Skip to content

Local figure

William D. Carmichael Jr.

Carmichael graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1921 and returned to Chapel Hill in 1940 as finance officer of the consolidated university, later comptroller and vice-president. He raised money for the four-year teaching hospital at Chapel Hill, helped administer the Morehead Planetarium gift, and was acting president in 1949 and 1950.

Source: NCpedia: Carmichael, William Donald, Jr.

Also found in catalogs as William Donald Carmichael.

1900–1961 as the Library of Congress records it · Library of Congress authority record ↗

8 indexed works are connected with this person, and the index includes one work by William D. Carmichael Jr..

William D. Carmichael Jr., Yackety Yack, 1921
William D. Carmichael Jr., Yackety Yack, 1921

Indexed works

Works in the index that concern this person directly, or were written by them. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it; background reading with wider context sits further down.

By William D. Carmichael Jr.

Veterans : a report to the governor and to the trustees of the University of North Carolina

Carmichael, William Donald, Jr., 1900-1961; University of North Carolina (1793-1962); University of North Carolina (System). Board of Trustees · 1946 · University of North Carolina

William Donald Carmichael, Jr. reported to the governor and to the trustees of the University of North Carolina in May 1946 on the veterans then arriving at Chapel Hill under the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, the law known as the G.I. Bill. Printed at Chapel Hill by the university.

UNC

About William D. Carmichael Jr.

Selection of correspondence to Paul M. Gross, Vice-President of Duke University, regarding the Governor's Advisory Committee on Nuclear Energy and draft legislation.

Whyburn, William M. (William Marvin), 1901-1972 · 1959

Letters of 1959 to Duke vice president Paul M. Gross from William M. Whyburn of the University of North Carolina and others, on the Governor's Advisory Committee on Nuclear Energy. Included are a draft act on ionizing radiation, radiation machines, radioactive materials and atomic energy, and papers on a Southern interstate nuclear effort. Luther Hodges, Dean W. Colvard and J. W. Roy Norton are among those named. 36 images.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Carmichael, William Donald, Jr., 1900-1961.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Selection of correspondence to and from Paul M. Gross, Vice-President of Duke University, regarding the North Carolina Atomic Energy Commission.

Gross, Paul M. · 1956

Paul M. Gross, vice president of Duke University, exchanged these letters from 1956 to 1958 about a North Carolina Atomic Energy Commission. With them are a report to the Governor's Advisory Committee on Nuclear Energy and proposed state legislation on radioactive materials. Governor Luther Hodges and William D. Carmichael Jr. of the University of North Carolina are among the names involved. 34 images.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Carmichael, William Donald, Jr., 1900-1961.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Tennis group (Charlie Justice), circa early 1950s

Morton, Hugh M. · 1950

Group on a tennis court, probably in Chapel Hill, in the early 1950s. From left: Charlie 'Choo Choo' Justice, the UNC football star, with Orville Campbell, Bob Cox and William D. Carmichael Jr. Hugh Morton photograph on black-and-white sheet film.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

Francis Lavergne Johnson photographic collection, 1948-1971.

Johnson, Francis Lavergne, 1901-1971 · 1948

About 1,860 photographs made by Francis Lavergne Johnson (1901-1971) between 1948 and 1971, 1.8 linear feet in the North Carolina Collection at UNC. Johnson photographed university faculty and employees, and subjects include William Aycock, Katherine Kennedy Carmichael, Albert Coates, Paul Green, Charlie Justice, Josephina Niggli and Louis Round Wilson among those who worked at Chapel Hill in those years.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Carmichael, William Donald, Jr., 1900-1961.

UNC

Roland Giduz photographic collection, 1947-1970.

Giduz, Roland · 1947

Photographs made by Roland Giduz between 1947 and 1970, about 19,000 items across eleven linear feet in the North Carolina Collection at UNC. Topics include university buildings, commencements, drama productions, faculty and alumni, and baseball, basketball and football, along with the Carolina Inn and Kenan Memorial Stadium, and named figures including Frank Porter Graham, Gordon Gray and John F. Kennedy.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Carmichael, William Donald, Jr., 1900-1961.

UNC

Billy Carmichael

Morton, Hugh M. · 1940

Hugh Morton's photograph of William D. 'Billy' Carmichael, the University of North Carolina's comptroller, at a banquet tied to UNC-Chapel Hill. Taken in the 1940s or early 1950s on 4 x 5 inch sheet film.

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

Show 2 more about William D. Carmichael Jr.

Records of the Office of the Vice President for Finance, 1923-1972 (bulk 1940-1960).

University of North Carolina (System). Office of the Vice President for Finance · 1923

Financial and administrative files from the Office of the Vice President for Finance of the University of North Carolina System, 1923 to 1972 with most material from 1940 to 1960. About 24,000 items fill thirty linear feet in the University Archives at UNC, collection 40011. Subjects include William Donald Carmichael Jr., campus buildings and facilities planning, system finance, and the Second World War.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Carmichael, William Donald, Jr., 1900-1961.

UNC

Carmichael Auditorium: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

William Donald Carmichael Auditorium on the UNC campus in an undated exterior photograph, from the UNC Campus binder of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection (CHHS.002).

Why this is here: Their name appears in the record.

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 7 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Louis Graves starts a newspaper campaign to give Franklin Street a Williamsburg look Feeling the business district looked shabby beside the new campus, Chapel Hill Weekly editor Louis Graves began praising Colonial Williamsburg's shops in editorials. Joseph Hyde Pratt, John M. Booker, W. D. Carmichael Jr., Collier Cobb and George Watts Hill backed the plan, and architect Archie Davis gave the planning commission watercolors showing owners how to remodel. People: Joseph Hyde Pratt, William D. Carmichael Jr., George Watts Hill, Archie Royal DavisSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 68
  2. University controller William D. Carmichael Jr. builds a large brick house in Laurel Hill William Carmichael and his wife had one of the biggest Colonial Revival houses in town built at 106 Laurel Hill Circle, a red brick house with a classical entrance and flanking wings.Search the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 65
  3. William D. Carmichael Jr. returns to Chapel Hill as the university's finance officer Carmichael left a New York Stock Exchange partnership and came back in 1940 to serve the consolidated University of North Carolina as finance officer. As finance officer, comptroller and then vice-president he raised money from the legislature, foundations, corporations and individuals. People: William Donald CarmichaelSearch the index · NCpedia: Carmichael, William Donald, Jr.
  4. Chapel Hill appoints its first town planning commission After more than a year of urging by the Chapel Hill Weekly, the town named a five-member planning commission to review the design of new and remodeled buildings. It set the Colonial Revival look of downtown for the next decade. People: William D. Carmichael Jr., Herman G. Baity, Joseph Hyde Pratt, Clyde EubanksSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Chapel Hill Town Hall, National Register nomination (OR0327), p. 10
  5. Carmichael serves as acting president of the consolidated university Carmichael was acting president in 1949 and 1950, after Frank Porter Graham resigned to take a seat in the United States Senate. People: Frank Porter Graham, William Donald CarmichaelSearch the index · NCpedia: Carmichael, William Donald, Jr.
  6. Kay Kyser helps raise the money to put WUNC-TV on the air Kay Kyser toured the state with William C. Friday and Billy Carmichael Jr. to raise money for UNC's educational television station, which went on the air from Chapel Hill in January 1955. People: William C. Friday, William D. Carmichael Jr.Search the index · Our State: The 1950s: UNC On The Air
  7. UNC names its Chapel Hill gymnasium for William D. Carmichael Jr. Four years after his death the university named the gymnasium at Chapel Hill for Carmichael. NCpedia lists buildings named for him on three campuses, the television building at Greensboro, the gymnasium at Raleigh and the auditorium at Chapel Hill. People: William Donald CarmichaelSearch the index · Carolina Story: William D. Carmichael, Jr., (1900-1961) and Carmichael Auditorium

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 1 with a known location.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins mark the middle of their mapped buildings.

All places and the county map →

Named with them in the chronology

People named in the same dated entries as William D. Carmichael Jr., those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

Search further

The index lists works with an Orange County connection. To find everything else about William D. Carmichael Jr., search these catalogs.

Books about William D. Carmichael Jr.

Books by William D. Carmichael Jr.

More catalogs that show where copies are

Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Searched with the Library of Congress heading Carmichael, William Donald, Jr., 1900-1961, so the results are about this person and not others with the same name. Each link opens that catalog’s own results in a new tab. The Friends have not reviewed what they return.

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

Research sources

Additional research sources

Other catalogs to search and local organizations that can help.

Picture: William D. Carmichael Jr., Yackety Yack, 1921. Public domain. Yackety Yack, 1921 (University of North Carolina yearbook); via the Internet Archive

More to discover

Keep Reading Local

The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.

Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026