Key local figure

J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton

Hamilton spent 43 years at UNC-Chapel Hill and gathered, on collecting trips across the South in his Ford, the papers that became its Southern Historical Collection. Trained in Columbia's Dunning School, he wrote Reconstruction history that defended white supremacy, arguing that the Ku Klux Klan saved North Carolina from rule by Black people and carpetbaggers.

Source: WUNC: Who Was J.G. de Roulhac Hamilton? Some Want His Name Removed From UNC-CH Building (February 2, 2021)

Also found in catalogs as Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac Hamilton.

1878–1961 · Dates from the Library of Congress · On the Friends’ Local Authors roster → · Library of Congress authority record ↗

6 works about J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton are indexed here.

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each opens in the chronology.

Hamilton and the Southern Historical Collection, 1927–19481927–1948 · From 1927 J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton built what became the Southern Historical Collection, a leading repository of manuscripts on the American South. He announced plans that year for what he first called the National Southern Collection, and in 1929 he gave up the headship of the history department to be free of administrative work; the Weekly reported that he had spent weeks travelling the South gathering old books, letters and diaries. After Sarah Graham Kenan gave $25,000 in 1930, the collection became the Southern Historical Collection, with Hamilton as its first director. From 1932 Elizabeth Henderson Cotten worked as his assistant and became its first curator. Hamilton retired by July 1948, after 42 years with the University. The University's Human Relations Institutes, 1927–19451927–1945 · A weeklong institute in March 1927, arranged by Harry F. Comer of the YMCA, brought James Weldon Johnson, executive secretary of the NAACP, and other speakers on race, labor and world affairs to the University. History chair J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton walked out when Howard Odum introduced Johnson as 'Mister Johnson' and protested to Chase, while a Tar Heel editorial welcomed the visit. The third quadrennial Human Relations Institute, in 1935, brought a week of lectures on government, industry, race and religion, and the Weekly called it a great success. Comer's 1945 institute took the theme 'The Prices of Peace,' with Senator J. William Fulbright giving the Weil lectures on America and world organization.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 19 dated events in the chronology →

