Series 2 (People & Events) available!

Crowd at a football game
You knew Hugh Morton photographed legendary North Carolinians including Terry Sanford, Michael Jordan, Billy Graham, Andy Griffith, and Charles Kuralt; Azalea Queens and musicians of all stripes; and prominent national figures from John F. Kennedy to Al Gore. You definitely knew that he photographed Luther H. Hodges (NC Governor 1954-1961, and likely Morton’s most-photographed person, except for perhaps his family).
But, did you also know that Morton photographed both the Prince of Wales and Queen Elizabeth II? What about Ed Sullivan, or Rich Little? Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King, and Shirley Chisholm? And how about Newt Gingrich with a black bear? (A die-hard Democrat himself, Morton did in fact take pictures of some Republicans — Gingrich, Reagan, Nixon, and Helms, to name a few). Did you know he took striking portraits of rural people living in the NC mountains during the 1940s-1950s? And shot at least four different Cherokee Chiefs?
This is just a tiny morsel of the feast of riches that await you in Series 2 of the Morton Collection, now included in the online finding aid and available for in-person exploration. This is the largest series (oh, how I hope) and definitely the most difficult to process — take note that subseries 2.6, “People, Identified,” contains more than 700 different named individuals!
Take a look, and — as always — give us your feedback on what/how we’re doing.

4 thoughts on “Series 2 (People & Events) available!”

  1. A shot I wish were in the Queen Elizabeth file: Gov. Hodges leaping to his feet and waving his hat when the Tar Heel band broke into “Dixie.” Dept. of Changing Times!

  2. Thirteen years ago today, our nation, our state, and our university lost a dear friend. On July 4, 1997, Charles Kuralt died.
    I “heard” of his death in a strange way. I had worked that Friday morning at WFMY-TV and was home by 1 PM. As I was eating lunch with my wife, I flipped on the TV. It was tuned to CNN. They were in the middle of some story, I don’t even recall now what it was, but when it ended instead of switching back to the CNN anchor, the technical director made a mistake and switched up a graphic that was to be used in a later story. The graphic showed a picture of Charles Kuralt with the caption 1934-1997. I immediately knew we had suffered a great loss.
    In the Kuralt memorial service in Memorial Hall on July 8, 1997, dear friend Hugh Morton said, “everybody in America was Charles Kuralt’s friend.”
    Kuralt closed his final CBS News “Sunday Morning” broadcast on April 3, 1994 with these words:
    “Time for us to part, you and I. Saying goodbye to the viewers of ‘Sunday Morning’ is like saying goodbye to old friends. That’s the way I feel. Thank you for making me feel that way. I aim to do some traveling and reading and writing, and to watch this program the civilized way for a change: in my bathrobe, while having breakfast… There is a rhyme by Clarence Day which says what I want to say: ‘Farewell, my friends-farewell, and hail/I’m off to seek the Holy Grail/I cannot tell you why. Remember, please, when I am gone/’twas aspiration led me on./Tiddly, widdly, toodle-oo/All I want is to stay with you.’ But…here I go. Goodbye.”
    So, as we celebrate Independence Day, let’s also remember a Tar Heel treasure, Charles Kuralt.

  3. He is part of the generation that is called the greatest. He is considered by many, including myself, to be the most respected man in North Carolina. He is a North Carolina treasure. His name: William Clyde (Bill) Friday.
    On this day, July 13th, ninety years ago, Bill Friday was born in Raphine, Virginia. He dedicated his entire life to higher education serving his country, his state, and his University.
    He was a dear friend of Hugh Morton and played a major role in getting the Morton Photographic and Film Collection for the North Carolina Collection at UNC.
    Today on his 90th birthday, there will be an open house at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on the UNC campus from 4 to 6 PM.
    Best wishes, Dr. Friday.

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