“Nothing New in the West” is the more literal translation of the title Im Westen nichts Neues, the 1930 classic novel by Erich Maria Remarque that we who speak English know as All Quiet on the Western Front. Over time the title’s English translation has come to describe inactivity of any kind. I know it has been quiet on the blog front, but believe me, all is not quiet behind the scenes with Morton collection!
The “unidentified” project a few weeks ago generated identifications or partial identifications for more than forty photographs—thank you!—the records for which have now been updated. Building on the work of summer assistants, who started locating Morton images in yearbooks and other student publications, I’ve immersed myself into the early 1940s at UNC. At various times, Hugh Morton was on the staffs of the UNC yearbook Yackety Yack, the student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel, and the humor publications Tar an’ Feathers, and the (new) Carolina Magazine. Culling through their pages, I’ve been able to add partial or complete identifications and descriptions for more than fifty photographs.
A great example is the above photograph, which previous had the identification:
Unidentified UNC-Chapel Hill students working in printing room (possibly at DAILY TAR HEEL), circa 1940s. A similar photograph appears in the 1942 yearbook YACKETY YACK.
Going through the Daily Tar Heel for the 1941-1942 academic year revealed that the photograph depicts a momentous occasion: the printing of the fiftieth anniversary edition of the Daily Tar Heel, the oldest college newspaper in the south. New news, indeed!
The DAILTY TAR HEEL began celebrating its 120th anniversary today—one day early since they do not publish on the weekends. Saturday marks the 120th anniversary of the first issue of THE TAR HEEL, first published as a weekly on February 23, 1893.
There are two “50th anniversaries” floating around in past pages of the newspaper, so to clarify (I hope!) . . . . THE DAILY TAR HEEL banner for 27 February 1942 is labeled “Anniversary Issue” and the front page headline reads, “Daily Tar Heel Begins Fiftieth Year Today.” The DTH didn’t publish on Mondays in those days, and February 23rd fell on a Monday so they couldn’t celebrate the 49th anniversary, per se. So . . . on February 27th the newspaper is 49 years and 4 days old . . . they’ve started into their 50th year. (A stretch, methinks!)
Since THE TAR HEEL published its first issue on 23 February 1893, the 23 February 1943 issue of the newspaper is headlined, “DTH Observes Fiftieth Birthday Today.”
So there you have it . . . two fiftieth anniversaries. Clear as mud, right?