diff --git a/app/controllers/ephemera_boxes_controller.rb b/app/controllers/ephemera_boxes_controller.rb
index 600a3b8678..a3188a5244 100644
--- a/app/controllers/ephemera_boxes_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/ephemera_boxes_controller.rb
@@ -10,6 +10,15 @@ class EphemeraBoxesController < BaseResourceController
   before_action :load_collections, only: [:new, :edit]
   before_action :cache_project, only: :destroy
 
+  def folders
+    authorize! :read, resource
+    render json: { data: datatables_folders }
+  end
+
+  def datatables_folders
+    FolderDataSource.new(resource: resource.decorate, helper: self).data
+  end
+
   def attach_drive
     edit
   end
diff --git a/app/controllers/ephemera_projects_controller.rb b/app/controllers/ephemera_projects_controller.rb
index dd02a14c3f..40e1e8046c 100644
--- a/app/controllers/ephemera_projects_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/ephemera_projects_controller.rb
@@ -14,6 +14,14 @@ def index
     render 'index'
   end
 
+  def folders
+    render json: { data: datatables_folders }
+  end
+
+  def datatables_folders
+    FolderDataSource.new(resource: resource.decorate, helper: self).data
+  end
+
   def manifest
     @resource = find_resource(params[:id])
     respond_to do |f|
diff --git a/app/models/folder_data_source.rb b/app/models/folder_data_source.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..eb6dc6bc07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/folder_data_source.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+class FolderDataSource
+  attr_reader :resource, :helper
+  delegate :folders, to: :resource
+  def initialize(resource:, helper:)
+    @resource = resource
+    @helper = helper
+  end
+
+  def data
+    @data ||= folders.map do |folder|
+      {
+        folder_number: folder.folder_number,
+        workflow_state: folder.rendered_state,
+        title: folder.title,
+        barcode: folder.barcode,
+        genre: folder.genre.try(:label) || folder.genre,
+        actions: helper.render_to_string(partial: "catalog/folder_actions", locals: { resource: resource, folder: folder }, formats: [:html])
+      }
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/app/views/catalog/_folder_actions.html.erb b/app/views/catalog/_folder_actions.html.erb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..462ecbc293
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/catalog/_folder_actions.html.erb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+          <td>
+            <% folder_url = parent_solr_document_path("#{resource.id}", "#{folder.id}") %>
+            <%= link_to 'View', folder_url, class: 'btn btn-default' %>
+            <%= link_to 'Edit', main_app.polymorphic_path([:edit, folder]), class: 'btn btn-default' %>
+          </td>
diff --git a/app/views/catalog/_members_ephemera_box.html.erb b/app/views/catalog/_members_ephemera_box.html.erb
index 9c29baf432..f33668235f 100644
--- a/app/views/catalog/_members_ephemera_box.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/catalog/_members_ephemera_box.html.erb
@@ -2,38 +2,21 @@
   <%# DataTable looks for certain data attributes on initialization
     # https://datatables.net/examples/advanced_init/html5-data-options.html
     # here we sort descending by folder number %>
-  <table id="members" class="table table-striped datatable" data-order='[[0, "desc"]]'>
+  <table id="members" class="table table-striped datatable" data-ajax='<%= polymorphic_path([:folders, resource], format: :json) %>' data-order='[[0, "desc"]]'>
     <thead>
     <tr>
       <% if decorated_resource.is_a?(EphemeraBox) %>
-        <th>Folder Number</th>
+        <th data-data="folder_number">Folder Number</th>
       <% end %>
-      <th>Workflow State</th>
-      <th>Title</th>
-      <th>Barcode</th>
-      <th>Genre</th>
-      <th>Actions</th>
+      <th data-data="workflow_state">Workflow State</th>
+      <th data-data="title">Title</th>
+      <th data-data="barcode">Barcode</th>
+      <th data-data="genre">Genre</th>
+      <th data-data="actions">Actions</th>
     </tr>
     </thead>
     <tbody>
-    <% unless decorated_resource.folders.empty? %>
-      <% decorated_resource.folders.each do |folder| %>
-        <% folder_url = parent_solr_document_path("#{resource.id}", "#{folder.id}") %>
-        <tr>
-          <% if decorated_resource.is_a?(EphemeraBox) %>
-            <td class="folder_number"><%= link_to folder.folder_number, folder_url %></td>
-          <% end %>
-          <td><%= folder.rendered_state %></td>
-          <td><%= folder.header %></td>
-          <td class="barcode"><%= folder.barcode %></td>
-          <td class="genre"><%= folder.genre %></td>
-          <td>
-            <%= link_to 'View', folder_url, class: 'btn btn-default' %>
-            <%= link_to 'Edit', main_app.polymorphic_path([:edit, folder]), class: 'btn btn-default' %>
-          </td>
-        </tr>
-      <% end %>
-    <% else %>
+    <% if decorated_resource.folders.empty? %>
       <td>This work has no folders attached.  Click "Attach Folder" to attach folders.</td>
     <% end %>
     </tbody>
diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index 5a3116be80..062779e61a 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@
     resources :ephemera_projects do
       resources :templates, only: [:new, :create, :destroy]
       resources :ephemera_fields
+      member do
+        get :folders, defaults: { format: :json }
+      end
       member do
         get :manifest, defaults: { format: :json }
       end
@@ -106,6 +109,9 @@
       member do
         get :attach_drive
       end
+      member do
+        get :folders, defaults: { format: :json }
+      end
     end
 
