Cobb Residential Hall

When it opened in 1952, Cobb was the university's largest dorm, constructed at a cost of nearly $1 million and housing more than 400 students. The building is named for Collier Cobb, professor of geology for more than forty years. Cobb joined the faculty in 1892 and taught until shortly before h...

Prisoners of war

A small group of prisoners of war worked briefly at the university during World War II. Camp Butner, located in Granville County about thirty miles northeast of Chapel Hill, began receiving German prisoners of war in the spring of 1944. By the summer some of the prisoners were working as dining hall...

Class gifts

Senior class gifts are a long-standing tradition at UNC—Chapel Hill and other colleges and universities. The outgoing class typically selects a project and raises money from class members and others. The statues of Venus de Milo, Minerva, and Apollo in Murphey Hall were gifts from the classes ...

Common Hall

In 1885 students were eager to have a new ballroom to host dances. When the university was unable to provide one, a group of students formed a private association and had one built on campus on the current site of Phillips Hall. When it wasn't used for dances, the building was leased to the univ...