Gender Neutral Housing Shot Down

"School of Nursing: Relaxing in dorm," circa 1954. From Black and White Film Box 30, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Photographic Laboratory Collection, P0031.
“School of Nursing: Relaxing in dorm,” circa 1954. From Black and White Film Box 30, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Photographic Laboratory Collection, P0031.
"Dorm Life," 1999. News Services, Collection #40139.
“Dorm Life,” 1999. News Services, Collection #40139.

This morning, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors unanimously voted to reject gender neutral housing on the system’s sixteen campus. In light of our latest blog post on the gender and sexuality dialogue on our campus, this decision comes as an interesting development. See an article on the vote from WRAL here.

One argument against the move to institute gender neutral housing is that it is a “social experiment” and thus an inappropriate use of university funds. The arguments in favor of gender neutral housing focus around the desire to appropriately accommodate transgender students and others who may feel uncomfortable or who are bullied in traditional dorm environments because of their sexuality.

As you can see from the pictures to the right, dorm life within the university has changed over the years. What are your thoughts on the Board of Governors’ ban on gender neutral housing?

Farewell Jay Gaidmore, University Archivist

 

This past week UARMS said farewell to University Archivist, Jay Gaidmore. Jay has accepted a position at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA as head of the Special Collections Research Center at the Earl Gregg Swem Library.

Jay Gaidmore UARMS 110
Jay Gaidmore

Though he was only at UNC for a few years, Jay worked successfully to diversify and broaden University Archives’ collections– bringing in faculty papers and records of student organizations. He also devoted countless hours building relationships with many campus and community groups, and we will continue the work he started.

Please continue to contact UARMS at recman@unc.edu or (919) 962-6402 with any questions you have during this transition, and join us in wishing Jay well in this new venture!

 

“A Dialogue Between Old and New” and “Knowledge Building(s)”

Two new exhibits featuring University Archives materials are on display in the North Carolina Collection Gallery and the Davis Library Gallery starting this week!

A Dialogue Between Old and New and Knowledge Building(s) Posters

Continue reading ““A Dialogue Between Old and New” and “Knowledge Building(s)””

Electrifying the UNC Campus

Though electricity now seems to pump endlessly and uninterrupted through the university system and hospitals, the role that Energy Services at the University of North Carolina has played over the past forty years has changed significantly.  From approximately 1895 to 1976, Energy Services at UNC was the sole provider of electricity to the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro.  In 1977 with the sale of their resources to Duke Power (now Duke Energy), the University’s Energy Services focused their attention on only the campus.

It seems strange to think of the University functioning without electricity, but it did for over one hundred years, until a Physics professor named Joshua Gore took steps to electrifying the town for what he claimed were safety reasons.  Here in the University Archives, we just processed the records of the Department of Energy Services.  The records primarily focus on 1977 to 2000, but one can also find maps and drawings dating from the 1930s and 1940s.  The records detail some incredibly interesting pieces of information—how did the university modernize for the year 2000?  How did energy services check for PCBs after the controversies of the 1980s?  What really happens behind the scenes every time you turn on a light switch on campus?

Continue reading “Electrifying the UNC Campus”

University of North Carolina System celebrates its 40th anniversary

In 1971, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation that created the University of North Carolina System, encompassing all of the state-supported institutions of higher learning in North Carolina.

Today, the UNC System includes Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, North Carolina State University, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Pembroke, UNC School of the Arts, Western Carolina University, and Winston-Salem State University.

The UNC System can trace its origins to the Great Depression.  Looking for cost savings, the North Carolina General Assembly created the Consolidated University of North Carolina in 1931, consisting of the campus in Chapel Hill, North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (now North Carolina State University), and the North Carolina College for Women (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), under the leadership of one board and one president.  Frank Porter Graham served as the first president of the Consolidated University.   In 1969, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Charlotte, and UNC-Wilmington were added.

In 1956, William C. Friday became the president of the Consolidated University, later the UNC System, serving until 1986.  Subsequent presidents of the UNC System have been C. D. Spangler, Jr. (1986-1997), Molly C. Broad (1997-2006), Erskine Bowles (2006-2011), and, currently, Thomas W. Ross (2011- ).

On November 9, 2011, these five presidents participated on a panel, “Evening with Five Presidents” to discuss the history of the UNC System.  The event was held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the UNC System.  The Daily Tar Heel published an article on the event on November 10, 2011:  http://www.dailytarheel.com/index.php/article/2011/11/unc_sr ystem_bday

The University Archives and Records Management Services serves as the official archival repository and provides records management support for the major administrative offices of the UNC System.  The records from the tenures of Presidents Friday, Spangler, and Broad are available for research in Wilson Library as are the records of other administrators and units of the UNC system.

Here are links to the finding aids of the:

William C. Friday records:  http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40009.html

C. D. Spangler, Jr., records: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40010.html

For more information about the history of the UNC System over the last forty years, please see:

King, Arnold K., The Multicampus University of North Carolina Comes of Age, 1956-1986. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987.

Link, William A. William Friday: Power, Purpose and Higher Education, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997.

New Acquisition

Thanks to the generosity of Jennifer Manning (’89, ’91 MSLS), a founding member of UNITAS, a multicultural living and learning program at UNC, the University Archives now has material documenting the history of this organization, including a photograph of the charter members from 1987-1988 and a copy of the Daily Tar Heel insert, Omnibus, from September 17, 1987 that describes the purpose of UNITAS.