1861-1865 At least 1,260 Orange County men serve in the Confederate army J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton counted 1,260 Orange men in Moore's Roster, of whom 249 died in service and 139 were wounded. He thought all three figures too low. People: J. G. de Roulhac HamiltonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 110
February 1906 J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton joins the UNC history faculty Hamilton, born in Hillsborough and trained at Columbia under William A. Dunning, was appointed associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina. He served the university until he retired in 1951.In the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton (Highway Historical Marker G-103) · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), February 15, 1906, p. 3
1914 Historian J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton commissions a house on North Street from N. C. Curtis In 1914 J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, head of the UNC history department and later founder of the Southern Historical Collection, had N. C. Curtis design a one-story house with a pyramid roof at 517 North Street. Two rooms were added in 1924. People: Nathaniel Cortlandt CurtisSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Chapel Hill Historic Sites Survey: Final Report (1992), p. 47
September 1915 The university publishes M. C. S. Noble's county geography bulletin built on Orange County The UNC Bureau of Extension issued The Teaching of County Geography as Extension Series No. 12, an outline for teachers that used Orange County as its worked example, from soils and crops to town histories and school statistics. Education dean M. C. S. Noble wrote it with help from botanist W. C. Coker, state forester J. S. Holmes and historian J. G. de R. Hamilton. People: William Chambers Coker, John Simcox Holmes, J. G. de Roulhac HamiltonSearch the index · M. C. S. Noble (University of North Carolina Bureau of Extension), The Teaching of County Geography (1915), scan p. 7
December 8, 1918 A memorial service for President Graham fills Gerrard Hall Every seat in Gerrard Hall was taken for the formal memorial service for Edward Kidder Graham, held after the epidemic had eased. Horace Williams and R. D. W. Connor spoke, and J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton read a tribute from C. Alphonso Smith. People: R. D. W. Connor, J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Henry Horace Williams, Charles Alphonso Smith, Edward Kidder GrahamSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), p. 177
1927 Hamilton announces plans for a manuscript collection at UNC Hamilton announced plans for what he first called the National Southern Collection of manuscripts at the university. It became the Southern Historical Collection after Sarah Graham Kenan's gift in 1930.In the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton (Highway Historical Marker G-103)
March 1927 James Weldon Johnson speaks at the YMCA's Institute of Human Relations Harry F. Comer's weeklong institute, approved by Chase, brought speakers on race, labor and world affairs. Johnson, NAACP executive secretary, spoke in Memorial Hall and met classes. History chair J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton walked out when Howard Odum introduced him as 'Mister Johnson' and protested to Chase, while a Tar Heel editorial by David Donald Carroll welcomed the visit. People: Howard W. Odum, J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Harry F. ComerSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), pp. 362-364
June 10, 1929 J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton gives up the history department to gather Southern papers, and R. D. W. Connor succeeds him On June 10, 1929, the trustees made R. D. W. Connor head of the department of history and government in place of J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, who resigned the post to be free of administrative work. The Weekly reported that Hamilton had spent several weeks travelling the South gathering old books, letters, diaries and periodicals on Southern history. People: R. D. W. ConnorSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 14, 1929, p. 6
By May 1930 The Southern Historical Collection is established In May 1930 Sarah Graham Kenan of Wilmington gave UNC $25,000 to buy books, periodicals, letters and diaries for the Southern Historical Collection being gathered by history professor J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, who became its first director. The Chapel Hill Weekly called the giver Mrs. Graham Kenan of Wilmington, who had earlier endowed a philosophy fellowship in her husband's memory. Kept in the new library, the collection grew into a leading repository of manuscripts on the American South. People: J. G. de Roulhac HamiltonSearch the index · NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton (Highway Historical Marker G-103) · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, May 23, 1930, p. 4
1932 Elizabeth Henderson Cotten becomes assistant to J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton at the Southern Historical Collection Six years after moving to Chapel Hill as a widow, Elizabeth Henderson Cotten began work as J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton's assistant in building the Southern Historical Collection in the university library, and became its first curator. People: J. G. de Roulhac HamiltonSearch the index · NCpedia: Cotten, Elizabeth Brownrigg Henderson (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, C. Sylvester Green)
May 27, 1932 Friends of the Library is organized at a dinner at the Carolina Inn Men and women interested in the University library formed the association with John Sprunt Hill of Durham as chairman and Dr. Fred M. Hanes of Winston-Salem as vice-chairman, praised the departing librarian Louis R. Wilson, and made him an honorary life member. Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire recalled the library of fifty years before. People: John Sprunt Hill, Louis Round Wilson, J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Joseph Blount Cheshire Jr.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 3, 1932, p. 3
by June 23, 1933 Federal relief money pays library workers to sort the Southern Historical Collection An allotment of federal relief funds administered by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation let the University Library put workers to sorting and cataloguing the Southern Historical Collection, some 100,000 books, pamphlets, letters and diaries that J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton had gathered across the South and that had waited in the library basement for lack of money. The same aid paid for work on a bibliography of Southern Americana. People: J. G. de Roulhac HamiltonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 23, 1933, p. 1

