Finding Aid of the Denise Bittner Photograph Collection, PHC.117

[Identification of item], PhC.117, Denise Bittner Photograph Collection, State Archives of North Carolina; Raleigh, NC.

This collection contains a total thirty-seven (37) photographs and thirty-six (36) negatives.

The first ten (10) photographs are color prints depicting Denise Alexander Bittner, John Robert Bittner, and others running in and participating in events of the 1987 US Olympic Festival Torch Run on Ocracoke Island, Hyde County, North Carolina. Individuals shown include John Bittner, Denise Bittner, and Hyde County Sheriff Gene Jackson. Many other unidentified runners, race workers, and spectators are shown along with the Bittners, including an unidentified North Carolina Highway Patrolman. A group shot of runners was taken in front of a "Welcome to Hyde County" highway sign. Several shots show various vehicles, trucks, cars, and a fire engine. One shot shows runners and race vehicles in the distance down the highway, and this photograph provides a good view of the dunes in 1987 on Ocracoke along the road. Other shots of the Bittners were taken with the North Carolina Historical Marker for Lt. Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy who was killed by the pirate Blackbeard off the coast of Hyde County in 1718. Many of the people depicted in the photos in this collection are wearing official 1987 U.S. Olympic Festival Torch Run participant and event worker T-shirts bearing the McDonalds fast food restaurant logo. Two other images relate to the Olympic Festival Torch Run and are photos of Denise Bittner's and John Bittner's certificates of participation in the run.

Twenty-five (25) additional photos depict a variety of events in the lives of Denise and John R. Bittner, c. 1980-2001. They are primarily color prints and include shots of one or both of the Bittners. Several photos show them with celebrities (journalist Kathleen Sullivan, UNC-CH basketbll star Brad Daugherty, judges for the 1983 Miss Virginia beauty pageant, Nobel Laureate Dr. George Hitchings, Nobel prize winner Dr. Trudy Ellion, journalist Helen Thomas, North Carolina State University Basketball Coach Kay Yow, and journalist Pierre Thomas). Some photos show Dr. John R. Bittner in his role as professor in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism. Other shots show events and various people associated with the UNC-CH Lineburger Comprehensive Cancer Center where Denise Bittner served as Director of Development.

Thirty-six (36) negatives comprise a second addition to this collection and depict the volleyball competition for which John Robert Bittner was a volunteer during the 1987 US Olympic Festival in the Research Triangle.

Denise and John Bittner were residents of Chapel Hill, NC, and they also own a home on Pintail Drive in Ocracoke, NC. Dr. John R. Bittner (4 May 1943-9 April 2002) was a professor in the Journalism School at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). Denise Alexander Bittner was Director of Development at the UNC Lineburger Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 1987, Denise and John Bittner participated in the US Olympic Festival Torch Run on Ocracoke Island, Hyde County, NC, and volunteered during Research Triangle area festival events including the volleyball competition. Dr. Bittner passed away in 2002, and at the time of the donation of the October 2007 addition to this collection, Denise Bittner resided in Eagle, Idaho.

1. U.S. Olympic Festival Torch Run, Ocracoke Island, N.C.,26 June 1987

2. General Bittner Photos,1980-1994

3. General Bittner Photos,1995-2000

4. Bittner Biographical Information

5. U.S. Olympic Festival, Reasearch Triangle, Volleyball Competition,1987

6. Oversized Material, 1983-1984

Bittner , John R., 1943-

Bittner, Denise A., 1950-

Daugherty, Brad

Ellion, Trudy

Hitchings, George H. (George Herbert), 1905-1998

Jackson, Gene

Sullivan, Kathleen

Thomas, Helen

Thomas, Pierre

Yow, Kay, 1942-2009

U.S. Olympic Festival (2nd : 1987 : North Carolina).

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Lineberger Cancer Center.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. School of Journalism.

Athletes

Cancer

College teachers

Journalists

Medicine

Olympics

Runners (Sports)

Sports

Volleyball

Chapel Hill (N.C.)

Hyde County (N.C.)

Ocracoke Island (N.C.)

Photographs

The first part of this collection (Folder 1), that which pertains to the 1987 U.S. Olympic Festival Torch Run on Ocracoke Island, NC, was donated to the State Archives of North Carolina in September of 2006 by Denise Alexander Bittner and her husband John Bittner. Additional materials (Folders 2-4) were donated in December 2006 and in October 2007 (Folder 5). The Bittners resided in Chapel Hill, NC, and also had a home at Ocracoke.

Processed by Kim Andersen Cumber, December 2006

Encoded by Kim Andersen Cumber, December 2006