Preserving Historical Perspectives: Pearl Harbor and Mississippi Histories at the SHC

This Week in History

On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy conducted a surprise attack against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This attack is what led to the United States entering World War II.

Below is an address delivered by the then Dean of Administration R.B. House to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill student body after the attack. In it he explains what he sees as the role the students and the University should play in winning the war. Even though he urged students to stay in class and wait to be drafted if that’s what the government decided, many students left school to join the army.

Folder 36, in the R. B. House Papers #3581, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Folder 36, in the R. B. House Papers #3581, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

 

This Day in History

Happy Birthday Mississippi! On December 10, 1817, Mississippi was the 20th state admitted to the Union.

Folder 02872, in the Otis Noel Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection #05463, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Folder 02872, in the Otis Noel Pruitt and Calvin Shanks Photographic Collection #05463, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Above is a picture of women in costume from Columbus, Mississippi.