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Kevin J. Morris Oral History Collection

 Collection
Identifier: Mss-0284

Scope and Contents

This collection contains twelve cassettes that document interviews conducted by Kevin J. Morris during research for his 1997 Clemson dissertation titled A History of the South Carolina Technical Education System, 1961-1991. Common topics of interest include: the caliber of student that the technical school system aimed for, admission of African American students, demographics (specifically related to gender changes over the years), attempts by technical institutions to become four-year colleges, controversy over whether or not to include "junior college" or "technical school" in institutional names, questions and politics concerning the physical placement of technical schools within the state of South Carolina, insight into how institutional missions and curricula where determined, changes in marketing strategies regarding public awareness, the economic impact that the technical school system has afforded South Carolina, and the tenures of both Julio Bortolazzo and Charlie Parker as Executive Directors of the State Committee for Technical Education.

Dates

  • 1996 - 1997

Creator

Biographical / Historical

Kevin J. Morris was born in 1952 in New York City, the son of Howard and Joan Morris. He received a B.A. in English from Fordham University (1974), M.A. in English from New Mexico Highlands University (1975), and an Ed.D. in Vocational/Technical Education from Clemson University (1997).

Morris was an Adjunct Professor at Greenville Tech in Greenville, South Carolina from 1980-1984, and has been a full-time instructor from 1984-present (2005). While at Greenville Tech, he has been an instructor of Composition I and II, American English and World Literature I and II, Film Genre, and Introduction to East Asian Civilization. From 1988-1993, Morris was head of the English Department and in 1988 was a recipient of the SCETC-Gregory Cowan Award for Excellence in Teaching.

As part of the research for his 1997 dissertation titled A History of the South Carolina Technical Education System, 1961-1991, Morris conducted a series of interviews with twelve individuals who were critical in the establishment and evolution of the technical school system in South Carolina. The individuals interviewed are: G. William Dudley, H. MacLean Holderfield, Robert E. McNair, James R. Morris, Y.W. Scarborough, Wyman Shealy, Fred R. Sheheen, O. Stanley Smith, Lex Walters, John C. West, Louis Williams, and Edwin Zobel.

Extent

0.11 Cubic Feet (twelve cassettes in one box)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Kevin J. Morris conducted a series of interviews with twelve individuals as part of research for his 1997 Clemson dissertation. The interviews focus on the establishment and evolution of the technical education system in South Carolina between the years 1961-1991.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Received from Kevin J. Morris on February 19, 2002. Formerly accession number 02-19.

Related Material

LC 1044 .M677 1997 A History of the South Carolina Technical Education System, 1961-1991 / Kevin J. Morris

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Carl Redd, Project Archivist in 2005 as part of a re-grant project from the South Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

The conversion of this finding aid to Encoded Archival Description format was made possible with a grant from the South Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board in 2009-2010. The finding aid was prepared for encoding by Jen Bingham.

Creator

Title
A Guide to the Kevin J. Morris Oral History Collection, 1996-1997
Status
Completed
Author
Carl Redd
Date
2010 April 21
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Clemson University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Repository

Contact:
230 Kappa St.
Clemson SC 29634 U.S.A. US