UNC History Online Exhibits

The Carolina Story: A Virtual Museum of University History
The Virtual Museum is a comprehensive look at the history of UNC from its founding to the present. The short essays and suggestions for further study make this the best starting place for any UNC history project.

Names in Brick & Stone: Histories from the University’s Built Landscape
Produced by an undergraduate public history class in Fall 2015, this site looks at the complicated histories of UNC’s built environment. It includes helpful histories of 12 campus buildings and their namesakes and takes a broader look, using innovative visualization tools, at the more than 250 “major” buildings on campus.

Slavery and the Making of the University
This online companion to an exhibit in the University Archives in 2006 displays primary sources documenting the role of slaves and free African Americans in university life prior to the Civil War.

A Guide to Resources About UNC’s Confederate Monument
This guide includes a timeline, photo gallery, and an extensive list of archival resources — many of which are available online — related to the on-campus Confederate Monument commonly known as “Silent Sam.”

I Raised My Hand to Volunteer: Student Protests at UNC in the 1960s
Published online in conjunction with an exhibit and lectures in Wilson Library in 2007, the website contains information, documents, and photos from several student-led protest movements at UNC in the 1960s. The movements include efforts to integrate Chapel Hill businesses, repeal the controversial Speaker Ban law, fight for improved pay and working conditions for food service employees on campus, and protest the Vietnam War.

A Nursery of Patriotism: The University at War, 1861-1945
Companion to a 2007 exhibit from the University Archives, this exhibit examines campus life at UNC during the Civil War, World War I, and World War II, and includes photos and documents from the collections in Wilson Library.

A Right to Speak and Hear: Academic Freedom and Free Expression at UNC
This exhibit looks at the history of academic freedom at UNC over a couple of centuries, from the case of Professor Benjamin Hedrick who was dismissed from the faculty for speaking openly in opposition to slavery to the controversy that erupted when a book about the Qur’an was chosen as the summer reading program title in 2002.

The First Century of the State University
This extensive online exhibit from Documenting the American South includes primary sources and essays tracing the development and growth of UNC from 1776 through 1875.

True and Candid Compositions: The Lives and Writings of Antebellum Students at the University of North Carolina
This collection, part of Documenting the American South, contains 121 essays, primarily by UNC students, written between 1795 and 1868. The essays, fully transcribed and annotated, provide an interesting look at student academic and social life in the early decades of the University.

McGuire’s Miracle: UNC’s 1956-1957 Championship Basketball Season
A small collection of historic photos from the North Carolina Collection document UNC’s legendary 1956-1957 men’s basketball team and their drive to a national championship.

Tar Heel Ink
This exhibit looks at the wide variety of student publications at UNC from 1844 through 2005 with highlights from some of the more notable titles and issues.