It could have been the result of damage from hurricane Florence or tropical storm Michael. Maybe it was just (extreme) old age.
During the week of October 21, UNC Grounds Crew felled one of the most consistently photographed trees on UNC’s campus.
Don’t worry… the Davie Poplar is fine…
Another tree, not as prominent or easily identified as a landmark on campus as the Davie Poplar, a majestic Post Oak that was a fixture in images of Old West Hall (when photographed from the north side looking to towards South Building), was cut down.
The tree was there when Old West was constructed in 1823 and appears in the first images in the University’s possession of the building, dating from the 1880s-1890s.
In 2005 the (UNC) Chancellors Buildings and Ground Committee approved a report from the Task Force on Landscape Heritage & Plant Diversity.
In that report the committee identified and described it as:
“(Heritage Tree #) 74. Quercus stellata (Post Oak) — an impressive specimen.”
Close up of page from 2005 UNC report on heritage trees and plant diversity.
A rendering of a tree appears to be in the same location on the north side of Old West in this early engraving by W. Roberts from a drawing by William Momberger of the University campus as it appeared circa 1855 (Old West is right side of illustration).
P0004/0162: Campus view: Engraving by W. Roberts (facsimile), 1855
Circa 1880s-1890s:
P0004/0393: Old West Hall and New West Hall, circa 1880s-1890s; North Carolina Collection Photographic Archive
It was difficult to get a “long-view” of the west face of the building AND include the Old Well…. without capturing “Tree 74” in the image.
Circa 1880s-1890s
P0004/0393: Old West and Gerrard Hall, circa 1880s-1890s; North Carolina Collection Photographic Archive
Circa 1940s
P0004/0393: Old West, circa 1940s; North Carolina Collection Photographic Archive
On October 23, 2018 this is what remained of “(Heritage Tree #) 74. Quercus stellata (Post Oak) — an impressive specimen.”
(Images by Patrick Cullom)
North side of Old West looking east. Stump of Tree 74 is at the far left side of image.View of stump of Tree 74 (North of Old West).View of stump of Tree 74 with timeline of approximate age/size of tree indicated. (Timeline is from unverified source)View of stump of Tree 74 (North side of Old West).
As renovations on the brick walkways in the “The Pit” and surrounding areas (Lenoir Hall, Davis Library, Graham Student Union, and Student Stores) continue through the summer, ground is regularly being uncovered that has literally “not seen the light of day” for numerous decades. During my 10 years as the Photographic Materials Processing Archivist for Wilson Library Special Collections, I have had the privilege of being able to work with thousands of images (drawings, sketches, photographs, etc…) depicting the University campus as it has grown and changed over the years. Often, as I walk around campus, I find myself thinking of how areas looked before other building were added to the landscape of campus. I do this so that when I see historical images, I can sort of “deconstruct” to what campus looked like at the time an image was made, and more quickly orient myself to what I am looking at.
On the morning of June 20, on my way in to the office, I walked from the bus stop on South Road at the Student Stores up the brick stairs between the Student Store and the Frank Porter Graham Student Union Buildings….
View of the brick stairs today at Frank Porter Graham Student Union. Image by Patrick Cullom
As I reached the top of the steps, I noticed some stone work that had recently been uncovered directly in front of the Graham Student Union Building…
View of construction outside of Frank Porter Graham Student Union Building Image by Patrick Cullom 2018View of construction outside of Frank Porter Graham Student Union Building Image by Patrick Cullom 2018
This stonework looked familiar to me…where had I seen it before? Then it hit me; this must be what is left of the staircase that existed before the 1999-2004 renovations to the Frank Porter Graham Student Union Building. I honestly could not recall (from my own memories of campus) what this area looked like before the renovations and additions began in 1999.
