University History Council (UHC) Minutes, April 27, 2011
Present: Jay Gaidmore (chair), Bob Anthony, Susan Ballinger, John Blythe, David Brown, Jill Coleman,
Stephen Fletcher, Missy Julian-Fox, Linda Jacobson, Eileen McGrath, Tim McMillan, Cecelia Moore,
Peggy Myers, Gary Pattillo, Jason Tomberlin, Diana Poythress, Wendy Hillis, Tim West, Judy Panitch,
Natasha Smith, Diana Poulimenos.
Not present: Kat Butler, Abir Chatterjee, Anne Douglas, Speed Hallman, and Rich Szary.
I. Introductions
II. Speaker Ban Bibliography/Digital Exhibit: Diana Poythress, an intern from NC State, has been
working on compiling a bibliography of materials related to the Speaker Ban and identifying material
for an online exhibit as part of the Virtual Museum of UNC. Diana presented a small sample of the
exhibit materials and discussed the proposed structure of the digital exhibit. The PowerPoint
presentation included documents and photographs from the Wilson special collections (University
Archives, Southern Historical Collection, and North Carolina Collection). The exhibit will feature
approximately 25-30 digitized documents as well as audio recordings and film footage such as that
used in the Beyond the Wall Documentary. Natasha raised concerns over copyright law and
permission issues in using some of these materials. For oral histories, it was suggested that they
could be accessed via a link on the digital exhibit page to the library catalog. UHC members voiced
some interest in establishing a context for the exhibit and Stephen suggested that the then
implications of the term “communist” be incorporated into the context of the exhibit. Natasha also
suggested that Harry Watson be contacted about this online exhibit project so the Center for the
Study of the American South can review the exhibit since they were partners with the Library in the
creation of the Virtual Museum. Tim McMillan suggested that Diana include editorial cartoons,
especially those from the Daily Tar Heel, in the exhibit as they are often popular. Action—Jay will
contact Harry Watson.
III. Speaker Ban monument update: Cecelia Moore and Wendy Hillis updated the council on the recent
developments with the Speaker Ban monument. Approval to move forward with the monument was
received from the Naming Committee, Building and Grounds Committee, and the Chapel Hill
Historical District. Wendy is now finalizing the materials to be brought to the stone cutter. The
proposed unveiling for the monument is the fall of 2011. It was suggested that the unveiling
coincide with University Day. Permission from the Chancellor’s Office would be needed. John
suggested that President Friday play some sort of role in the unveiling of the monument (i.e. a
written introduction or remarks at the opening) given his involvement with the Speaker Ban during
his tenure in office. The committee agreed that a video recording of the monument unveiling and
information about the planning of the event and the monument would be transferred to the
University Archives. Cecelia also noted that she ran into Jack Lauterer, who has unpublished
photographs from the speaker ban that he may be willing to archive. Action-- Cecelia will notify the
UHC of the finalized date and will send Diana Poythress any additional information on the Speaker
Ban.
IV. Digital Projects: Proposed projects include digitizing the Black Ink and the Daily Tar Heel. A
proposal to digitize the Black Ink will be submitted to the Library Technology Council. The project is
dependent on available resources. As for the Daily Tar Heel, according to Bob approximately 100
reels, namely from the 1950s and 1960s because of their popularity, will be digitized by an outside
vendor. Each reel will cost $200-250 to digitize. The text in these digitized projects will be keyword
searchable. Tim McMillan suggested that these projects could be funded as a class gift to the
University.
There are several online exhibits proposed for the Virtual Museum: Speaker Ban (see above),
Jubilee, and UNC Student Organizations. Materials relating to the spring concert, Jubilee, have been
digitized for an alumni reunion event. And there were materials digitized and text created as part of
the UNC student organizations exhibit in the North Carolina Collection Gallery.
A future digital project is web archiving. Capturing and preserving the websites created by UNC is an
important part, and absolutely essential, to documenting the history of UNC. Wilson Special
Collections is applying for an NEH matching grant to bolster or create endowments for the five
major special collections. The University Archives will raise funds to create an endowment to
support the harvesting, preservation, and archiving of UNC’s web content.
V. University History Portal update: The subcommittee working on the portal will be submitting a
proposal to the Library Technology Council. Further progress is dependent on systems support.
Elizabeth Hull has created a website mockup that can be used to create the website but the search
function requires more technical expertise than the members of subcommittee can offer.