Show all 19 dated events

November 18-20, 1937 The Southern Historical Association meets at Chapel Hill and Duke About 700 delegates were expected for the three-day meeting, with Fletcher M. Green, the association's secretary-treasurer, in charge of the program. The University Library put on an exhibit from the Southern Historical Collection gathered by J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, which the Weekly said drew more interest from the visitors than anything else at the convention. People: Fletcher Melvin Green, J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, R. B. House, Hugh Talmage LeflerSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 26, 1937, p. 1
1948 James Welch Patton becomes director of the Southern Historical Collection Patton succeeded J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton as director of the Southern Historical Collection at the UNC library and taught a North Carolina history course each year while he held the post. People: J. G. de Roulhac HamiltonSearch the index · NCpedia: Patton, James Welch
by July 29, 1948 J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton retires as director of the Southern Historical Collection By July 29, 1948, J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton had resigned as director of the university's Southern Historical Collection, retiring after 42 years with the University of North Carolina.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 29, 1948, p. 4
November 14, 1961 Historian J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton is buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton (1878-1961), the Hillsborough-born historian who built the Southern Historical Collection in the university library, died at his home in Chapel Hill on Saturday, November 11, 1961, aged 83. After a memorial service on Tuesday, November 14, at the Chapel of the Cross, he was buried in the cemetery.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, National Register nomination (OR0496), p. 23 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 16, 1961, p. 8
1972 UNC names its new history building Hamilton Hall The university named the new building occupied by its History Department for J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, founder of the Southern Historical Collection.Search the index · NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton (Highway Historical Marker G-103)
1989 A state highway marker for Hamilton is cast for Churton Street in Hillsborough The North Carolina highway historical marker G-103, which marks Hamilton's birthplace half a block west as historian, professor and founder of the Southern Historical Collection, was first cast in 1989 for US 70 Business (Churton Street) in Hillsborough.Search the index · NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton (Highway Historical Marker G-103)
2020 Renaming of Hamilton Hall is recommended After a reevaluation of Hamilton's career, the building housing UNC's History Department was recommended for a name change. Critics pointed to his white supremacist Reconstruction scholarship and to a manuscript collection gathered from white families.Search the index · NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton (Highway Historical Marker G-103)

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, 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.

Elizabeth Henderson Cotten 1 entry: Elizabeth Henderson Cotten becomes assistant to J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton at the Southern Historical Collection (1932)
Fletcher Melvin Green 1 entry: The Southern Historical Association meets at Chapel Hill and Duke (November 18-20, 1937)
Harry F. Comer 1 entry: James Weldon Johnson speaks at the YMCA's Institute of Human Relations (March 1927)
Howard W. Odum 1 entry: James Weldon Johnson speaks at the YMCA's Institute of Human Relations (March 1927)
Hugh Talmage Lefler 1 entry: The Southern Historical Association meets at Chapel Hill and Duke (November 18-20, 1937)
James Welch Patton 1 entry: James Welch Patton becomes director of the Southern Historical Collection (1948)
John Simcox Holmes 1 entry: The university publishes M. C. S. Noble's county geography bulletin built on Orange County (September 1915)
John Sprunt Hill 1 entry: Friends of the Library is organized at a dinner at the Carolina Inn (May 27, 1932)
Joseph Blount Cheshire Jr. 1 entry: Friends of the Library is organized at a dinner at the Carolina Inn (May 27, 1932)
Louis Round Wilson 1 entry: Friends of the Library is organized at a dinner at the Carolina Inn (May 27, 1932)
M. C. S. Noble 1 entry: The university publishes M. C. S. Noble's county geography bulletin built on Orange County (September 1915)
Nathaniel Cortlandt Curtis 1 entry: Historian J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton commissions a house on North Street from N. C. Curtis (1914)

Show 3 more

R. B. House 1 entry: The Southern Historical Association meets at Chapel Hill and Duke (November 18-20, 1937)
R. D. W. Connor 1 entry: J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton gives up the history department to gather Southern papers, and R. D. W. Connor succeeds him (June 10, 1929)
William Chambers Coker 1 entry: The university publishes M. C. S. Noble's county geography bulletin built on Orange County (September 1915)

Indexed works

Works about or by J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

Remarks at the rededication of the Louis Round Wilson Library

Heard, Alexander, 1917-2009 · 1990

Alexander Heard's remarks at the rededication of the Louis Round Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on April 29, 1988, printed in 1990. The address also concerns J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, founder of the Southern Historical Collection housed there. Issued together with pieces by Roberta Engleman on the Rare Book Collection, H. G. Jones on the North Carolina Collection and Michael R. McVaugh on Elisha Mitchell's books.