Paul and Ann Faris Papers

Collection

Identifier: MC 2612

Staff Only
Select files to request

Content Description

The collection contains the photography, writings, and other personal and professional papers of Paul and Ann Faris.

Series 1 contains personal and professional papers, including correspondence, biographical materials, and materials related to Paul Faris' work as a professor at Hendrix College.

Series 2 contains research materials, photographs, drafts, and other materials related to Paul Faris' 1983 book Ozark Log Cabin Folks: The Way They Were.

Series 3 contains correspondence, research materials, photographs, drafts, and other materials related to the Farises' visits to the Rohwer War Relocation Center during World War II, and to an unpublished manuscript by Ann Faris based on those visits and interviews with incarcerees.

Series 4 contains published and unpublished writings by both Paul and Ann Faris, as well as projects on which they collaborated. Among the materials are several scrapbooks of clippings featuring published articles.

Series 5 contains photographs by Paul Faris, including prints, published images, and negatives. The bulk of the series consists of seven boxes of negatives, which are primarily if not entirely 2.5 x 2.5 inch cellulose acetate (safety) negatives and 35mm polyester negatives. Subjects include Hendrix College; Conway, Ark.; log cabins and historic homes in Arkansas; Petit Jean Mountain; the reunion of a Fort Smith high school class, photographed by Paul Faris for Ebony magazine; Little Rock, Ark., including the Little Rock Crisis at Central High School; travel, including in New York City and Europe; and the Faris family.

Series 6 contains materials related to Faulkner County, Arkansas, where the Farises lived, including materials related to the Toad Suck Daze festival and materials relating to the Faulkner County Historical Society, which Paul Faris was closely involved with.

Dates

circa 1933-2022

Creator

Faris, Ann, 1907-2002 (Person)

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Access restrictions apply: Access to all materials in Series 3 is restricted until March 1, 2025, under the terms of a publication embargo agreement signed by the donors prior to the donation of materials to Special Collections.

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Conditions Governing Use

Use Restrictions Apply: Materials may not be used for commercial purposes without the prior written approval of the Donors or the Donors’ designated representative.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical / Historical

Paul Page Faris (1905-1988) was a professor and photographer. He was born October 20, 1905, to Reverend Alfred Ransom and Mary Alice Page Faris. After earning degrees from Central Methodist College and the University of Missouri, Faris served on the faculty of Hendrix College from 1928-1971. His publications include Ozark Log Cabin Folks: The Way They Were (1982), as well as photographs published in Allen Eaton’s Beauty Behind Barbed Wire (1952) and numerous articles and photographs published in outlets such as Life, the New York Times, College English, and Ebony. Faris passed away July 27, 1988.

Anna (Ann) Shotwell Faris (1907-2002) was a writer and teacher. She was born December 14, 1907, to Judge Benjamin E. and Edna Pearl Shotwell. A graduate of Arkansas State Teachers College, she taught elementary school in Conway, Arkansas, for 15 years. She was a freelance writer who was published in outlets such as the Arkansas Gazette, Arkansas Democrat, and Profitable Hobbies. She was a co-founder of the Faulkner County Literacy Council. Faris passed away February 2, 2002.

Paul and Ann Faris were married in 1931; the couple had two children, Mary Ann and Eliot Ransom (Tim). The Farises were active members of the First Methodist Church of Conway, and they frequently collaborated on projects, with Ann Faris writing the text and Paul Faris supplying the photographs.

Additional biographical information about the Farises is available in Box 8, Folder 1 of the collection.

Extent

23.42 Linear Feet (16 boxes and 4 oversize folders)

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into six series by topic:

Personal and professional papers, circa 1939-2022
Ozark Log Cabin Folks project materials, circa 1949-2022
Rohwer War Relocation Center materials, circa 1943-2022
Writings, circa 1933-2022
Photographs, circa 1925-2022
Faulkner County materials, circa 1949-2000

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Paul and Ann Faris Papers were donated to Special Collections by the Farises' children, Eliot (Tim) Faris of Collierville, Tennessee, and Mary Ann Thurmond of Memphis, Tennessee, on August 26, 2022.

Related Materials

Publications related to the Rohwer War Relocation Center and to Japanese American incarceration during World War II that were received as part of the manuscript collection were transferred to the Arkansas Collection to be cataloged individually.

Materials related primarily to Paul Faris' career at Hendrix College were donated by Eliot (Tim) Faris to the Hendrix College Special Collections and Archives.

Processing Information

Processed by Katrina Windon and Huong Nguyen; completed October 2022.

Significant arrangement and description work was completed by the donors prior to the collection's donation, and guides created by Eliot Faris and Mary Ann Thurmond have been included within the collection, such as biographical information about the Farises (Series 1); lists of publications by Paul and Ann Faris (Series 4); a list of Paul Faris' photography exhibits, and transcriptions of Paul Faris' original negative captions (series 5). Finding aid descriptions of negatives that are in quotations are derived from these original negative caption transcriptions.