     resources :ephemera_folders do
diff --git a/spec/controllers/ephemera_boxes_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/ephemera_boxes_controller_spec.rb
index b0ba0deb6d..35b7eab4e0 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/ephemera_boxes_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/ephemera_boxes_controller_spec.rb
@@ -27,6 +27,38 @@
     end
   end
 
+  describe "folders" do
+    context "when not logged in" do
+      let(:user) { nil }
+      it "redirects CanCan::AccessDenied error to login" do
+        box = FactoryBot.create_for_repository(:private_ephemera_box)
+        get :folders, params: { id: box.id }
+        expect(response).to redirect_to('/users/auth/cas')
+      end
+    end
+    context "when they have permission" do
+      let(:user) { FactoryBot.create(:admin) }
+      render_views
+      it "renders a JSON list of a project's folders" do
+        folder = FactoryBot.create_for_repository(:ephemera_folder)
+        box = FactoryBot.create_for_repository(:ephemera_box, member_ids: folder.id)
+
+        get :folders, params: { id: box.id.to_s, formats: :json }
+
+        json = JSON.parse(response.body)
+        expect(json["data"].length).to eq 1
+        expect(json["data"][0]["folder_number"]).to eq folder.folder_number.first
+        expect(json["data"][0]["workflow_state"]).to eq "<span class=\"label label-info\">Needs QA</span>"
+        expect(json["data"][0]["title"]).to eq folder.title
+        expect(json["data"][0]["barcode"]).to eq folder.barcode.first
+        expect(json["data"][0]["genre"]).to eq folder.genre.first
+        expect(json["data"][0]["actions"]).to have_link "View", href: "/catalog/parent/#{box.id}/#{folder.id}"
+        expect(json["data"][0]["actions"]).to have_link "Edit", href: "/concern/ephemera_folders/#{folder.id}/edit"
+        expect(json["data"][0]["actions"]).not_to have_link "Delete"
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   describe "create" do
     let(:user) { FactoryBot.create(:admin) }
     let(:valid_params) do
diff --git a/spec/controllers/ephemera_projects_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/ephemera_projects_controller_spec.rb
index 19075c02ac..6686ec2b0b 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/ephemera_projects_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/ephemera_projects_controller_spec.rb
@@ -98,6 +98,28 @@
     end
   end
 
