The UNC Class of 2013 has placed a time capsule filled with special mementos from their time here in Chapel Hill in the University Archives.
The time capsule is only a standard size banker’s box but it has been taped shut, placed in the Special Collections vault, and will not be opened until the class of 2013’s 25th Reunion in 2038.
Here are photographs of the senior class officers with the time capsule and placing it on the shelf in the vault. From left to right: Brennan Fox, chief marshall; Nora Chan, senior class vice president; and Tim Palmer, senior class president.
Congratulations to the Class of 2013! See you in 2038.
Below is a list of new finding aids to collections held in the University Archives. These finding aids include a brief description of the contents of the collection, historical information about the department from which the records originated, and a container listing of the collection’s contents. For questions about these collections, please contact Wilson Special Collections Library at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
University Archives and Records Management Services is pleased to announce that Meg Tuomala has re-joined our staff, this time as the Electronic Records Archivist. Her first day was December 3, 2012.
In this position, Meg will be responsible for ensuring the proper management and preservation of electronic archival records created by UNC-Chapel Hill and the UNC General Administration as well as lead efforts to assist other special collections units in Wilson Library in managing and preserving born-digital materials. Her contact information is mtuomala@email.unc.edu; 919-962-6402.
Meg received an undergraduate degree in Comparative Literature and Romance Languages from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005 and a Masters in Library Science from UNC’s School of Library and Information Science in August 2010 with a specialization in Archives and Records Management. She is no stranger to Wilson Library or UARMS having worked as a graduate assistant in Special Collections Technical Services processing university archives collections and serving as the Records Services Archivist from September 2010-July 2011. Most recently, she served as the the Digital Archivist at the Special Collections at Washington University in St. Louis.
Below is a list of new and revised finding aids to collections held in the University Archives. These finding aids include a brief description of the contents of the collection, historical information about the department from which the records originated, and a container listing of the collection’s contents. For questions about these collections, please contact Wilson Special Collections Library at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
The UNC University Archives is pleased to announce the donation of a precious artifact from the Xi Chapter of St. Anthony Hall (Delta Psi) and the St. Anthony Association of North Carolina, their associated alumni organization. This artifact is an autograph book that includes the signatures of members of Delta Psi and other UNC fraternities from the 1860s, many of whom served in the Confederate Army and several of whom were killed during the war.
The Xi Chapter of Delta Psi was founded on November 20, 1854, making it the second oldest fraternity still in existence at UNC. The chapter was dormant for some years during the University’s post-Civil War ban on all fraternities and secret organizations. In 1926 Grahame Wood (U. Penn 1895) organized efforts to revive the Xi chapter at UNC. Xi has thrived since that time.
William C. Prout, brother in St. Anthony Hall, graduate of UNC’s class of 1865 and the original owner of the autograph album, presented the signature book to the re-founded Xi chapter in 1927. It has since been kept in the Xi Chapter’s extensive archives and was professionally restored in recent years under a grant from the St. Anthony Educational Foundation. St. Anthony Hall and the St. Anthony Association of North Carolina moved to gift this item to the University Libraries due to its uniquely personal and historically valuable nature as well as its appeal to the University community as a whole.
Letter from William C. Prout donating the autograph album to the re-founded chapter in 1927Members of St. Anthony Hall at UNC in 1927 (from the Yackety-Yack)
The autograph album includes the signatures of students who attended UNC from 1862-1865, as well as other biographical data: the names of their girlfriends, their major area of study, their profession, the titles of courses taken, and their hometowns. Brothers Prout and Wood later added death dates and annotated some of the entries to identify those who had been killed in the Civil War or had died.
Page spread from the autograph album
In addition to signatures of St. Anthony Hall members, the book was passed around to other fraternities at UNC for their signatures. Among the names from these other fraternities are Wesley Lewis Battle, who was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg and was the brother of UNC President Kemp Plummer Battle; Julian Shakespeare Carr, tobacco manufacturer and namesake of Carrboro; Fredrick A. Fetter, a tutor at UNC and son of the longtime UNC professor, Manuel Fetter; and M. A. Curtis, Jr., son of the Episcopal priest and noted mycologist whose family’s notes, diaries, correspondence and other papers are housed in the Southern Historical Collection.