(Good thing we just happen to have SOME images of the campus from days past in the Wilson Special Collections Library)
View of the “original” brick stairs (on left) at Frank Porter Graham Student Union, soon after construction, circa 1970 (Image taken from the bell tower looking north across South Road) Image from: UNC at Chapel Hill Image Collection Collection #P0004, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives Folder 0306: Graham Student Union (Frank Porter Graham), 1970-1979
View of the “original” brick stairs (on left) at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union, circa 1990s (Parking lot expanded and Davis Library visible in background) Image from UNC Facilities Services Engineering Information Services Website https://planroom.unc.edu/FacilityInfo.aspx?facilityID=065
View of demolition of “original” brick stairs at Frank Porter Graham Student Union Building, circa 1999-2000 Image from News Services of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records #40139, University Archives Digital Folder DF-40139/0169
When I walked by the next day, the stonework was gone and the whole section had been dug out. It was a brief look into the past, now covered up again, as the campus continues to grow to fit the needs of its students. Now we are back to the image that started this post.
View of the brick stairs as they appear today at Frank Porter Graham Student Union. Image by Patrick Cullom 2018
Last week the nation reflected on the work and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., as we marked the 50th anniversary of his assassination on 4 April 1968 in Memphis, Tenn. Included in these remembrances were the events and marches held across the country as the nation grieved together in gatherings both large and small. On 5 April 1968, residents of Durham, N.C., marched peacefully through the city’s downtown district. The march was sponsored by several organizations to honor the memory of Dr. King. By the following evening on 6 April 1968, arson fires were burning. Governor Dan K. Moore activated the National Guard, and a curfew was imposed.
The North Carolina Collection contains the work of Billy E. Barnes who photographed the peaceful march. Several of the images have been digitized and can be viewed online through the collection’s finding aid:
AIDS Memorial Quilt panel display in the UNC Student Union
Thanks to the efforts of Carolina undergraduate Elizabeth Trefney, UNC is privileged to be hosting an exhibit featuring a panel from the historic AIDS Memorial Quilt. The panel will be on display in the Carolina Student Union Building through January 31. The exhibit serves as a powerful reminder of the devastating global impact of HIV/AIDS, a point also emphasized by a collection of photographs in the North Carolina Collection’s Photographic Archives.
Trefney’s interest in coordinating the Student Union exhibit is both universal and personal: She wanted to remind the UNC community of those whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS, and in particular to honor her late uncle, Jeremy Trefney (1957-1988), who passed away due to complications from HIV and is memorialized on a panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The quilt panel’s presence also celebrates the role of UNC’s School of Medicine and other medical research facilities in making groundbreaking advances in HIV/AIDS treatment.
The Jerome Friar Collection
Coincidentally, the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives in the Wilson Special Collections Library holds a collection of photographs that contains images of the quilt on the National Mall in Washington, DC on the Mall, starting with its origins in 1987 and depicting its subsequent periodic display through the late 1990s.
Demonstrations: AIDS: “AIDS quilt on mall,” 11 October 1987 (The first time the AIDS Memorial Quilt was displayed on the National Mall.) Photograph by Jerome Friar Image from P0090/0586 – Black-and-White Kodak TMY 5053 35mm Roll Film
The photos were made by Jerome Friar, a North Carolina native and photographer who worked in DC in the 1980s and 90s. Friar worked for a stock photography group called Impact Visuals, which provided timely and relevant images to social justice organizations for use in their publications. (Our younger readers may be surprised to learn that such a service was necessary in pre-Internet days.)
Demonstrations: AIDS: “AIDS quilt on mall,” 11 October 1989. Photograph by Jerome Friar. Image from P0090/0589: Color 35mm Mounted Slide
The Jerome Friar Collection contains approximately 240 (on 13 different rolls of film) images of the quilt on the National Mall. The images taken on October 11, 1987, 1989, 1992, and circa 1995-1997 show how the quilt’s display evolved as the numbers of HIV/AIDS victims grew, as the disease became more widely diagnosed/recognized, and as some of the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS began to recede.
