From the Archives – Page 4 – History on the Hill

Igniting a Rivalry: The 1961 UNC-Duke Basketball Fight

The basketball rivalry between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University is one of the most contentious and well-known in America. One of the earliest and fiercest displays of this rivalry was an on-court fight on February 4, 1961. It was at this UNC-Duke matchup that UNC players Larry Brown and Don Walsh and Duke player Art Heyman started a bench-clearing brawl. It has been suggested that some of the hostility between Brown and Heyman may have resulted from having played against each other in high school. Heyman had also committed to attending UNC before changing his mind and enrolling at Duke.

Video of the February 4, 1961 Duke – UNC fight, Duke University. Basketball Game Film Collection University Archives, Duke University.

In attendance at this game was James H. Weaver, Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the athletic conference to which both schools belonged. In a letter found in the files of then-chancellor William B. Aycock, Weaver reacted to the fight. He criticized the behavior of students in the crowd, calling them “juvenile delinquents” who

amuse themselves by tossing articles onto the playing floor, booing officials, booing visiting players while they are attempting foul shots, and at the same time, eagerly awaiting any opportunity to rush onto the court and further display their total lack of maturity.

Commissioner Weaver pointedly warned that though the three players primarily involved in the altercation were young and at the beginning of their careers, “sophomores must be made to realize that they too can cause riots.” As a result of this incident, Larry Brown, Don Walsh, and Art Heyman were “declared ineligible to compete against other Atlantic Coast Conference teams for the remainder of the regular season 1960-61,” were “not to appear in basketball uniforms at games in which they are ineligible to compete [or to] to sit on the players’ benches during such contests.” These penalties did not apply to tournament play, but UNC was already ineligible for such games as they were serving one year probation due to recruiting violations.

Observation of ACC Commissioner Weaver. From Office of Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: William Brantley Aycock Records, 1957-1964 (#40020), University Archives

In addition to documenting the storied animosity between UNC and Duke, this incident is noteworthy for including several notable figures. In the years since, Larry Brown has coached 13 college and professional basketball teams and has won both NCAA and NBA championships. Brown was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 and is currently the head coach of Southern Methodist University’s men’s basketball team, the Mustangs. The second UNC player suspended due to the fight, Don Walsh, has served as head coach of the Denver Nuggets, general manager and president of basketball operations of the Indiana Pacers, president of basketball operations with the New York Knicks, and is currently a consultant for the Pacers. Heyman went on to be the first overall pick in the 1963 NBA draft and was selected by the New York Knicks.

University Archives in Action: Renaming Saunders Hall

Today the Board of Trustees voted 10 to 3 to rename Saunders Hall “Carolina Hall.” For those who’ve been under a rock for the past few years, the charge to change the name of Saunders Hall, which was named by trustees in 1920 after William Saunders (1835–1891), North Carolina Secretary of State and chief organizer of the Ku Klux Klan in the state, has been led by various student groups over the past two decades, most recently the Real Silent Same Coalition along with the Campus Y and other student groups.

Saunders’s involvement in the KKK was not ancillary to the decision to name the new building after him, but as seen in the minutes of the Board of Trustees, was indeed central. (You can read the minute books online.)

Minutes, Oversize Volume SV-40001/12 (p. 234), in the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina Records #40001, University Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

University Archives staff worked diligently to rediscover this information and provide it to trustees and to the public at large. It is gratifying to know that the (not always easy or recognized) work of collecting, describing, and preserving these materials played a part in energizing students and swaying the board.

We at Wilson Library work very hard to make primary information about the university available to the public, including online exhibits such as “Slavery and the Making of the University,” one of the first exhibits of its kind. We don’t need a mandate to do all we can to make university history public.

We depend on scholars and students to tell the story of the university. We just don’t have the time to read every sheet of paper that comes into our custody. Our job is to collect enough that our researchers have rich and inclusive documentation to work from and to describe it all in a way that gets that material into the hands of researchers as soon as possible.

If you’re interested in any aspect of university history, you can always come to Wilson Library and talk to a reference archivist to get access to the collections that might satisfy your curiosity.

Building Old West

On this day in 1822, the cornerstone of Old West was laid. The building was finished and in use by July of 1823. In 1848, additions were made to both Old West and Old East to accommodate the debating societies. Both the original Old West … Continue reading →

On this day in 1822, the cornerstone of Old West was laid. The building was finished and in use by July of 1823.

In 1848, additions were made to both Old West and Old East to accommodate the debating societies. Both the original Old West and its additions were built using the labor of enslaved African-Americans.

The postcard in the gallery above, postmarked 1911 and addressed to “Mr. H.B. Marrow, Raleigh, N.C.”, shows Old West. It reads:

Hello How are you getting on these hot days? I hope you are having a real good time — and be sure and don’t work too much. (?) I am having a fine time this summer. I suppose you will be back before very long now. Mama came home from Va. a few days ago. Sincerely, H.M.P.

For more on the history of UNC buildings, see the exhibit, “Architectural Highlights of Carolina’s Historic Campus.” For more on slavery and the history of UNC, see the Virtual Museum exhibit, “Slavery and the University.”

February 11, 1926: The Playmakers Meet the President

The Carolina Playmakers at the White House following their visit with the President. (Dramatic Art Department Records #40080, University Archives.)

In February 1926, the Carolina Playmakers embarked on their second Southern Tour, performing across North Carolina and Virginia, in Baltimore, and Washington DC. Led by founder, professor Frederick Koch, the theater company performed three of their signature “folk plays”—plays intended to reflect real North Carolina life—at each stop on the tour. The plays were Quare Medicine by Paul Green, Fixin’s by Paul and Erma Green, and Gaius and Gaius, Jr. by Lucy M. Cobb. The troupe received positive reviews throughout their tour, despite setbacks—near Sweetbriar, Virginia, their truck overturned and many set pieces were damaged.

The Carolina Playmakers on the road during their second Southern Tour, 1926. (Dramatic Art Department Records #40080, University Archives.)

The day after their performance in Washington, the theater company visited the White House and had the opportunity to meet President Calvin Coolidge and his wife, First Lady Grace Coolidge. The President and First Lady were unable to attend the Playmakers performance, but expressed interest in their work. Professor Koch presented the Coolidges with two volumes of the Playmakers’ folk plays, which the President said looked “very interesting indeed.”

The Scientific Revolution as Cock Fight

Recently, I came across an old hand-drawn cartoon in the University Papers (#40005) that depicts the struggle between physics and chemistry for scientific supremacy as both a train wreck and a cock fight. There’s nothing I can see to date the cartoon—though it’s probably later than 1830 (the earliest railways in the US) and certainly later than 1804 (the invention of the steam locomotive).

It’s hard to say if there’s any significance to the artist’s inclusion of light rays emanating from the headlamp of the train labeled “Physics.” This drawing appears to have been made prior to Einstein’s 1905 Gedankenexperiment involving light emitted from moving trains, but it certainly could have been made after 1865, when Maxwell discovered that light is an electromagnetic wave and therefore travels at a constant speed. It’s also difficult to interpret an intention behind leaving out the connecting rod on the “Physics” train (see where a second artist, or critic, has penciled in, “You forgot to put your connection rod on this one”), though that might have been mere lack of attention to detail on the part of the artist. Regardless, the game of chicken seems to have solved nothing, and second cartoon depicts the two train operators going head to head.

The same bepenciled critic—who has conscientiously labeled each opponent and the air pump and hastily scribbled a little grass to denote the field of combat—has place in a speech bubble hanging from the lips of “Chemistry” the repudiation, “I’ll be damned if you shall!” Such fierce animosity. Who will win?

Unfortunately, there is no third drawing illustrating the outcome of this heated confrontation. Some say it rages still, and the rumor is you can sometimes catch a glimpse of these two combatants-in-tails struggling with one other on the lofty walkways bridging Murray and Venable.

[OPF-40005/16 in the University of North Carolina Papers #40005, University Archives, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.]

December 18th: A Mandate from the State, and the Chartering of UNC

December 18th is an important day in both United States and North Carolina history. Several important historical events have happened on this day. For example, the Mayflower docked at modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts on December 18th, 1620. But at University Archives, December … Continue reading →

UNC Chapel Hill's historic marker which proclaims its status as the first state university.

The historic marker that proclaims UNC’s status as the first state university.

December 18th is an important day in both United States and North Carolina history. Several important historical events have happened on this day.

For example, the Mayflower docked at modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts on December 18th, 1620.

But at University Archives, December 18th is important for two different reasons. One, the mandate for a state-run university in North Carolina, and two, the chartering of the University of North Carolina.

After the Declaration of Independence was signed, North Carolina ratified its first constitution, the Constitution of 1776, on December 18th, 1776. It was in this document that the provincial congress first called for a state-run university.

Article 41 of the Constitution of 1776 set forth the following mandate:

“…that a school or schools shall be established by the legislature, for the convenient instruction of youth, with such salaries to the masters, paid by the public, as may enable them to instruct at low prices; and, all usefull [sic] learning shall be duly encouraged and promoted in one or more universities.”

However it was not until 1789 that the University of North Carolina was chartered.

The minutes of the first meeting of the Board of Trustees from from Volume 1 of the Board of Trustees Records (#40001). Click to view a larger version of this image.

On December 18th of that year, the Board of Trustees convened for the first time in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It was at that meeting that William Richardson Davie informed the trustees that Colonel Benjamin Smith had donated 20,000 acres of land in what would become Tennessee to the University. The trustees sold the land and used the resulting funds to support the fledgling institution in its early years. Later, the Trustees chose to honor Colonel Smith by naming a campus building after him– Smith Hall, which was completed in 1851. Smith Hall is now known as the Playmakers Theater.

While the landing of the Mayflower is a very important moment in United States history, the chartering of the nation’s first public university to open its doors is important, too.

Today we celebrate the University of North Carolina, which has been serving the state for 218 years. But our University would be nothing without the students, faculty, and staff who learn, teach, and work here. Thank you all, and happy December 18th!

Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013

Today, University Archives joins the world in remembering Nelson Mandela. Mr. Mandela passed away yesterday, December 5th. An anti-apartheid activist and the first black president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela famously spent 27 years in prison for the charge of … Continue reading →

This picture was taken on 12 February 1990, the day after Mandela’s official release from prison. Folder 18, Box 2, the Records of the Black Student Movement, #40400, University Archives, Wilson Library.

Today, University Archives joins the world in remembering Nelson Mandela. Mr. Mandela passed away yesterday, December 5th.

An anti-apartheid activist and the first black president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela famously spent 27 years in prison for the charge of inciting workers’ strikes and leaving the country without permission. Mandela served as the president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 after his unconditional release from prison on 11 February 1990.

A shanty during the 1986 protest. From the Records of the Black Student Movement, #40400.

Nelson Mandela and the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa were an inspiration to Carolina students in the 1980s. From 1985 to 1987, the student-run Anti-Apartheid Support Group called for divestiture of all UNC-CH holdings in companies operating in South Africa. The protests peaked in March and April of 1986 when student members erected a shanty-town in Polk Place in front of South Building. When the Endowment Board of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill voted to divest all of its holdings in companies operating in South Africa in October 1987, the group disbanded.

Check out coverage of the protests in Black Ink, the newspaper of the Black Student Movement.

November 22, 1963

Today, people around the country and around the world are commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy, sharing remembrances of the president and of the day that shook the nation. In Chapel Hill, the campus … Continue reading →

The resolution passed by the Di-Phi Joint Senate on November 22, 1963. Di-Phi Joint Senate Records (#40153), University Archives.

In Chapel Hill, the campus came to a standstill as news of the President’s death spread. The next day, Daily Tar Heel writers recalled the moment that the word entered the newsroom:

“There were no warning bells on the UPI wire in the newspaper office here, as is customary when big news breaks. The first knowledge was the editor’s cry, ‘What’s this on the wire about the President being killed?’ No one believed he was serious.”

As word spread, students gathered around radios and televisions, abandoning their preparations for the “Beat Dook” parade scheduled for that afternoon. The parade and other campus events were cancelled, including that weekend’s football game against Duke.

Many on campus thought back to the President’s visit to campus two years earlier, and UNC President William C. Friday, who had visited Kennedy at the White House several times, said that he was “stunned” by this “terrible tragedy for our nation.”

That evening, the Di and Phi Joint Senate passed a resolution expressing their grief and sympathy. They sent a telegram to Jacqueline Kennedy and the newly sworn-in President Lyndon Johnson, saying “the Di-Phi Senate wishes to express its profoundest shock and grief at the death of our beloved president. May God keep you.”

Note from President Lyndon Johnson received by the Di-Phi Joint Senate, Di-Phi Joint Senate Records (#40153), University Archives.

Note from Jacqueline Kennedy received by the Di-Phi Joint Senate, Di-Phi Joint Senate Records (#40153), University Archives.

Read the Daily Tar Heel from November 23, 1963 on the Internet Archive.

Bill Friday: In His Own Words

This past weekend saw the opening of Wilson Library’s newest exhibit — “Bill Friday: In His Own Words.” President Friday was a central figure in the University as well as an influential leader at the state and national levels. Come on … Continue reading →

Bill Friday with students in July of 1978. From the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Photographic Laboratory Collection, #P0031 in the North Carolina Photograph Collection.

See the online portion of this exhibit at https://billfriday.web.unc.edu/. The physical portion is open in the Melba Remig Saltarelli Exhibit Room, 3rd floor, Wilson Library.

President Swain Requests Exemption of UNC Seniors from Conscription

On this day in 1863, university president David Lowry Swain wrote to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, requesting exemption from conscription for university seniors. There were many exemptions to conscription, most resting on the petitioner’s class—one was automatically exempt for owning twenty or more slaves, and one could buy exemption for $300 (around $5,500 in 2013 dollars)—or social status (certain government employees and workers deemed necessary, such as railroad workers). Below is the response, dated November 3rd, from Colonel Peter Mallet, Commandant of Conscripts for North Carolina.

(University of North Carolina Papers (#40005), University Archives)