and U.S.S. Raymond in the Pacific. Post-war, he received his A.M. (1948) and Ph.D (1952) in English from Harvard University. Wilson returned to his alma mater as an Instructor in English and was named Professor of English in 1959. Known as a skilled teacher, Wilson focused on the British Romantic poets, such as William Wordsworth, Lord Bryon, and William Blake, as well as William Butler Yeats and Dylan Thomas.
Wilson had a long and distinguished administrative career at Wake Forest. His positions included: Assistant Dean, Undergraduate College; Acting Dean and Dean of the College (1958-1967); Provost (the first) (1967-1990); Vice President for Special Projects; and Senior Vice President. Under his leadership, the Faculty Committee voted to end segregation, Wake forest established its residential study abroad program in London and Venice, and established the Wake Forest Press. He also represented Wake Forest on numerous national organizations, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), where he also served as president. Prior to his retirement in 1993, the new wing of the Z. Smith Reynolds Library was named in his honor (1992). Wilson is the recipient of several WFU awards: the Reinhardt Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Distinguished Alumni Citation, and in 2004, he received Wake Forest's highest award for service to the University, the Medallion of Merit. In 2020, he published Songs of Wake Forest: Tributes by Edwin G. Wilson, a collection of remembrances for more than 50 Wake Forest community members whom he has paid tribute to at funerals or memorial services during his tenure at the University.
Wilson served numerous arts-related organizations in addition to his scholarly work. He was a Trustee for the North Carolina Humanities Council (1977-1980), and Winston-Salem State University, and was involved in various capacities with the Piedmont Opera Theater, the Winston-Salem Arts Council, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Reynolda House Museum of American Art, and on the Winston-Salem State University Board of Trustees.
Wilson was awarded the North Carolina Award for Public Service (2002) and the John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities (2014) from the North Carolina Humanities Council. He was married to the author and poet Emily Herring Wilson (M.A. 1962). They are the parents of three children: Eddie, Sally, and Julie. Wilson died on March 13, 2024.
Collection Overview
This collection documents Wilson's work as a college professor and Dean of the College prior to his selection as first Provost of the College in 1968. There is some overlap with records in Office of the Provost. Edwin Graves Wilson Records (RG22.1.1). This collection also contains personal materials prior to 1968 that document Wilson's high school years in Leaksville, N.C., college years at Wake Forest, and U.S. Navy service in World War II.
Materials in the collection include newspaper clippings related to Leaksville, N.C., World War II, and Wake Forest College; professional correspondence with Wake Forest community members and other colleges, foundations, and associations; meeting agendas and minutes; reports and memorandums; and event programs. Correspondence in the collection contains mostly incoming letters but outgoing letters are also included. Letters from Wilson to his parents, dated 1933-1968, are open for research but are not to be reproduced.
Please note that Bowman Gray School of Medicine is now Wake Forest School of Medicine.
Selected digitized materials from both Edwin G. Wilson record collections are available through Special Collections and Archives' Digital Collections.
Collection Arrangement
This collection is arranged into five series: Series 1. Administrative files, Series 2. Biographical and personal materials, Series 3. College files, and Series 4. Subject files.
Series 1. Administrative files contains records regarding Wake Forest's administrative offices, academic departments, and committees, as well as work relating to external groups such as foundations, associations, and state bodies.
Series 2. Biographical and personal materials is arranged into two subseries. Subseries 1. Artifacts and biographical materials documents his life prior to beginning his scholarly career in 1952: attending Leaksville High School, WFC, Harvard University, and U.S. Navy training and service. Materials include news clippings, course and personal notebooks, photographs, awards, scrapbooks and scrapbook materials, and memorabilia. Subseries 2. Correspondence contains letters dated 1929 to 1968. Much of the correspondence is incoming, addressed to Wilson, with the exception of letters from Wilson to his parents. Letters between Wilson and his parents (1933-1968) is restricted until 20 years after his death. Correspondence here is organized by date; some correspondence on specific topics is located in Series 5. Subject files.
Series 3. College files contains materials regarding other colleges, academies, and universities that Wilson was in contact with.
Series 4. Subject files, contains various materials collected through Wilson's time as dean, such as publications by others and teaching notes.
The collection is arranged in alphabetical order with the exception of the Correspondence subseries, which is arranged in chronological order.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Names
Wake Forest College--Alumni and alumnae Wake Forest University--Faculty--Personal and professional papers
Personal Names
Subjects
Administrative Information
- Publication Information
- Processed by John Woodard; machine-readable finding aid created by Apex, 2004
- Revision Description
- Revised by Taylor Hodges and Stephanie Bennett, July 2016, 2020
- Revision Description
- Newly donated materials added and finding aid revised by Finley Turner and Stephanie Bennett, 2022-2023
- Revision Description
- Revised by Stephanie Bennett upon Wilson's passing, 2024 March 14
- Access Restrictions
- This collection is open for use. Letters that Wilson to parents, dated 1933-1968, are not available to be reproduced without permission from Emily Herring Wilson.
- Copyright Notice
- The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
- Preferred Citation
- Dean of the College. Edwin Graves Wilson Records (RG 4.1.8), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.