VI. Outreach and Public Programming: A number of past, present, and upcoming programs were
discussed:
a. Hinton James exhibit, February 11-April 12, 2011: Sponsored by the Order of the Bell Tower in
commemoration of Hinton James Day was on display in the cases on the 2nd floor.
b. Student Organizations Event, April 6, 2011: Sponsored in conjunction with the Student
Organizations exhibit. The event took place in the 2nd floor gallery and was successful with 33
(non-staff) attendees. Thanks to Tim West and the Southern Historical Collection for providing
the funds for the refreshments.
c. Coates University History Exhibit and Lecture: UNC alumnus and Di-Phi member, Kevin Cherry,
gave this year’s lecture, And They Always Talked…, on the history of the Dialectic and
Philanthropic Societies. The event was successful and the lecture was posted online on the
North Carolina Collection website. The UHC began to brainstorm potential speakers for next
year’s Coates lecture. It was suggested that the speaker correspond to the upcoming UNC
Buildings exhibit and some aspect of the history of the University’s architecture. Some
potential speakers include Paul Kapp, Catherine Bishir, and Ruth Little. In keeping with tradition,
the speaker should deliver a traditional lecture so that the text can be preserved for future
reference.
d. Super Day of Tours, April 8, 2011: This is the second year that this annual event has occurred.
Tours were given all day on the hour. This year there were approximately 54 participants. This
year’s tour also included “Green” talking points. Missy Julian-Fox stressed the importance of
publicity for the event and an additional push for involvement from the Chapel Hill Visitors
Center. The event was publicized on the UNC website and in Southern Neighbor, but not in other
campus/non-campus publications. It was suggested by several UHC members that an
architectural tour of the campus be offered quarterly each year with the hope that a full
schedule of campus tours be made available. These architectural tours could feature “hidden”
locations on campus and could be modeled after the Chapel Hill Behind Closed Doors tour.
e. Jubilee film and panel discussion, May 7, 2011: This event will be hosted in conjunction with the
General Alumni Association as part of the Class of 1966 and 1971 Reunions. The event will
include an exhibit of material and the presentation of a documentary of the 1971 Jubilee
created by Jim Bramlet, Rick Gibbs, and Charles Huntley. Jay presented the teaser trailer for the
film to the council. It was noted that Springfest originated after Jubilee was canceled in 1971.
f. SILS 80th Anniversary exhibit, Fall 2011: SILS will be using the exhibit cases, currently along the
corridor leading to the second floor reading room, to display materials relating to the founding
and the history of the School of Library and Information Science.
g. Gridiron Glory, Fall 2011: Plans still need to be finalized, but this event is tentatively scheduled
for the University of Virginia football game on September 17, 2011. Like last year, it will include
the video narrated by Woody Durham as well as other UNC football photographs, programs,
memorabilia.
h. Carolina Alumni Review Centennial, 2012: This event still needs to be finalized. Possible
programming includes an exhibit at Wilson and a lecture or panel discussion.
i. Other events, anniversaries, etc.? Jay asked that the UHC members share any other upcoming
events relating to UNC history or anniversaries that they know if or learn about. It was noted
that the Daily Tar Heel will be celebrating their anniversary in the coming year and that a history
of the DTH is being written.
VII. Wilson Sprinkler Project: A handout outlining the project was distributed. While there is no definite
dates set for the project, Jason discussed how the sprinkler system will likely be added from the top
floor to the first floor using a top-down approach. It is estimated that the installation will take
between 6-8 weeks per floor. Researchers, faculty members, and students should be made aware
of these changes, as it will affect the availability of materials. Jason also noted that a link to the
website can be found on the handout. As more information becomes available, it will be posted to
the website.
VIII. Presidential Portraits: Nine Presidential portraits (Joseph Caldwell, David Swain, Kemp Battle,
George Winston, Edwin Alderman, Francis Venable, Edward Graham, Harry Woodburn Chase, and
Frank Porter Graham) from the Di-Phi Portrait Collection will be transferred from the Morehead
Banquet Hall to the third floor of Wilson, in the hallways outside the Grand Reading Room.
Approval is needed from the University Librarian and the Chancellor’s Office before the portraits
and corresponding labels can be hung.
IX. Other Business?: David Brown presented a photograph of Emerson Field taken by G.B. Lamm. The
photograph and others will be used in a slideshow for the reunion of the class of 1941. It was
initially believed that this photograph depicted a different baseball field than Emerson because of
the location of other buildings in the image. Instead, it was discovered that the image was a
composite that had been inadvertently switched when a copy of the negative was made. Stephen is
working on acquiring the original negatives from the family of G.B. Lamm, who was contemporary of
Hugh Morton. Linda mentioned that the Wilson Open House will take place on May 7th from 1-5pm
in the Pleasants Room and will feature a lecture from Bob Forbes ’71 and photographs from Ronald
Searle. Missy Julian-Fox addressed a need for the University to better publicize itself as the first
public University in the nation. She came across videos of past Chancellors welcoming people to the
University (the last video was of Chancellor Hardin) and proposed that similar videos should be
created. Bob suggested that students from the school of Journalism could be helpful in producing
these videos. Tim West mentioned an interesting op-ed written by retired UNC Medical professor,
Dr. William McClendon, in today’s News and Observer that related to the value of education in light
of the current budget cuts.
The meeting adjourned at 2:55 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Diana Poulimenos, April 27, 2011