- Blackburn, Charles, Jr. “The Dean of North Carolina History,” Our State 76 (June 2008): 106-107, 110, 112-114.
- “North Carolina Writers Honor William S. Powell,” Pembroke Magazine 36 (2004): 262-274.
- Stick, David, and William C. Friday. William S. Powell: North Carolina Historian. Chapel Hill: North Caroliniana Society, 1985.
- “William S. Powell,” in The North Carolina Awards. Raleigh: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 2000. p. 11.
