20 Facts for 20 Years!

On this day in 1994, the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Carolina’s students, staff, and faculty pass the Cemetery on a regular basis.  It is as much a part of the campus as the Arboretum or the Bell Tower.  In honor of the 20th anniversary of its addition to the National Register of Historic Places, we’ve made a list of 20 facts about the Cemetery.  How many did you already know?

The Old Chapel Hill Cemetery on UNC Chapel Hill's campus.
The Old Chapel Hill Cemetery on UNC Chapel Hill’s campus.
  1. The original 125 acres was sold to the College in October of 1776 for 5 shillings. That would be $40.65 today!
  2. The first recorded burial was George Clarke.  George was a student from Burke County, NC.  He died September 28, 1798.  He was also a member of the Philanthropic Society.  Although he was the first buried, his stone was not placed until the mid-nineteenth century.
  3. The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies were the first to buy plots in the Cemetery.  When students passed away and their homes were too far away for quick transport, the respective society would bury the student in their plot. In fact, the Di and Phi Societies were as competitive in burying their members as they were in everything else before they became a united organization. The societies were constantly trying to one-up each other with the erection of monuments in their cemetery plots.  The Phi Society once commissioned an eight-foot high Italian Marble monument for a deceased member.
  4. In 1835, it was officially named the College Graveyard.  This did not stop Chapel Hill residents from calling it the “Village Cemetery” though.  It was renamed upon the completion of a low wall encompassing the entirety of the property.
  5. All cemetery plots have already been purchased.  The Cemetery isn’t entirely full yet, but plots are off the market!

    UNC Chapel Hill recognizes the segregated section of the historic cemetery.
    UNC Chapel Hill recognizes the segregated section of the historic cemetery.
  6. Two sections of the Cemetery were reserved for African Americans and segregated from the other four by a low rock wall. The section was established because there were no black church cemeteries in Chapel Hill. Many of those buried in sections A and B were university laborers and servants who were often slaves or former slaves. The earliest (marked) grave in this part of the cemetery belongs to Ellington Burnett (1831-1853).
  7. Confederate soldiers were buried in the Cemetery during the Civil War. Their stones are marked with “C.S.A.”
  8. Like most cemeteries, Chapel Hill’s has had a problem with vandalism. It’s unclear whether or not vandalism has been intentional or accidental.  For example, in 1974, 40 to 50 monuments were broken and pushed off their bases.  However, in 1985, stones were damaged by football fans eager to get to their seats. 
  9. In 1922, the town of Chapel Hill took over responsibility for maintaining the Cemetery.  However, in 1988, ownership was transferred to the University.
  10. The oldest monument in the Cemetery belongs to the grave of Margaritta Chapman, who died in 1814 at the age of 16.  Although George Clarke was the first buried, his monument was not erected immediately upon his death.
  11. Charles Kuralt is buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery. Before he launched his successful journalism career, Kuralt spent so much time working on the The Daily Tar Heel in his senior year that he ended up failing all of his other classes!  Since many of the plots had already been purchased, Charles Kuralt would not have been buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery had the Pickard Family not relinquished a plot.
  12. The Cemetery holds the graves of more than 800 African Americans. Many of the graves are unmarked. The segregated section of the Cemetery has since been recognized with a sign post remembering those buried there. While many of the graves are still unmarked, the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill did conduct a survey of the segregated area in 2009.

    Wilson Caldwell.  From the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.
    Wilson Caldwell. From the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.
  13. Wilson Caldwell is buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery. Born a slave in 1841 to University President David Swain, Wilson was a much recognized member of the Carolina community during his lifetime.  When enslaved, Caldwell became the head janitor to the University.  After Emancipation, Caldwell stayed in the Chapel Hill area and established a school for African Americans in 1868.  He was also elected to the Board of Commissioners of Chapel Hill, bought 12 acres of land, and served as a justice of the peace.  In 1884, however, he returned to work for the University and maintained his position as the head of the campus workforce until his death in 1898.  Get more information on Wilson Caldwell here.
  14. Cars used to park on unmarked graves before football games until restrictions were implemented in 1991. We know parking is tight here, but thank goodness we’re showing a little more respect now!
  15. Several of the monuments in the Di-Phi plots were by the famous 19th Century stone carver George Lauder. Originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, Lauder lived in Raleigh and Fayetteville, NC.  He actually owned the largest gravestone factory in North Carolina in the 1800s!
  16. University trustees almost created a second cemetery in McCorkle Place! When the body of Dr. Joseph Caldwell was moved from the “College Graveyard” to its spot under the monument in McCorkle Place in 1846, the trustees briefly considered creating a new cemetery.  The idea never came to fruition though.
  17. Jane Tenney Gilbert (1896-1980) has the gravestone with the most school spirit. Ever.  Her epitaph reads: “I was a Tar Heel born and a Tar Heel bred/and here I lie a Tar Heel dead./BORN JAN. 1896 AND STILL HERE 1980.”
  18. There is a large sandstone obelisk in Section B, dedicated to the black servants of the University.  The obelisk is the original Joseph Caldwell monument from McCorkle Place, which was replaced in the late 19th century by a granite obelisk. It was rededicated in memory of Wilson Caldwell, his father November Caldwell and David Barham and Henry Smith, two other black university servants. Note that even though these men and women were “servants” to the University, some of them were enslaved by families in the area and loaned to the school.
  19. Five 19th century headstones were tipped over and smashed the day before Charles Kuralt was buried in the cemetery. We’re not sure if the vandalism was in anticipation of Charles Kuralt’s burial or if the timing was incidental.  We can’t imagine anyone having THAT much of a problem with Charles Kuralt!
  20. If you are so inclined, you can have your ashes scattered near the cemetery!  Memorial grove was created as the solution to the limited space of the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.  It is UNC’s garden for the scattering and interment of ashes.  The garden is reserved for use by individuals with a university affiliation, and for immediate family members of those individuals. Because of the nature of a scattering garden, the space can accommodate an unlimited number of individuals, allowing anyone who wishes to maintain an eternal connection to the university to do so.
Jane Tenney Gilbert's spirited epitaph.
Jane Tenney Gilbert’s spirited epitaph.