+  describe "folders" do
+    context "when they have permission" do
+      let(:user) { FactoryBot.create(:admin) }
+      render_views
+      it "renders a JSON list of a project's folders" do
+        folder = FactoryBot.create_for_repository(:ephemera_folder)
+        project = FactoryBot.create_for_repository(:ephemera_project, member_ids: folder.id)
+
+        get :folders, params: { id: project.id.to_s, formats: :json }
+
+        json = JSON.parse(response.body)
+        expect(json["data"].length).to eq 1
+        expect(json["data"][0]["folder_number"]).to eq folder.folder_number.first
+        expect(json["data"][0]["workflow_state"]).to eq "<span class=\"label label-info\">Needs QA</span>"
+        expect(json["data"][0]["title"]).to eq folder.title
+        expect(json["data"][0]["barcode"]).to eq folder.barcode.first
+        expect(json["data"][0]["genre"]).to eq folder.genre.first
+        expect(json["data"][0]["actions"]).not_to be_blank
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   describe "destroy" do
     let(:user) { FactoryBot.create(:admin) }
     context "access control" do
diff --git a/spec/views/catalog/_members_ephemera_box.html.erb_spec.rb b/spec/views/catalog/_members_ephemera_box.html.erb_spec.rb
index 3e4913ace8..42ce070b85 100644
--- a/spec/views/catalog/_members_ephemera_box.html.erb_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/views/catalog/_members_ephemera_box.html.erb_spec.rb
@@ -15,16 +15,7 @@
     it 'shows them' do
       expect(rendered).to have_selector 'h2', text: 'Folders'
       expect(rendered).to have_selector 'th', text: 'Folder Number'
-      expect(rendered).to have_selector 'td.folder_number', text: "one"
-      expect(rendered).to have_link "one", href: "/catalog/parent/#{parent.id}/#{child.id}"
-      expect(rendered).not_to have_selector 'td.folder_number', text: "[\"one\"]"
-      expect(rendered).to have_selector 'td.barcode', text: child.barcode.first
-      expect(rendered).not_to have_selector 'td.barcode', text: "[\"#{child.barcode.first}\"]"
-      expect(rendered).to have_selector 'td.genre', text: child.genre.first
-      expect(rendered).not_to have_selector 'td.genre', text: "[\"#{child.genre.first}\"]"
-      expect(rendered).to have_link "View", href: "/catalog/parent/#{parent.id}/#{child.id}"
-      expect(rendered).to have_link "Edit", href: "/concern/ephemera_folders/#{child.id}/edit"
-      expect(rendered).not_to have_link "Delete", href: "/concern/ephemera_folders/#{child.id}"
+      expect(rendered).to have_selector "table.datatable[data-ajax='/concern/ephemera_boxes/#{parent.id}/folders']"
     end
   end
   context "when it's a project with folders" do
@@ -40,10 +31,7 @@
     it 'shows them' do
       expect(rendered).to have_selector 'h2', text: 'Folders'
       expect(rendered).not_to have_selector 'th', text: 'Folder Number'
-      expect(rendered).to have_selector 'td', text: 'test folder'
-      expect(rendered).to have_link "View", href: "/catalog/parent/#{parent.id}/#{child.id}"
-      expect(rendered).to have_link "Edit", href: "/concern/ephemera_folders/#{child.id}/edit"
-      expect(rendered).not_to have_link "Delete", href: "/concern/ephemera_folders/#{child.id}"
+      expect(rendered).to have_selector "table.datatable[data-ajax='/concern/ephemera_projects/#{parent.id}/folders']"
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/views/catalog/_members_ephemera_project.html.erb_spec.rb b/spec/views/catalog/_members_ephemera_project.html.erb_spec.rb
index 484d524568..9f3485b033 100644
--- a/spec/views/catalog/_members_ephemera_project.html.erb_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/views/catalog/_members_ephemera_project.html.erb_spec.rb
@@ -23,11 +23,6 @@
       expect(rendered).to have_link 'Edit', href: edit_ephemera_box_path(child.id)
 
       expect(rendered).to have_selector 'h2', text: 'Folders'
-      expect(rendered).to have_selector 'span.label-info', text: 'Needs QA'
-      expect(rendered).to have_selector 'td', text: 'test folder'
-      expect(rendered).to have_selector 'td', text: '12345678901234'
-      expect(rendered).to have_link 'View', href: parent_solr_document_path(parent.id, child_folder.id)
-      expect(rendered).to have_link 'Edit', href: edit_ephemera_folder_path(child_folder.id)
     end
   end
   context "when it's a project with templates" do