Entries

Granville Towers

Granville Towers opened in 1966 as an experiment in a new type of campus housing. The two high-rise buildings on Franklin Street, built on the site of the old Chapel Hill High School, would house more than 1,000 students in the country's first example of a private dorm. Granville Towers was built by a private company in cooperation with the university. While students enjoyed more amenities than those in traditional dorms, they still had to follow university rules about drinking and hours, and there were graduate counselors on every floor. More expensive than campus housing options, Granville Towers offered a more luxurious and more independent living experience, with furnished rooms, private bathrooms, a cafeteria, parking, and, perhaps most coveted by students, air conditioning in every room.

The towers were originally divided by gender: men in the west building, women in the east. In 2009 UNC—Chapel Hill purchased Granville Towers and the adjacent shopping center, but the towers continued to be run by a private company in cooperation with the university.

Date Established: 1964

Date Range: 1964 – Present

Graham Student Union

Carolina students began advocating for a new student union as early as the 1950s. The Graham Memorial Building, dedicated in 1931, was ill-suited for the needs of the post–World War II generation of students. The new union was part of an effort to expand and modernize student services at the university, built at the same time as the new Student Stores building and House Undergraduate Library. The modern architectural style of the new buildings was not popular with everyone, as seen in debates in the Daily Tar Heel at the time, but the increase in space was definitely welcomed. The Graham Student Union opened for students in 1969. The new building featured expanded office space, meeting rooms, lounges, snack bar, and a bowling alley. It was expanded in 1981 and again in the early 2000s.

The building is named for Frank Porter Graham, one of the most beloved figures in UNC–Chapel Hill history. A 1909 graduate of Carolina, Graham was a popular history professor at UNC before being elected as president of the university in 1930. In 1931 he was appointed president of the consolidated University of North Carolina. Graham oversaw the university system through the difficult years of the Great Depression and the subsequent boom in enrollment and building during and after World War II. He is usually remembered best for his concern for students and for his progressive politics.

Graham was widely popular with students, especially in Chapel Hill. Future university and state leaders, such as UNC System president William C. Friday and state governor Terry Sanford, cited Graham as a formative influence on their careers. Graham was often less popular around the state and was criticized for his support of organized labor and civil rights. His willingness to speak out on social and political issues was tempered by his reluctance to do anything that he felt would harm the university. When Pauli Murray applied to attend graduate school at UNC in 1939, Graham responded that it was too soon for him to publicly advocate for admitting African Americans to the university, fearful that doing so would “cause a throwback to a darker time.”

In 1949 Graham was appointed to serve out the remainder of a vacant term in the U.S. Senate. Widely expected to win reelection in 1950, he was defeated in the primary by Willis Smith, whose campaign focused heavily on Graham’s support of civil rights and integration. The loss was a blow not just to Graham but to his many devoted supporters among students and alumni. Graham would spend the remainder of his career working at the United Nations but was a frequent presence in Chapel Hill until his death in 1972.

Date Established: 1964

Date Range: 1964 – Present

Graham Residence Hall

Graham Residence Hall opened in 1924, alongside two other new dorms (Aycock and Lewis). It was named in 1928 for John Washington Graham, the son of former governor and U.S. senator William A. Graham. After graduating from UNC in 1857 and serving in the Confederate army, where he was wounded twice, he had a successful career as a lawyer. Graham was an active member of the conservative party that sought to overturn Reconstruction-era reforms in the state. As a member of the state senate in the early 1870s, he was active in the ultimately successful effort to impeach Governor William Holden. During the trial Graham suggested that the crimes committed by robed Ku Klux Klan members in the late 1860s were actually done by disguised African Americans. Graham was a member of the UNC Board of Trustees for more than fifty years.

Date Established: 1924

Date Range: 1924 – Present

Glee Club

One of the university's oldest student clubs, the UNC Glee Club was founded in 1848 at the suggestion of math instructor Charles Phillips. The club soon became a fixture at celebrations and official events and helped introduce at least a couple of notable songs. In 1878 the Glee Club was the first group to perform "The Old North State," which would later become the state song of North Carolina. At the club's 1897 commencement performance they introduced a new piece, "Hark the Sound," which was soon adopted as the university's alma mater. In 1934 women students at the university organized a Women's Glee Club. The men's club often performed outside of Chapel Hill, traveling around the state and country for concerts and going on extended tours of Europe in 1927 and 1966. In June 1966, the Men's Glee Club performed before a national audience in an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. The Men's and Women's Glee Clubs remain active on campus and are now overseen by the Department of Music.