Though electricity now seems to pump endlessly and uninterrupted through the university system and hospitals, the role that Energy Services at the University of North Carolina has played over the past forty years has changed significantly. From approximately 1895 to 1976, Energy Services at UNC was the sole provider of electricity to the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. In 1977 with the sale of their resources to Duke Power (now Duke Energy), the University’s Energy Services focused their attention on only the campus.
It seems strange to think of the University functioning without electricity, but it did for over one hundred years, until a Physics professor named Joshua Gore took steps to electrifying the town for what he claimed were safety reasons. Here in the University Archives, we just processed the records of the Department of Energy Services. The records primarily focus on 1977 to 2000, but one can also find maps and drawings dating from the 1930s and 1940s. The records detail some incredibly interesting pieces of information—how did the university modernize for the year 2000? How did energy services check for PCBs after the controversies of the 1980s? What really happens behind the scenes every time you turn on a light switch on campus?
To celebrate the rich history of their organizations, each year the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies delve into the University Archives to find a topic that was debated 200 years ago. The topic may be something still very applicable to today, or it may be debated in an “old-style” fashion, as if reliving history.
Dialectic Society Pin (from the collections of the North Carolina Collection Gallery)
On Monday, November 21 at 7:30pm, in the Dialectic Society chambers of New West, the Di-Phi will hold its annual bicentennial debate. The topic is a debate from March 3, 1824, “Is an alliance between Great Britain and the United State to be desired by the latter.”
Dialectic Society Chambers, 1935
The University Archives holds the records of both the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies from their founding in 1795, including minute books, addresses, debates, and photographs.
For more information about these Societies and their records, please see the following finding aids:
In 1971, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation that created the University of North Carolina System, encompassing all of the state-supported institutions of higher learning in North Carolina.
Today, the UNC System includes Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, North Carolina State University, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Pembroke, UNC School of the Arts, Western Carolina University, and Winston-Salem State University.
The UNC System can trace its origins to the Great Depression. Looking for cost savings, the North Carolina General Assembly created the Consolidated University of North Carolina in 1931, consisting of the campus in Chapel Hill, North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (now North Carolina State University), and the North Carolina College for Women (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), under the leadership of one board and one president. Frank Porter Graham served as the first president of the Consolidated University. In 1969, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Charlotte, and UNC-Wilmington were added.
In 1956, William C. Friday became the president of the Consolidated University, later the UNC System, serving until 1986. Subsequent presidents of the UNC System have been C. D. Spangler, Jr. (1986-1997), Molly C. Broad (1997-2006), Erskine Bowles (2006-2011), and, currently, Thomas W. Ross (2011- ).
On November 9, 2011, these five presidents participated on a panel, “Evening with Five Presidents” to discuss the history of the UNC System. The event was held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the UNC System. The Daily Tar Heel published an article on the event on November 10, 2011: http://www.dailytarheel.com/index.php/article/2011/11/unc_sr ystem_bday
The University Archives and Records Management Services serves as the official archival repository and provides records management support for the major administrative offices of the UNC System. The records from the tenures of Presidents Friday, Spangler, and Broad are available for research in Wilson Library as are the records of other administrators and units of the UNC system.
Our friends at the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center (http://digitalnc.org/) have just completed digitizing Black Ink, the official publication of UNC’s Black Student Movement. Publication of Black Ink began in 1969, with the goal of transforming “Blackness … into pictures and words.” 212 issues from 1969 through 2001 are now available online.
Also, if you are in Chapel Hill this weekend celebrating Black Alumni Reunion, be sure to stop by Wilson Library’s lobby to see an exhibit on the history of the Black Student Movement with materials pulled from the North Carolina Collection and the University Archives. Wilson Library’s weekend hours can be found here.
As a graduate student, I feel a bit removed from student organizations, but yesterday I talked with some students with a banner and a loud boombox right outside of Wilson Library entreating the University to “Occupy UNC.”
Students are back, the sky is a crisp Carolina blue, and the leaves are just starting to change. … Must be time for Carolina football! This weekend, before you head down to Kenan Stadium and the new Blue Zone, be sure to stop by Wilson Library to see scenes from UNC’s football past in Gridiron Glory.
Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice, Bob Lacey, “Famous Amos” Lawrence, and a host of other Tar Heel greats are highlighted in footage dating from 1934 through 1985. Woody Durham narrates the 20-minute collection of archival film. Also on display: football memorabilia and materials from the collection of Jack Hilliard (’63), including pennants, tickets, bubble-gum cards, and sheet music for the song “All The Way Choo Choo.”
Want a preview? Check out this clip:
Gridiron Glory Film Showings
Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011
Noon to 3 pm (continuous 20-minute loop)
Wilson Library, Pleasants Family Assembly Room
Free and open to the public
Information: (919) 962-3765 or wilsonlibrary@unc.edu
Thanks to the generosity of Jennifer Manning (’89, ’91 MSLS), a founding member of UNITAS, a multicultural living and learning program at UNC, the University Archives now has material documenting the history of this organization, including a photograph of the charter members from 1987-1988 and a copy of the Daily Tar Heel insert, Omnibus, from September 17, 1987 that describes the purpose of UNITAS.
Jennifer read about our efforts to collect the records of student organizations in the Carolina Alumni Review (http://alumni.unc.edu/article.aspx?sid=8132). She has offered to contact her friends for additional material as well as pledged to make a monetary donation to the University Archives for every donation her and her friends make.
