My Additional Travels After the 2019 Mayberry Meet-Up, Part VII: Chapel Hill

My goal at the Louis Wilson Round Library was to work my way through all five seasons of the black and white years. I was able to do so and also checked several color episodes to answer questions I had about them.

I did get a chance to look through the limited correspondence the library had in their archives. The first letter I removed from the file at random—and I still can’t believe it was not a copy but was the actual letter—was the first Andy wrote to his parents after he started college. This was truly moving for me. Andy came to college in July, earlier than I would have supposed. He told his parents he was not as homesick as he had thought he might be. He talked about boys he had met, noting one was blind and had a “fine tenor.” And it also contained the prosaic, with Andy asking his mother to send a pillowcase (which he called a pillowslip) since she had forgotten to pack him one.

There were also several books of Andy’s. One was a dictionary of pronunciation that contained his name from a rubber stamp he must have had made for some of his books.

The receipt was also enclosed and it is interesting to note that he was already sometimes using “Andrew” even though his legal given name was “Andy.” This was something he would continue to do while young.

Among the news clippings was a familiar sight: One of the hard copy Bullet newsletters that have been replaced by the eBullet.

I did not get to look through the photos as thoroughly as I would have liked. And yes, the library requires you to wear cotton gloves to handle them. And as noted, I still want to see all the color season scripts. Whenever I visit somewhere, I always say you should not try to do it all as you need to have a reason to go back. Looks like I will have to spend at least a couple more days in Chapel Hill in 2020!