Autograph of Wesley Lewis BattleAutograph of Julian S. Carr
This autograph album is a significant acquisition for the University Archives and does much to help its efforts to document student life at UNC. St. Anthony Hall intends to donate additional historical materials that document its history and the various activities in which its members have participated since the chapter was reorganized in 1927 after having closed in the aftermath of the Civil War.
St. Anthony Hall is a literary, artistic and social fraternity comprising a diverse group of writers, artists and performers. Brothers and sisters of St. Anthony Hall are highly active in student life, working at times as editors and staff of the Daily Tar Heel, Phoenix magazine, Cellar Door, LAMBDA magazine, Shakespeare’s Sister, The Sixty-Niner and Yackety Yack; as elected and appointed members of all branches of Student Government; as competitors in intramural and Carolina Athletics sports programs; as performers in a variety of choral and musical groups; and in productions by PlayMakers and The LAB! Theatre.
Sisters and brothers of St. Anthony Hall have also been a part of many literary and artistic organizations in the larger community, including Paperhand Puppet Intervention, The ArtsCenter in Carrboro, The Performance Collective, Internationalist Books, The Somnambulist Project, The People’s Channel and many others. St. Anthony Hall hosts a Xi Chapter alumni reunion weekend called Swingout every spring.
Rush and pledge periods are held every semester on a schedule independent from most other fraternity rush periods. Fall ‘12 rush is going on at this time. For information on rush activities contact rushsta@gmail.com.
Notable members of the Xi chapter include journalist Charles Kuralt ‘55, soccer coach Anson Dorrance ‘74, book critic Jonathan Yardley ‘61, sportswriter Peter Gammons ‘67, editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly ’69, and basketball player Charlie Scott ’68, the first African-American to join a fraternity and receive an athletic scholarship at UNC.
Known for its support of progressive causes, St. Anthony Hall was one of only two fraternities to sign a pledge in 1963 not to patronize businesses and restaurants in Chapel Hill unless they desegregated. Its members were active in the fight to end the Speaker Ban and in the spring of 1971, the chapter became the first UNC fraternity to go co-ed.
St. Anthony Hall in the 1969 Yackety Yack
St. Anthony Hall has eleven chapters around the country, the first of which was founded at Columbia in 1847. In addition to UNC and Columbia, the other schools with chapters are University of Pennsylvania, Trinity College, University of Rochester, Princeton University, Brown University, University of Mississippi, Yale University, University of Virginia, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
As the college soccer season gears up, University Archives staff have unearthed some records from a golden era of women’s soccer at UNC.
Mia Hamm playing for UNC in 1992. Photo credit: Sports Illustrated Magazine, December 1992
Mia Hamm was at the height of her powers while playing for coach Anson Dorrance on the UNC women’s soccer team from 1989-1994. Hamm led the Tarheels to four NCAA championships, and finished her collegiate career as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s all-time leading scorer in goals, assists, and points.
Although we may remember Brandi Chastain’s jersey-stripping antics at the 1999 Women’s World Cup, it was Mia Hamm’s earlier goal that propelled the team toward victory. Through that and subsequent tournament wins (including Olympic gold medals in 2000 and 2004), Hamm helped change the way the world viewed women’s soccer. Hamm continues to be remembered as one of the University of North Carolina’s greatest athletic alumni.
The following memoranda were written by Associate Director of Athletics Beth Miller and Director of Athletics John Swofford, regarding some of Hamm’s achievements at UNC. These documents form part of the Records of the Department of Athletics (#40093) in the University Archives in Wilson Library.
Memo from Beth Miller to Mia Hamm, January 21, 1993. Records of the Department of Athletics, #40093, University ArchivesMemo from John Swofford to Coach Anson Dorrance, March 28, 1994. Records of the Department of Athletics, #40093, University Archives
In 1987, Pat Summitt coached the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team to the first of what would be eight national championships for the school. Frances Hogan, the associate athletic director for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, wrote a note of congratulations to Coach Summitt. Summitt responded thanking Hogan for her demonstration of support and also taking the opportunity to congratulate UNC for its decision to hire Sylvia Rhyne Hatchell as the head coach of the women’s basketball team. Coach Hatchell had just completed her first season at UNC, and Summitt predicted Hatchell would be successful.