For more information on UNITAS, visit their website at:  http://housing.unc.edu/residence-life/living-learning-communities/unitas.html

Jennifer read about our efforts to collect the records of student organizations in the Carolina Alumni Review (http://alumni.unc.edu/article.aspx?sid=8132).  She has offered to contact her friends for additional material as well as pledged to make a monetary donation to the University Archives for every donation her and her friends make.

Thanks you Jennifer for supporting the University Archives and helping our efforts to document the history of student organizations at UNC.

UNITAS Charter Members, 1987-1988
Photograph of the UNITAS Charter Members, 1987-1988, taken in front of Carmichael Dormitory in the Fall of 1987

Front row, left to right:
Jewel Ward, Jennifer Manning, Barbara Ross, Shiho Koda, Jeff Shipman, Donna Leinwand, Chrystal Redding.

Second row, left to right:
Mona Sheth, Amy Shutz, Beth Yongue (hugginh “Chilly” Nguyen), Chinh “Chilly” Nguyen, Robert D’Arruda, “Bud” Thornton Long (in striped shirt), Tim Dore.

Third row, left to right:
Samir Amin (standing, in blue shirt), Traci Hopkins, Marvin Peguese, Leah Kim, Nick Ackerman (with arms crossed), Rachel Stiffler, Ann Bunge (standing, white shirt).

Also: Suresh “Jay” da Silva (in shorts, far right).
Next to him:  Jovan Jones.
Behind them: Faculty advisor, Dr. Craig Calhoun (now at NYU in the Dept. of Sociology).
Next to Jovan Jones: Faculty advisor, Dr. Trudier Harris (now a visiting scholar-in-residence at the University of Alabama).
Above Nick Ackerman: Priti Shah and Rachel Stiffler.
Very back left: Laurie Winkler (in red sweater)
Waving hand in upper far right: James Benton

Do you know any others?  If so, please contact us.

New and revised finding aids for University Archives and University history-related collections

Below is a list of new and revised finding aids for collections held in the University Archives and collections relating to University history.  If you have any questions about these collections, please contact Wilson Special Collections Library at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

New:

Carolina Association for Medieval Studies (#40282): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40282.html

Carolina Center for Jewish Studies (#40283): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40283.html

Music Library (#40225): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40225.html

Retired Faculty Association (#40231): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40231.html

School of Journalism and Mass Communication (#40280): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40280.html

University of North Carolina Hospitals Volunteer Association (#40330): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40330.html

Revised:

Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition (#40122): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40122.html

Department of University Housing (#40129): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40129.html

Dialectic Society (#40152): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40152.html

Division of Extension and Continuing Education (#40137): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40137.html

News Service (#40139): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40139.html

Office of the Dean of the Graduate School (#40107): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40107.html

Office of the Registrar and Director of Institutional Research (#40138): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40138.html

Office of the Dean of Women (#40125): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40125.html

University Development Program (#40136): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40136.html

University history-related collections:

School of Public Health Photographic Collection (NCC Photographic Archives, P0059): http://library.unc.edu/wilson/ncc/pcoll/inv/P0059/P0059.html 

Revised finding aids for University Archives and University history-related collections

Below is a list of somewhat significantly revised finding aids for collections held in the University Archives and collections relating to University history.  If you have any questions about these collections, please contact Wilson Special Collections Library at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

Athletic Communications Office (#40308): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40308.html

Office of Chancellor: W.B. Aycock (#40020): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40020.html

Office of Chancellor: Christopher Fordham (#40024): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40024.html

Office of Chancellor: Paul Hardin (#40025): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40025.html

Office of Chancellor: Michael Hooker (#40026): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40026.html

Office of Chancellor: R.B. House (#40019): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40019.html

Office of Chancellor: William O. McCoy (#40227): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40227.html

Office of Chancellor: James Moeser (#40228): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40228.html

Office of Chancellor: Paul Sharp (#40021): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40021.html

Office of Chancellor: J.C. Sitterson (#40022): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40022.html

Office of Chancellor: Ferebee Taylor (#40023): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40023.html

Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (#40076): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40076.html

Office of the Provost (#40039): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40039.html

Order of Gimghoul (#40262): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40262.html

Order of the Golden Fleece (#40160): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40160.html

University of North Carolina Papers (#40005): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40005.html
The early records of the University.

University history-related collections:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Pediatrics Photographic Collection (NCC Photographic Archives, P0060): http://library.unc.edu/wilson/ncc/pcoll/inv/P0060/P0060.html

King, Roger, films (Southern Historical Collection, #5340): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/k/King,Roger.html
This collection contains three 8mm films documenting life at the University of North Carolina from 1940-1943. They were shot in and around Chapel Hill, N.C., and on the campus of the University of North Carolina. They document University of North Carolina fraternity life, including Chi Phi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Phi Delta Theta, pledges, rushing, and hell-week; University of North Carolina student life, including parties, banquets, dances, and the bar scene; University of North Carolina sports, such as football, baseball, track, tennis, and lacrosse; University of North Carolina holidays such as Student-Faculty Day and May Day; and the Old Well.

Welcome!

Welcome to “For the Record,” University Archives and Records Management Services’ (UARMS) blog.  We look forward to using this space to share content with you and make announcements regarding our services.

Expect posts from UARMS staff, students, and friends on diverse topics such as

  • University history,
  • records management,
  • interesting finds from the Archives, and
  • archives-related news and events.

Thanks for visiting!  If you have any tips, suggestions, or other comments for us please let us know!