Demonstrations: AIDS: “AIDS quilt on mall,” 11 October 1992. Photo by Jerome Friar. Image from P0090/0605 – Black-and-White Kodak 5063 TX 35mm Roll FilmDemonstrations: AIDS: “AIDS quilt on mall,” 11 October 1992. Photo by Jerome Friar. Image from P0090/0607 – Black-and-White Kodak 5063 TX 35mm Roll Film
Friar was most likely assigned to cover the quilt when it was first displayed on the National Mall in 1987 because it was one of the first large public events organized by AIDS activists. In addition to the images of the quilt, Friar’s photographs also depict numerous HIV/AIDS-related demonstrations organized by groups such as ACT-UP, intended to raise awareness of the disease among politicians in Washington in the 1980s and 90s.
Friar’s photographs of HIV/AIDS-related activism span the 1980s and 90s. Photograph by Jerome Friar. Image from P0090/0587 – Black-and-White Kodak 5053 TMY 35mm Roll FilmFriar’s photographs are available for research in the Wilson Special Collections Library.
A rare opportunity
If you’re on or near the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, don’t miss the chance to see the quilt panel while it’s in the Student Union, through January 31.
Greetings from the Technical Services Department in the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives (NCCPA)! We are very pleased to announce the launch of a new feature now available with finding aids for selected collections in the NCCPA. This feature has been specifically designed to provide researchers access to NCCPA materials that have been digitized in recent months and years. The ordering processes remain the same and researchers interested in requesting reproductions for use should contact the North Carolina Collection Reference staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
Upon arrival at any one of the finding aids for collections with this feature, a box will appear at the top of the page indicating that the collection has digital materials available. The link in the box opens the Digital NCCPA ContentDM site in another window. This site is not a “typical” digital collection with an introduction and detailed information about the creator and collection; rather it is designed to display digital material available at that time associated with the collection. Researchers should consult finding aids for more detailed information about these collections.
The following collections have digital content available:
The descriptions provided with the digital images come straight from the finding aid and in some cases may be minimal; this is done intentionally, with the concentration being on providing users with access to images. Researchers are reminded that these digital images represent only the “smallest drop in a large ocean” of photographs in the NCCPA and are encouraged to use the finding aids to access collections to find multitudes of images that have not been digitized. Additional materials will be made available as they are requested and copyright allows.
The North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives is pleased to announce that a new finding aid is now available for the United States Navy Pre-Flight School (University of North Carolina) Photographic Collection (#P0027). This collection of nearly 6,000 images documents the day-to-day operations of the pre-flight school that operated on the campus of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. during the Second World War (1942-1945). The school was established to train naval pilots on the campus of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. The University hosted the second stage of a one-year training program for the servicemen. The collection includes a wide array of images that detail activities at the school, including instruction and training as well as social and recreational activities. There are numerous images of women (WAVES–Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) and the US Navy’s B-1 Band, an African American military band assigned to campus to play at military and community events. In addition to capturing servicemen and servicewomen in their daily “official” roles at the pre-flight school, these images also document the recreational activities of attendees. They include attendees playing baseball, basketball, football, and swimming.
Howard Lee speaks with voters during his campaign for Mayor of Chapel Hill on April 29, 1969; ; p034-04-29-69, from the Billy E. Barnes Collection #P034, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.
It has been a while since I have posted on the NC Miscellany Blog, so let me begin by introducing myself again; my name is Patrick Cullom and I am a visual materials archivist who processes photographic materials in the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives. I am very pleased to be able to announce that after several months of work, I have finished processing the Billy Barnes Photographic Collection. The Barnes materials include approximately 63,000 images taken across the state (with a concentration around the Durham/Orange County areas) that span almost 4 decades (1959-1996). These images offer a unique view into the economic and social changes experienced across the state during this period and the effects those changes had on the people of North Carolina.
Mr. Barnes began his career as a photographer in Atlanta, Georgia working for McGraw-Hill publishing company. In 1964 Mr. Barnes was hired as the official photographer for the North Carolina Fund (a NC government funded poverty prevention/alleviation program begun by Governor Terry Sanford ca. 1963-1969) and as a result, a large portion of the collection documents the internal operations of the Fund and the people/communities directly effected by its work. The materials also include images taken by Mr. Barnes as a free-lance photographer for numerous groups, organizations, and companies across the state (some formed during the years the NC Fund was active). His materials have been used in books published by more than 100 publishers and have appeared in over 100 magazine titles. As of 2009, he lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., and continues to work as a free-lance photographer.