Now you know!

New Online Exhibit on Student Organizations at UNC

When was the first student body president elected? Who’s a Di and who’s a Phi? What’s a Gimghoul?

Loreleis Concert Poster, Courtesy of Margaret Moore Jackson
Loreleis Concert Poster, Courtesy of Margaret Moore Jackson

A new exhibit has been added to The Carolina Story: A Virtual Museum of University History that should answer those questions and more. It highlights some of the hundreds of organizations that have been a part of student life throughout the university’s history, including debating societies, student government, performance groups like the Loreleis and the Playmakers, activist groups, Greek organizations,  honor societies, secret societies, and others. Check out the new exhibit here.

Chapel Hill Revolutionary Movement, 1969 (Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Records, #40124, University Archives).
Chapel Hill Revolutionary Movement, 1969 (Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Records, #40124, University Archives).

Alumni–were you involved in student organizations while at UNC? Do you have photos, posters, papers, recordings, or other materials related to your organizations? If you are interested in donating these materials to the University Archives to help document the history of your organizations, please contact Jay Gaidmore (gaidmore@email.unc.edu).

Library Rules, 1799

Silhouette of the Campus of the University of North Carolina 1814
Silhouette of the Campus of the University of North Carolina 1814

Ever wonder what library rules were like in 1799, soon after the founding of the University of North Carolina library?  In this gem of an entry from the General Faculty and Faculty Council Records, the Board of Trustees write the rules for the library.  Notice that some things never change: reference books remain in the library for the most part, call slips go out with books, and fees are paid for “defaced” books.

The university acquired its first book in 1785: “The Works of the Right Reverend Father in God” by Father Thomas Wilson.  Though it was still eight years before the founding of the first state university, the book was placed in the New Bern Academy for safekeeping until the university opened its doors

The building they are writing about in the 1799 rules is still standing, though it is no longer a library.  The Philanthropic Society Library was housed in Old West, and was one of only a few university buildings.  There is evidence, though, that aside from the well-stocked “society” libraries, the University Library remained in a 9 feet by 12 feet room in the President’s House until 1814!

The library was only open 2-3 hours per day as late as 1885, which put a damper on students camping out during finals.  Librarians, of course, were not SILS educated, but instead members of the Philanthropic Society who volunteered their time as university librarian to watch over the collection, which numbered a few hundred books.

All students paid a fee of $1-2 per semester until the early 1800s, when the university allocated $250 per year to the library.  The library endowment is now well into the millions, and student fees (though most of the fees are not for the library) are thousands of dollars.

Do you want to learn more about the history of the University library buildings?  This is just a preview for the University Buildings exhibits, coming this spring to a library near you!  The exhibit on the library buildings will be up in Davis Library March 1-May 31.  See the full list of library rules after the jump!

Continue reading “Library Rules, 1799”

Selected Dialectic Society Records Digitized as Part of a Documenting the American South Project

As part of the digitization of the Joseph Lawrence Dusenbery’s journal for “Verses and Fragments: The James L. Dusenbery Journal (1841-1842)“, a few selected documents  from the records of the Dialectic Society held in the University Archives have also been digitized.

These documents include an address to the Dialectic Society by his brother, Edwin Lafayette Dusenbery, in 1845, and the Dialectic Society Library Circulation  Records of Joseph, and two other brothers, Henry Mcrorie and William Brevard.

Dusenbery’s journal is the “heart” of this online resource. Kept by him during his senior year, the journal is an amazing resource for those interested in student life at UNC in 1841 and 1842.

Di-Phi Bicentennial Debate

To celebrate the rich history of their organizations, each year the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies delve into the University Archives to find a topic that was debated 200 years ago. The topic may be something still very applicable to today, or it may be debated in an “old-style” fashion, as if reliving history.

Dialectic Society Pin
Dialectic Society Pin (from the collections of the North Carolina Collection Gallery)

On Monday, November 21 at 7:30pm, in the Dialectic Society chambers of New West, the Di-Phi will hold its annual bicentennial debate. The topic is a debate from March 3, 1824, “Is an alliance between Great Britain and the United State to be desired by the latter.”

Dialectic Society Chambers, 1935
Dialectic Society Chambers, 1935

The University Archives holds the records of both the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies from their founding in 1795, including minute books, addresses, debates, and photographs.

For more information about these Societies and their records, please see the following finding aids:

Records of the Dialectic Society
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40152.html

Records of the Philanthropic Society
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40166.html

Records of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Joint Senate
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40153.html