Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Prolific writer Paul Eliot Green was born on March 17, 1894 near Lillington, North Carolina, the son of farmers William Archibald Green and Betty (Byrd) Green. Green attended Buie's Creek Academy (now Campbell College), graduating in 1914; the University of North Carolina, graduating in 1921; and did graduate work at Cornell University (1922-1923). He married Elizabeth Atkinson Lay on July 6, 1922, and they had four children: Paul E. Green, Jr., Byrd Green Cornwell, Betsy Green Moyer, and Janet Green Catlin.
During World War I, Green served in the United States Army in Belgium and France, and became second Lieutenant.
Between 1923 and 1963, Green taught philosophy, dramatic art, and television and film at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Many of Green's writings focus on race, most notably In Abraham's Bosom. He also collaborated with Richard Wright to adapt the novel Native Son for the stage.
Paul Green has won several awards for his writings, including the Belasco Cup in 1925 for The No 'Count Boy and the Pulitzer Prize in drama in 1927 for In Abraham's Bosom.
Paul Eliot Green died 1981.
Source: Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2003.
Collection comprises 11 screenplays and scripts of American author Paul Green and others, including Green's screenplays for State fair and Voltaire, and the screenplay by Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller for Here comes Mr. Jordan.