Special Collections Research Center

The I. G. Greer Folksong Collection, presented here as part of the Documenting Appalachia digital initiative, consists of approximately 1,100 document pages that comprise more than 300 individual song titles, some with as many as ten distinct variants.

William Amos “Doc” Abrams (1905-1991) was chairman of the English Department at Appalachian State Teacher’s College (ASTC) from 1932 to 1946. In the 1930s, Dr. Abrams built a reputation as an enthusiastic collector, scholar and promoter of North Carolina folklore. The W. Amos Abrams Folksong Collection, presented here as part of the Documenting Appalachia digital initiative, consists of approximately 1,100 document pages that comprise some 400 individual song titles, most of which have multiple variants, as well as field recordings from 1938 to 1946.

Matanya Ophee (1932–2017) had several careers and many interests, with one overriding passion: the classical guitar. Ophee amassed one of the world's largest collections of 19th- and 20th-century classical guitar music, which was acquired in May 2021 by the Special Collections Research Center. This website includes information on the collection, as well as digitized files of public domain music.