Southern Politics Collection

The Southern Politics Collection, given by Alexander Heard in February 1982, consists of drafts and research materials for Southern Politics in State and Nation by V.O. Key, Jr., and A Two-Party South?, by Alexander Heard, together with transcripts of interviews on Southern politics used in the preparation of both these works.

Paige Boxes 1-7: Southern Politics in State and Nation by V.O. Key, Jr.

Paige Boxes 8-10: Interviews

Paige Boxes 11-13: A Two-Party South?, by Alexander Heard

Oversize Box 1: Southern Politics in State and Nation - Illustrations

Notes:

Southern Politics in State and Nation, written by V. O. Key, Jr., with the assistance of Alexander Heard, was the principal product of the Electoral Process Survey. It was published in 1949 by Alfred A. Knopf. A Two-Party South?, by Alexander Heard, published in 1952 by the University of North Carolina Pressj and other publications, also resulted.

Some 538 persons informed about southern politics were interviewed. They provided important information, opinion and sources of interpretation. The interviews were held in 11 states over a period of approximately five weeks in each state. The reports of these interviews are here bound in 11 volumes, one per state, arranged in reverse chronological order within each volume. These volumes, along with foldered interview material from the 1950s, comprise the first series, "Interviews, 1946-1958."

The first volume, containing the Alabama interviews, has with it an article that describes the ways in which the interviews were conducted and comments on their significance and limitations. This article, called "Interviewing Southern Politicians," by Alexander Heard, appeared in the American Political Science Review in December 1950.

At the end of this volume appears a list of confidential interviews that were kept separate from the regular a file until inserted at the appropriate place in each state collection at the time of binding.

The 11 volumes are as follows: