Now Available: Edie Parker Papers

We are pleased to announce a new addition to University Archives, the Edie Parker Papers. Edie Parker (then Edie Knight) attended UNC from 1947 to 1949. As a student, she was active in student government, Greek life, and the Model … Continue reading

We are pleased to announce a new addition to University Archives, the Edie Parker Papers.

Edie Parker (then Edie Knight) attended UNC from 1947 to 1949. As a student, she was active in student government, Greek life, and the Model United Nations. The collection — mostly in the form of a scrapbook — includes materials from the Women’s Intercollegiate Government Forum that Parker planned, orientation booklets, rush invitations, clippings about the Model UN from the Daily Tar Heel, and letters from male suitors. While at UNC, Parker also participated in a conference about the U.S. role in European recovery from World War II that Mademoiselle magazine hosted in 1948. Her notes from the conference are included in the collection. Parker’s scrapbook and accompanying papers provide insight into the life of a woman student at UNC during the late 1940s.

Below, we’ve highlighted just a few items from the Edie Parker scrapbook, including photographs of UNC students and the 1949 UNC Commencement program.




Now Available: Edie Parker Papers

We are pleased to announce a new addition to University Archives, the Edie Parker Papers. Edie Parker (then Edie Knight) attended UNC from 1947 to 1949. As a student, she was active in student government, Greek life, and the Model … Continue reading

We are pleased to announce a new addition to University Archives, the Edie Parker Papers.

Edie Parker (then Edie Knight) attended UNC from 1947 to 1949. As a student, she was active in student government, Greek life, and the Model United Nations. The collection — mostly in the form of a scrapbook — includes materials from the Women’s Intercollegiate Government Forum that Parker planned, orientation booklets, rush invitations, clippings about the Model UN from the Daily Tar Heel, and letters from male suitors. While at UNC, Parker also participated in a conference about the U.S. role in European recovery from World War II that Mademoiselle magazine hosted in 1948. Her notes from the conference are included in the collection. Parker’s scrapbook and accompanying papers provide insight into the life of a woman student at UNC during the late 1940s.

Below, we’ve highlighted just a few items from the Edie Parker scrapbook, including photographs of UNC students and the 1949 UNC Commencement program.




“All Dances Will Be Suspended”: The Effect of Prohibition at UNC in 1925

While national prohibition was voted into law in 1919 with the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, North Carolina had been dry since it passed a state-wide prohibition law in 1908. As the sale and consumption of alcohol in North Carolina had … Continue reading

While national prohibition was voted into law in 1919 with the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, North Carolina had been dry since it passed a state-wide prohibition law in 1908. As the sale and consumption of alcohol in North Carolina had already been banned for twelve years when enforcement of the 18th Amendment began in 1920, prohibition had little direct effect on the University.

German Club Executive Committee, from the 1926 Yackety Yack, http://digitalnc.org

German Club Executive Committee in the 1926 Yackety Yack, from DigitalNC

However, a 1925 German Club dance held around Thanksgiving prompted a harsh response from President H.W. Chase. Despite its name, the German Club was not related to the nation of Germany or the German language. Rather, the club, organized in the late nineteenth century, planned formal dances and other social events for its members. A ‘German’ was a kind of social dancing that became popular following the Civil War.

The incident caused by this dance was investigated by Andrew Henry Patterson, a professor of physics and Dean of the School of Applied Sciences. In his report to President Chase, Patterson noted that the conditions for illegal drinking were perfect as there were, “hundreds of visitors brought here by the game, and many of them with liquor. The wonder is that more drinking was not done[….]” The game to which Patterson referred was the annual Thanksgiving Day game against the University of Virginia. According to Patterson, “no estimate on the part of anybody as to the number of men who had taken a drink would run over 20 or 25% of those present,” and that “no shadow of a rumor that any girls were drinking has been found, which is encouraging.”

Patterson to Chase

Report on German Club dance incident by A.H. Patterson, from  University of North Carolina Papers (#40005), University Archives

On the day this letter was sent to President Chase, December 4, 1925, he delivered an address to students in chapel discouraging the use of alcohol. Chase emphasized”the problem of the influence of drinking on the future business and social relations of the young men who make up the student bodies in our colleges today.” He went on to state “his opinion that drinking is now a thing for the vulgar and lower classes to indulge in” and that alcohol use was something “invariably leading to unmannerly and indecent conduct.”

