Caption This! Vote For Your Favorite!

Thank you everyone for your submissions to our latest caption contest! We had a ball reading all of the captions! Now it’s time for you to vote for your favorite. We’ll announce the winner next week!

Click on the captioned photographs to view larger images.

Vote for your favorite!

Caption This Photo! Caption Contest

Have you ever seen a picture and thought, I bet that person/cat/dog/inanimate object is thinking/saying…? Well if you’ve been wanting to creatively caption a photo, here’s your chance with University Archives’ caption contest!

Take a look at the photo below and the kid circled in red on the left.  Doesn’t look too thrilled to be at his grandfather’s reunion, does he?

From Image Folder 10, Records of the News Services of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, #40139, University Archives, Wilson Library.  Click image for a larger view.
From Image Folder 10, Records of the News Services of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, #40139, University Archives, Wilson Library. Click image for a larger view.

Taken at a 1946 reunion supper, the photograph above shows the “Old Students Club” and their guests. The club was comprised of students who had graduated 50 or more years previously. The circled child, Billy Turrentine, was the grandson of another man on the second row, Dr. Samuel Bryant Turrentine of Greensboro. Dr. Turrentine graduated from UNC in 1887 with both an AB and MA (presumably in journalism).

What's on Billy's brain?
What’s on Billy’s brain?

If you have an idea of what Billy might be thinking, leave us a comment below.  We’ll post the winning caption next week along with a few of our favorites. 

Inspired by the New Yorker Magazine’s cartoon caption contest. See the contest and past captions here

A Beautiful Legacy: Collecting Greek Life at UNC

Phi Mu Chapter Association (alumnae) President Debra Pickrel and House Corporation Director Karen O’Donnell Dias discuss which materials the chapter will present to University Archives first.
Phi Mu Chapter Association (alumnae) President Debra Pickrel and House Corporation Director Karen O’Donnell Dias discuss which materials the chapter will present to University Archives first.

Over the past year and a half, UNC Chapel Hill’s University Archives has actively pursued student groups in an effort to better represent the history of student life. However, there are a lot of student groups to choose from on our active campus. One of our priorities has been to collect Greek life materials. Because more than 3,000 students on our campus are involved in Greek life, fraternities and sororities are a part of the Carolina Experience for many students.

This semester, Phi Mu will be the first of UNC’s sororities to deposit its materials in University Archives for safekeeping. While we have some fraternity records (including Delta Kappa Epsilon and Chi Psi), sorority records have been noticeably absent in our holdings. As the Gamma Lambda chapter of Phi Mu approached planning for its 50th anniversary in 2014, alumnae began to reflect on their chapter’s history. Realizing that historic materials were stored in several disparate places and that many items could use conservation and preservation, they were eager to find a way to store them in a single location under archival conditions. Participating in the new University Archives initiative will accomplish this and facilitate all future anniversary research.

Phi Mu Chapter Association (alumnae) President Debra Pickrel (center left) shows University Archives and Records Management graduate assistant Morgan Jones a construction photo of the sorority’s house at 211 Henderson Street as Chapter Historian Lauren Spoenimon (far left) and Chapter President Mary Maher (far right) look on.
Phi Mu Chapter Association (alumnae) President Debra Pickrel (center left) shows University Archives and Records Management graduate assistant Morgan Jones a construction photo of the sorority’s house at 211 Henderson Street as Chapter Historian Lauren Spoenimon (far left) and Chapter President Mary Maher (far right) look on.

When Phi Mu’s Gamma Lambda chapter colonized at Carolina in 1964, the Board of Trustees had just approved the admittance of women regardless of their residence or major; however, admittance was still extremely competitive because of the scarcity of housing for female students. With the loan of Phi Mu’s 1964-1965 scrapbook and other materials to University Archives, researchers and chapter sisters alike will be able to understand how Phi Mu began its first 50 years on Carolina’s campus.

We look forward to working with Phi Mu as well as other sororities this year to increase the representation of Greek organizations in University Archives!

If you are a member of a Greek fraternity or sorority and wish to deposit materials in the archives for safe keeping, please contact us!

“A Dialogue Between Old and New” and “Knowledge Building(s)”

Two new exhibits featuring University Archives materials are on display in the North Carolina Collection Gallery and the Davis Library Gallery starting this week!

A Dialogue Between Old and New and Knowledge Building(s) Posters

Continue reading ““A Dialogue Between Old and New” and “Knowledge Building(s)””

Electrifying the UNC Campus

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?

Continue reading “Electrifying the UNC Campus”

New and revised finding aids for University Archives and University history-related collections

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.

New:

Carolina Association for Medieval Studies (#40282): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40282.html

Carolina Center for Jewish Studies (#40283): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40283.html

Music Library (#40225): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40225.html

Retired Faculty Association (#40231): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40231.html

School of Journalism and Mass Communication (#40280): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40280.html

University of North Carolina Hospitals Volunteer Association (#40330): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40330.html

Revised:

Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition (#40122): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40122.html

Department of University Housing (#40129): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40129.html

Dialectic Society (#40152): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40152.html

Division of Extension and Continuing Education (#40137): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40137.html

News Service (#40139): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40139.html

Office of the Dean of the Graduate School (#40107): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40107.html

Office of the Registrar and Director of Institutional Research (#40138): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40138.html

Office of the Dean of Women (#40125): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40125.html

University Development Program (#40136): http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40136.html

University history-related collections:

School of Public Health Photographic Collection (NCC Photographic Archives, P0059): http://library.unc.edu/wilson/ncc/pcoll/inv/P0059/P0059.html 

Jubilee at UNC!

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
1963 Jubilee program from the Records of the Student Union
Photograph of the 1963 Jubilee
Photograph 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
1966 Jubilee program from the Records of the Student Union
1969 Program
1969 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
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.

Daily Tar Heel photograph of the 1971 Jubilee
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: