Biographical Text
Professor Emeritus of English Rogers Vance Whitener (May 10, 1919-) was born in Dyartsville, North Carolina. He and his wife, Janice, have two daughters, Lori Kim and Katy Miranda. Whitener attended Appalachian State Teachers' College (now Appalachian State University) in the 1941-42 academic year, interrupting his education for a three-year stint in the Army Air Corps before resuming his studies in 1946. Whitener earned his B.S. degree in English and history from Appalachian State in 1948; from 1948 to 1950, he attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, receiving his M.A. degree in English from the university in 1950. During the summers from 1951 to 1953, he again attended Appalachian State Teachers' College, acquiring thirty-six credit hours in administration. In the summer of 1969, Whitener attended Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on a Ford Foundation grant. From 1950 to 1959, Whitener taught English and journalism at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. He also served as interim head of both the English and journalism departments during separate one-year periods. During his years at Florida Southern, he served on the board of directors of both the Lakeland Little Theatre and the Lakeland Civic Music Association. In the fall of 1959, Whitener joined the Department of English at Appalachian State as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1970 and to professor in 1980. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Whitener also served as an advisor to The Appalachian. He was director of Cultural Affairs from 1961 to 1981, director of the English Departments studies in England for four summers, and instructor in the Appalachian-Newport (Rhode Island) program for ten years. Whitener's other activities include membership in the Greater University Advisory Committee on the Arts and the Campus-Community Relations Committee. He served on the board of advisors on art and the community for the New College for Social Research, New York City, and was on Appalachian State's Planning Committee for the New York Loft. Whitener was also on the board of directors for the Appalachian Historical Association and for the Watauga County Arts Council. He has, as well, been a vice president and judge for the North Carolina Folklore Society. Whitener's professional affiliations included the South Atlantic Modern Language Association; the North Carolina Folklore Society; and the Association of College, University and Community Arts Administrators. Among his publications are the North Carolina Folklore Journal (of which he was co-editor for one year), North Carolina Historical Review, Mountain Living, Appalachian Journal, and FolkWays and Folk-Speech, a column published weekly for eighteen years in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia newspapers. He also published an eighty-five page monograph by the same title through the North Carolina Folklore Society. In 1990, in conjunction with local watercolorist Joe Miller, Whitener published Thrice-Told Tales, a collection of mountain folktales. A second, expanded edition is now in preparation. Whitener's involvement in music and theatre groups has included serving as vice president of production for the popular outdoor drama Horn in the West. Along with acting in Horn in the West, The Lost Colony, and Chuck Jack, he was active in the Appalachian theatre group, the Lakeland Little Theatre, the 11th Air Corps Chorus, and Special Services (Anchorage, Alaska). He also narrated and over-voiced various university recruiting tapes and public performances, such as Peter and the Wolf, Frostiana, and Lincoln Portrait. Among Whitener's prized honors is the dedication of the 1964 Appalachian State yearbook, the 1979 Brown-Hudson North Carolina Folklore Society Award, and an Honorary Doctor of Mountain Folklore from the Downtown Boone College of Pharmacy, nomination and citation by Dean Joe C. Miller. Whitener and his wife live in Boone. Sources: Appalachian State University files and long association. -Dr. Richard D. Howe
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