Daily Tar Heel, 5 December 1925. Image via Newspapers.com
Daily Tar Heel, 5 December 1925. Image via Newspapers.com

This incident and its investigation prompted President Chase to suspend all dances at the University until the end of Easter holidays. This suspension also extended to “the giving of any dance by any University organization or student at any place outside the University campus.” When the suspension ended in April of 1926, the German Club adopted new bylaws that made its executive committee responsible to the University for the conduct at all dances, regardless of the clubs or groups hosting them. According to the Daily Tar Heel on April 15, 1926, these bylaws also imposed regulations on dances. These included no smoking on the dance floor, no girls leaving the dance hall without a chaperone, and strict end times for dances. Most dances were required to end by 1:00 AM, while Saturday night dances had to end by midnight. Some German Club dances were permitted to last until 2:00 AM. The German Club continued to organize dances and concerts until the late 1960s.

Chase to German Club, 12/9/1925
Chase to German Club, 12/9/1925

[President Chase’s letter to the German Club suspending all dances, from the University of North Carolina Papers (#40005), University Archives]

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? A new exhibit has been added to The Carolina Story: A Virtual Museum of University History that should answer those questions and … Continue reading

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).

The “Pilot” of Student Government: The Student Body President

We currently find ourselves in the middle of campaign season. For the next two (or possibly three) weeks, the Pit will be abuzz with excited, albeit cold, campaign workers, the pages of the Daily Tar Heel will be filled with … Continue reading

The Daily Tar Heel, May 17, 1921.

We currently find ourselves in the middle of campaign season. For the next two (or possibly three) weeks, the Pit will be abuzz with excited, albeit cold, campaign workers, the pages of the Daily Tar Heel will be filled with news of the latest endorsements, and evenings will be dominated by candidate forums. Some wonder if all the “fuss” involved in Student Body President Elections is worth it. That question is a matter of opinion. However, it is possible to objectively examine how the Office of the Student Body President became important enough to warrant the attention afforded to those who campaign for it.

Although student self-governance is a long held tradition at Carolina, the Office of the Student Body President was not created until 1921. Prior to that, the Senior Class President was head of the Student Council. The switch from Senior Class President to Student Body President was not without controversy. Early in 1921, students voted in favor of a referendum that would create the Office of Student Body President. However, when nominations for that office were due in May, those who were opposed to the switch broke up the nomination proceedings with allegations that students had been misled by the wording of the referendum. A week later the Student Council decided to again put the measure to a referendum, this time with a different wording. Once again, the referendum passed and later that month Garland Burns Porter was elected UNC’s first Student Body President.

“Student Government Records, 1919-2011″ Box 26, University Archives.

In 1946, Student Government drew up its first constitution. The constitution gave the Student Body President the power to veto bills from Student Congress, an ex-officio seat on all boards and committees, including the Board of Trustees, and the authority to issue executive orders. The 1946 constitution required that the Speaker of Student Congress also serve as Vice President and that the Secretary-Treasurer (which was later split into two roles) be elected by the Student Body. Changes to the constitution in 1971 gave the Student Body President the power to appoint his Secretary and Treasurer, pending approval of congress. In 1995, the Student Body President was allowed to do the same with his/her VicePresident.

Past Student Body Presidents also played a role in increasing the power of their office. Paul Dickson III, Student Body President from 1965-1966, expanded the role of “representing the students of the University” when he became the face of the University in the very public conflict over the Speaker Ban Law. Eve Carson’s work as Student Body President from 2007-2008 inspired students both within student government and outside of it to seek change on campus. In between, various Student Body Presidents created cabinet positions for emerging campus issues, giving the Executive Branch greater influence on campus policy.

Perhaps it is the relative stability of the Office of the Student Body President that has most enabled it to flourish. Since 1946, little has changed in the Executive Branch. Conversely, the Legislative Branch has changed names, composition, and, to a certain extent, purpose numerous times.