Letter from Pat Summitt to Frances Hogan, May 5, 1987, Records of the Department of Athletics, #40093, University Archives
And she was correct, as Hatchell has become one of the winningest coaches in women’s basketball history, being one of only four head coaches in Division I history to win 800 games, and earning coach of the year honors in 1994 and 2006. Since coming to UNC in 1986, Hatchell has led the women’s basketball team to a national championship in 1994, eight ACC titles, and six 30-win seasons.
The professional interactions of these two began in the 1974-1975 season, when Summitt was in her first season as the coach at Tennessee and Hatchell served as the junior varsity coach.
Below is a list of new finding aids and revisions to existing finding aids for collections held in the University Archives. These finding aids include a brief description of the contents of the collection, historical information about the department from which the records originated, and a container listing of the collection’s contents. For questions about these collections, please contact Wilson Special Collections Library at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend the past year working in the University Archives, an environment that many students do not get to access during their undergraduate experience. There is such an incredible wealth of records and artifacts from the University’s history that are available for student use that unfortunately go unnoticed. As someone that is fascinated by history, it has been a fun and inspirational adventure. Not only have I learned more over the past year about UNC than I have in my entire undergraduate career, I have also gained a newfound sense of pride and respect for the many generations of Tar Heels that came before us, and the footprints that they left to create the University as we see it today. I now find myself walking across campus chuckling when I recall a funny student story about a statue or building that I am walking past. Too often we take for granted the wonders of UNC. It has been and will continue to be a goal of mine to spread the special history of our University to past, present, and future Tar Heels. The Order of the Bell Tower’s partnership with the University Archives has provided an essential outlet to accomplish this goal and help energize the student body about key events in the University’s history. Working as a liaison between the two organizations, I have had the opportunity to assist Jay Gaidmore, the University Archivist, on a variety of exciting projects over the course of the year.
Particularly important for the Order of the Bell Tower (OBT) was the University Day celebration in October. In order to educate students about the history of University Day, I identified a series of photographs depicting the celebration of UNC’s birthday over the past few decades. I particularly enjoyed perusing through collections to find photographs of University Day celebrations – from giant birthday cakes to students dressed in 18th century clothing and wigs – and then writing captions to help explain to students the many traditions that have been honored on University Day.
Another exciting event held in the fall was the dedication of a plaque in remembrance of the Speaker Ban Movement in the 1960’s. In honor of the historical event, I worked alongside Jay to create a mini exhibit in Graham Memorial, where a reception was held following the ceremony. I had the exciting job of searching through the vaults of Wilson library to find copies of the Daily Tar Heel from the 1960’s. Our goal was to find front-page headlines related to the Speaker Ban Law and the reaction on campus. It was an incredible opportunity to flip back into the past and relive special moments at UNC.
Speaker Ban Exhibit in Graham Memorial, October 12, 2011
Also last fall, as part of the festivities for the Black Alumni Reunion, the library was asked to pull materials related to the history of the Black Student Movement (BSM). After researching this student organization’s growth on campus, I found several materials including yearbooks, handwritten rosters, student orientation manuals, and social event programs that once belonged to the BSM. Jay and I then worked together to choose items that best represented the organization and created an exhibit for members to enjoy as a part of their reunion weekend.
In the future, I would like to see a continued partnership between the OBT and University Archives so that other students have the same opportunity that I have had. More importantly, however, so that the greater student body gains an appreciation of the wealth of resources available at Wilson Library and to help make history come alive as part of their Carolina experience.
Many thanks to the University Archives staff and the General Alumni Association for making my experiences this year possible!
University of North Carolina Association of Student Governments Records, Recently Processed!
There has been a lot of talk of late about the system-wide tuition increases at the University of North Carolina. The plan to increase tuition by 15.6 percent over four years at UNC-Chapel Hill and by an average of 8.8 percent at other UNC schools is seen by some as crucial to maintaining the academic standing of the university, and that plan passed in November. The University of North Carolina Association of Student Governments (UNCASG), a system-wide advocacy organization, has been on the front lines of this debate.
