Chronology

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1. Civil rights era · 1945–1975

2. 1961
   Protest or organizing · Varsity Theatre, Chapel Hill Church and student groups picket Chapel Hill's Varsity Theatre

   Local church groups and student organizations picketed the Varsity Theatre after Black patrons were refused entry. Later that year the management agreed to admit Black UNC students with ID, and the town's theaters were fully desegregated by early 1962.

3. 1969
   Founding or opening · Chapel Hill The Cat's Cradle opens in Chapel Hill

   Cat's Cradle opened in 1969 as a tiny basement music club near the UNC campus, named for Kurt Vonnegut's novel. After moves within Chapel Hill it settled at 300 East Main Street in Carrboro in 1993, where it became a regular stop for touring acts.

4. 1969–2020
   Storyline · 30 events · Chapel Hill The Cat’s Cradle and the “Chapel Hill sound” of the

   The Cat’s Cradle opened in 1969, Merge Records was founded in 1989, and by 1992 Superchunk, Polvo, Archers of Loaf and the clubs of Franklin Street had national magazines asking whether Chapel Hill was the next Seattle. The Cradle moved to Carrboro in 1993, Ben Folds Five and the Squirrel Nut Zippers followed, and Merge’s anniversary festivals and the Cradle’s 50th year in 2019 marked a scene that outlived the label hunt.

5. Recent decades · 1976–2026

6. 2013
   Founding or opening · 300 East Main Street, Carrboro Cat's Cradle opens the Back Room

   The club added a second room holding about 200 people beside its main hall at 300 East Main Street.

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Compiled and maintained by the Friends of the Orange County Public Library from county records, the sources named on each card, and the index’s event pages. Last updated October 4, 2026.