A New Addition of Athletics Photographs from the 1960s and 1970s

We are excited to announce that a new accession of photographs to the Department of Athletics Collection is available for research. This accession is particularly special since it contains images of less-documented sports — including women’s sports and intramural sports — from the 1960s and 1970s.

Included in this addition are images of the Titleholder’s Championship (also called the Women’s Pro Tournament), held at Southern Pines and sponsored by UNC in 1972.  The Titleholder’s Championship was only a handful of championship-level events for professional women’s golf in the 1970s, and the winner of the event — Sandra Palmer — was one of the most accomplished female golfers of the time. The addition also includes photographs of the 1963 renovations to Kenan Stadium.

The selection of photos below include images of men’s intramural handball; women’s intramural basketball, volleyball, tennis, and bowling.

 

Swim to Graduate

"Intramural: swimming, group of ten," 5 October 1961.  From the UNC Photographic Laboratory Collection, P00031.
“Intramural: swimming, group of ten,” 5 October 1961. From the UNC Photographic Laboratory Collection, P00031.

We’re so proud of everyone who graduated yesterday! Congratulations! But did you know that up until 2006, all undergraduates were required to pass a swim test in order to graduate? Well, the swim test was not unique to Carolina. It used to be a requirement at many colleges and universities across the country. But where did the requirement come from exactly?

The legend at UNC, and many other campuses, starts with the death of a student by drowning. The student’s family decided to give a large endowment to the University after the incident but with the condition that all students know how to swim. This theory is nothing more than a myth though since many colleges and universities established swim tests during WWII when campuses became designated training programs.

In 1942, UNC was designated as a pre-flight training program by the US government, and the university was awarded funds to construct several structures on campus including the ROTC building, the outdoor pool, and the indoor track.  Of course, the midshipmen who were a part of the pre-flight training program had to learn to swim. During and after the war, national debates and discussions centered on whether America’s youth were fit enough to defend our country. So a compulsory swim test was implemented at UNC for men in 1944 and women in 1946.

The swim test remained unchanged until the 1970s when it was altered so that undergraduates had to swim 50 yds and tread water for 5 minutes. The test remained in place through the spring of 2006 when it was officially ended as a requirement for the fall semester.

"Swimming Physical Education," 31 October 1960. From the UNC Photographic Laboratory Collection, P00031
“Swimming Physical Education,” 31 October 1960. From the UNC Photographic Laboratory Collection, P00031

Did you have to take the swim test?  We’d love to hear about your experience! 

Caption This! Vote For Your Favorite!

Thank you everyone for your submissions to our latest caption contest! We had a ball reading all of the captions! Now it’s time for you to vote for your favorite. We’ll announce the winner next week!

Click on the captioned photographs to view larger images.

Vote for your favorite!

Another Caption This! Contest

From the records of the Institute of Latin American Studies (#40089) comes this week’s funny photo and another opportunity for a Caption This! caption contest.

Department members got a behind-the-scenes visit with the actors of the Lost Colony.
Department members got a behind-the-scenes visit with the actors of the Lost Colony.

Leave us a note in the comments with your caption suggestion.  You can caption as many or as few of the gentlemen in the picture as you like, but be sure to give your man’s number so we know who you’re captioning! Like last time, we’ll hold a vote for the best captions!

Now let’s see what you’ve got!

Caption This Photo! Caption Contest

Have you ever seen a picture and thought, I bet that person/cat/dog/inanimate object is thinking/saying…? Well if you’ve been wanting to creatively caption a photo, here’s your chance with University Archives’ caption contest!

Take a look at the photo below and the kid circled in red on the left.  Doesn’t look too thrilled to be at his grandfather’s reunion, does he?

From Image Folder 10, Records of the News Services of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, #40139, University Archives, Wilson Library.  Click image for a larger view.
From Image Folder 10, Records of the News Services of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, #40139, University Archives, Wilson Library. Click image for a larger view.

Taken at a 1946 reunion supper, the photograph above shows the “Old Students Club” and their guests. The club was comprised of students who had graduated 50 or more years previously. The circled child, Billy Turrentine, was the grandson of another man on the second row, Dr. Samuel Bryant Turrentine of Greensboro. Dr. Turrentine graduated from UNC in 1887 with both an AB and MA (presumably in journalism).

What's on Billy's brain?
What’s on Billy’s brain?

If you have an idea of what Billy might be thinking, leave us a comment below.  We’ll post the winning caption next week along with a few of our favorites. 

Inspired by the New Yorker Magazine’s cartoon caption contest. See the contest and past captions here

Love It or Hate It? Snow at UNC

Most North Carolinians have a love/hate relationship with snow. We love snowy days, but hate the havoc just a dusting of the white stuff can wreak on our lives.

We’ve found some images illustrating our love of snow in our sister collection, the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives. Enjoy these photographs from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Image Collection of a huge student snowball fight in McCorkle Place, probably taken in the early to mid-1900s, and the Arboretum during a snowstorm on February 2nd, 1921.

[Selected photographs from folders 0910 and 0191, in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Image Collection Collection #P0004, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.]

On the other hand, we’ve also found evidence of snow-hating in the archives.

The university was hit so hard with snow in January of 2000 that classes were canceled for three days. Not wanting to take away reading days or to infringe on spring break, Chancellor William O. McCoy made the unpopular decision to schedule make-up days on a few weekends later in the year.

Needless to say, his records contain more than a few letters of complaint from students and staff describing the weather conditions. In one letter regarding the administration’s initial reluctance to cancel classes, the writer asked “What kind of sadistic people are you?”

Click for a larger image.
[Letter of complaint, in the Office of Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: William O. McCoy Records #40227, University Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.]

But whether you love or hate snow, I think we can all agree that UNC is a beautiful place to be anytime of year.

Cleaning House

Recently UNC Libraries launched a new, redesigned website. As any archivist should, we took this opportunity to look at some of the older, somewhat outdated content of the previous website and flag materials for archiving.

Amongst other items, we decided to save a bunch of photographs, some of which were taken by a library employee during the renovation of the Robert B. House Undergraduate Library (the UL).

Here you can see the evolution of a favorite UL study spot, the new books reading room.

interior8
Before the renovations…
011002_00
…during the renovations…
Feb14-02DSCN0013
…construction continues…
DSCN0039
…almost done…
...The grand re-opening...
…the grand re-opening…
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…after the renovations!

Special thanks to Kim Vassiliadis, head of User Experience, who alerted us to these cool photographs before they were deleted from our web servers. 

Construction photos taken by Fred Stipe, head of the Library’s Digital Production Center during the UL renovations (1999-2001).