Thanks you Jennifer for supporting the University Archives and helping our efforts to document the history of student organizations at UNC.
Photograph of the UNITAS Charter Members, 1987-1988, taken in front of Carmichael Dormitory in the Fall of 1987
Front row, left to right:
Jewel Ward, Jennifer Manning, Barbara Ross, Shiho Koda, Jeff Shipman, Donna Leinwand, Chrystal Redding.
Second row, left to right:
Mona Sheth, Amy Shutz, Beth Yongue (hugginh “Chilly” Nguyen), Chinh “Chilly” Nguyen, Robert D’Arruda, “Bud” Thornton Long (in striped shirt), Tim Dore.
Third row, left to right:
Samir Amin (standing, in blue shirt), Traci Hopkins, Marvin Peguese, Leah Kim, Nick Ackerman (with arms crossed), Rachel Stiffler, Ann Bunge (standing, white shirt).
Also: Suresh “Jay” da Silva (in shorts, far right).
Next to him: Jovan Jones.
Behind them: Faculty advisor, Dr. Craig Calhoun (now at NYU in the Dept. of Sociology).
Next to Jovan Jones: Faculty advisor, Dr. Trudier Harris (now a visiting scholar-in-residence at the University of Alabama).
Above Nick Ackerman: Priti Shah and Rachel Stiffler.
Very back left: Laurie Winkler (in red sweater)
Waving hand in upper far right: James Benton
Below is a list of new and revised finding aids for collections held in the University Archives and collections relating to University history. If you have any questions about these collections, please contact Wilson Special Collections Library at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
From 1963 to 1971, the end of the spring semester at UNC was marked by Jubilee. The concert progressed from a relatively small affair on the lawn in front of Graham Memorial to much larger events that took place on Polk Place, Fetzer Field, Kenan Stadium, and Navy Field.
In 1963, the Four Preps, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and Iain Hamilton performed at the first Jubilee. The Four Preps was the main concert on Friday evening and about 5,000 people attended. The Saturday and Sunday afternoon concerts were each attended by about 2,500 people.
1963 Jubilee program from the Records of the Student UnionPhotograph of the 1963 Jubilee from the Records of the Student Union
Since then, a variety of musicians and musical groups, and even one comedian has performed at Jubilee, including Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, The Serendipity Singers, The Sinfonians, The Platters, Johnny Cash and June Carter, The Temptations, Neil Diamond, James Taylor, B.B. King, and Joe Cocker. The comedian was Fred Smoot.
In 1966, the first two nights of Jubilee took place in Carmichael Auditorium because of the weather and then in Polk Place on Sunday afternoon.
The Bitter End Singers performed on Friday night in front of 5,500 people. On Saturday, David, della Rosa, and Brooks, Jay and the Americans, and Al Hirt performed for 7,200 people. And on Sunday afternoon Charlie Byrd performed on stage in Polk Place in front of South Building.
1966 Jubilee program from the Records of the Student Union1969 Jubilee program from the Records of the Student Union
Forty years ago on April 30 – May 2, 1971 the last Jubilee concert was held. And by then the concert had changed a lot from its early years. There were more performers and the crowds were much larger. The performers included Chuck Berry, Spirit, Cowboy, Muddy Waters, the J. Geils Band, the Allman Brothers, and Tom Rush, among several others.
The attendance was 17,500 on Friday night, 23,000 for Saturday night, and 9,000 for Sunday afternoon.
Ticket from the 1971 Jubilee from the Records of the Student Union
A week after the 1971 concert was held, the Student Union Activities Group recommended that Jubilee “be discontinued and that the money be used to increase programming throughout the entire year.” Jubilee had just grown too big and had been marred by complaints about noise, trash, and the large crowds for several years. The 1971 concert with its huge and unruly crowd was the last straw. Concert goers tore down fences and a security guard hired for the event was severely injured trying to stop people from flowing through the holes.
Photograph of the security guard being tackled by concert goers rushing through the holes cut in the fence. Published in the May 5, 1971 edition of the Daily Tar Heel.
Fortunately, the history of Jubilee at UNC is preserved in the University Archives. From programs, memos between University officials, correspondence, contracts with performers, scrapbooks, fliers, posters, photographs, and pins, you can trace the evolution of Jubilee from a small affair in front of Graham Memorial Union to the large crowd at Navy Field.
Of special note is the film of the 1971 Jubilee created by Jim Bramlett, Rick Gibbs, and Charlie Huntley, as well as H. B. Hough, Bill Hatch, Rod Waldorf, Peter Chaikin, Jim Eldridge, and Tom Eshelman. This film is part of the Records of the Student Union and a DVD is available for viewing in the reading rooms of Wilson Library. A short clip from the beginning of the film is available here:
Materials about Jubilee are available in at least a couple of different collections in Wilson Library, and many of the documents and some photographs have been digitized. For more information and links to digitized materials, please see:
Most departments have moved from creating and managing paper records to handling files in digital formats. University Archives is now receiving records of permanent value that are born-digital. We are developing our skills and tools to handle these digital files.
Here are some highlights:
We have a digital repository, the Carolina Digital Repository, where files can be safely stored and preserved.
We use write blockers like the Tableau T35es and Tableau T8-R2 to ensure that materials are not altered during the transfer process.
We have a great tool that prepares the materials for the Carolina Digital Repository called Curator’s Workbench. It’s free, open-source software that other repositories can use for handing digital materials.
If you are part of a unit on campus that has digital materials that you’d like to transfer to University Archives, please contact us.