In the last few weeks, Alamance County has lost two of its “native sons”:
James “Jim” E. Long (center) takes oath of office for North Carolina House of Representatives (representing Alamance County) at a local ceremony in January of 1971. Pictured with him are State Representative W.S. Harris Jr. (l) and State Senator Ralph Scott (r).
This past Monday (February 2) former N.C. State Representative and longtime Insurance Commissioner, James “Jim” Long passed away. Only two weeks before on January 23, former governor Robert “Bob” Scott also passed away. Both men were born in Alamance County (Long in Burlington and Scott in Haw River) and came from families with rich traditions of public service to the people of North Carolina. Images of both Long and Scott can be found in the newly processed Edward J. McCauley Photographic Collection. This photographic collection contains images taken by Edward J. McCauley, who was a photographer for the Burlington Time-News between the years 1949 and 1974. The Times-News had a special interest in local folks who were elected to state-wide offices. Selections from the McCauley collection have been digitized, and there are several pictures of former governor Bob Scott (and of his father William Kerr Scott) included in this online presentation from different periods throughout his career. More images of both men will be added to the digital portion of the collection in the coming weeks.
U.S. Senator Sam Ervin (r) and his wife Margaret Bell walk with family members in procession at W. Kerr Scott funeral April 19, 1958
In the February 1 edition of the Raleigh News and Observer, political columnist Rob Christensen wrote a piece that evoked the memory of a funeral for another former governor (and U.S. Senator) from Alamance County in 1958: the funeral of Robert Scott’s father, William Kerr Scott.As one would imagine, McCauley was covering the event for the Times-News and took numerous pictures of the funeral and the reception at the Kerr Scott homestead in Haw River.A selection of images from the Kerr Scott funeral will also be added to the collection in the coming weeks.
Senator John F. Kennedy is greeted by a group of men, including U.S. Representative (6th District-N.C.) Horace Kornegay (far left), as he steps off airplane in Greensboro, North Carolina, during the 1960 presidential campaign.
This past Wednesday (January 21) former U.S. Congressman Horace Kornegay (North Carolina Sixth Congressional District, 1961-1969) passed away at the age of 84. The image above shows Congressman Kornegay as he prepares to welcome presidential candidate U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy to Greensboro, North Carolina, for a campaign rally on September 17, 1960 (Kornegay is to the left of Senator Kennedy). Kornegay, who was born in Asheville, spent the majority of his life in Greensboro. After retiring from the U.S. Congress in 1969, he went on to a career with the Tobacco Institute. He worked at the Institute from 1972 to 1986, all the while promoting the tobacco industry in North Carolina.
Mr. Kornegay was a prominent Democratic representative of North Carolina in the 1960’s, and was a fixture at Democratic Party events at both the local and national level during this period. He appears in multiple images in the newly processed Edward J. McCauley Photographic Materials, and is included in some of the images that can be seen online in the Edward J. McCauley Photographs digital collection.
We are pleased to announce that a new digital collection has been created which contains images from a recently processed collection in the Photographic Archives: the Edward J. McCauley Photographic Materials. This collection contains photographs taken by Edward J. McCauley (1926-2003) as a photographer for the Burlington Times-News in Burlington, North Carolina between the years 1950 and 1972.
The digital collection represents only a small percentage (around 600 images) of the nearly 90,000 images found in the Edward J. McCauley Photographic Materials (P082: North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives). A majority of the images found on the site come from sub-series 1.6 (McCauley called this group “Special Negatives”) and center around political campaigns/elections and other events in and around Alamance County. There are also numerous images from North Carolina Gubernatorial Inauguration Ceremonies (1953-1973) held in Raleigh.
New images will be added to this digital collection in the near future. Topics could include tobacco production (Alamance County), illicit liquor production (Alamance County), Miss North Carolina Beauty Pageants (held in Burlington), Boy Scouts of America (Alamance County), and Girl Scouts of America (Alamance County).
