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Local figure

William S. Powell

William S. Powell was librarian of UNC's North Carolina Collection from 1951 to 1973 and then taught North Carolina history at the university until 1986, to more than 6,000 students. He wrote or edited more than 100 books, pamphlets and articles on the state, among them a pictorial history of the university, and died in Chapel Hill in 2015.

Source: UNC News Archives: Noted historian William Powell left his mark on state (April 16, 2015)

1919–2015 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

2 works about William S. Powell are indexed here, as are 6 works by Powell.

Search these 2 works Research sources View indexed works ↓
William S. Powell, 2015
William S. Powell, 2015

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 11 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Orange County is created The colonial assembly formed Orange County from portions of Bladen, Granville, and Johnston counties. Its original boundaries were far larger than those of present-day Orange County. It has long been said to be named for William of Orange, King William III of England; William S. Powell's North Carolina Gazetteer, quoted in the supplementary notes to later printings of Corbitt's Formation of the North Carolina Counties, argues for the infant William V of Orange, then stadholder and a grandson of George II. People: William S. Powell Place: CountywideNCpedia · Also: Internet Archive: David Leroy Corbitt, The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943
  2. William S. Powell becomes curator of the North Carolina Collection Powell, who had joined the university library's North Carolina Collection in 1951, was named its curator after Mary Lindsay Thornton retired. People: Mary Lindsay Thornton Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: North Carolina CollectionIn the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · NCpedia: Powell, William S.
  3. The university funds a research assistant for William S. Powell's North Carolina gazetteer The University of North Carolina Research Council approved a grant, effective July 1, 1960, so that William S. Powell, librarian of the North Carolina Collection, could have a research assistant for compiling a gazetteer of the state. George W. Stevenson Jr., a student from Kinston, took the work. The trustees had also named Powell to a five-year term on the board of governors of the University Press. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: George W. Stevenson Jr. · Also mentions: North Carolina CollectionSearch the index · Internet Archive: "Historical News", North Carolina Historical Review 37 (1960), p. 601
  4. The new Historic Hillsborough Commission holds its first meeting at the courthouse The members of the newly appointed Historic Hillsborough Commission met for the first time at the Orange County Courthouse under chairman Dr. R. J. Murphy. Elizabeth Henderson Cotten of Chapel Hill was among the members. People: Elizabeth Henderson Cotten, Mary Claire Engstrom, William S. Powell Place: Orange County Courthouse, Hillsborough · Also named: R. J. MurphySearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 17, 1963, p. 1
  5. Powell moves from the North Carolina Collection to the history faculty Powell left the North Carolina Collection to teach North Carolina history on the UNC faculty, where he stayed until 1986 and taught more than 6,000 students. Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: North Carolina CollectionIn the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · UNC News Archives: Noted historian William Powell left his mark on state (April 16, 2015)
  6. H. G. Jones becomes curator of the North Carolina Collection Jones succeeded William S. Powell as curator of UNC's North Carolina Collection and adjunct professor of history. He held the curatorship until he retired in 1994. People: H. G. Jones, William S. Powell Place: Wilson Library, University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Historical Society of North Carolina: Dr. H. G. Jones
  7. The North Caroliniana Society is chartered H. G. Jones, William S. Powell and Louis M. Connor Jr. chartered the North Caroliniana Society to promote North Carolina's historical, cultural and literary heritage. Its office is at UNC, and its main beneficiary is the North Carolina Collection. People: H. G. Jones, William S. Powell Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: Louis M. Connor Jr. · Also mentions: North Carolina CollectionIn the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · North Caroliniana Society: About
  8. UNC gives Distinguished Alumnus Awards to Gordon Gray, Shelby Foote, Guy and Guion Johnson and Frank Borden Hanes At the University Day convocation in Memorial Hall, marking 182 years since the Old East cornerstone, UNC gave Distinguished Alumnus Awards to former University president Gordon Gray, novelist and historian Shelby Foote, the Chapel Hill sociologists Guy B. and Guion G. Johnson, and author Frank Borden Hanes. History professor William S. Powell spoke on past University Days. People: Gordon Gray, Shelby Foote, Guy Benton Johnson, Guion Griffis Johnson, William S. Powell, N. Ferebee Taylor Place: Memorial Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Frank Borden HanesSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 13, 1975, p. 1
  9. UNC Press publishes the first volume of the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography The University of North Carolina Press published the first volume of the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, edited by UNC history professor William S. Powell, in December 1979, after seven years of planning. It held more than 700 of a planned 4,000 sketches in eight volumes, many written by Powell's students, and Powell said he had made an extra effort to include Black people, women and Indians. People: William S. Powell Place: UNC Press, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 21, 1980, p. 2
  10. UNC's School of Library Science celebrates its 50th anniversary More than 350 librarians came to Chapel Hill for the school's 50th anniversary, with lectures on library education, a reception honoring former director Susan Grey Akers, 91, and Distinguished Alumnus awards to five graduates, among them historian William S. Powell. People: Susan Grey Akers, William S. Powell Place: University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 27, 1981, p. 2
  11. UNC Press issues the Bicentennial edition of William Powell's The First State University The UNC Press issued a Bicentennial edition of Professor Emeritus William S. Powell's pictorial history The First State University, first published in 1972, adding a section on the University into the 1990s and newly found photographs, among them the earliest known picture of the student body. The Bicentennial Observance office said the book marked the start of the campus's Bicentennial celebration. People: William S. Powell Place: UNC Press, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 14, 1992, p. 3

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as William S. Powell, 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.

Indexed works

Works about or by William S. Powell. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

By William S. Powell

The War of the Regulation and the Battle of Alamance, May 16, 1771

Powell, William S. · 1976 · State Dept. of Archives and History

William S. Powell's short account of the War of the Regulation and its end at the Battle of Alamance on May 16, 1771, when Governor Tryon's militia defeated the backcountry Regulators. The fighting took place in what was then Orange County, and Hillsborough, the county seat, had been the center of the Regulators' grievances and riots. Issued by the State Department of Archives and History, 32 pages with illustrations, facsimiles, a portrait and a folding map; this printing is dated 1976.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 975.6 POW NC Cardinal Library of Congress

Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill : a student's guide to localized history

Powell, William S., 1919-2015 · 1968 · Teachers College Press

William S. Powell's guide for students taking up the local history of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, published in 1968 by Teachers College Press in New York. Forty-one pages of outlines and reading suggestions with bibliographies. Powell was the longtime historian of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the guide points a beginner to the sources for each of the three towns.

UNC Library of Congress NC Cardinal

William Stevens Powell papers, 1880s, 1930s-2006.

Powell, William S., 1919-2015 · 1884

Papers of the historian William S. Powell (1919-2015), covering the 1880s and the 1930s through 2006, about 162,000 items in 228 linear feet, part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 4190. Powell taught in the history department at Chapel Hill, and topics include his work with the Historical Society of North Carolina, the Roanoke Island Historical Association, and the teaching of state history.

UNC

The first state university : a pictorial history of the University of North Carolina

Powell, William S. · 1992

William S. Powell's pictorial history of the University of North Carolina, first published in 1979 and issued here in a third edition, revised and enlarged, by the University of North Carolina Press in 1992. Illustrations and maps, many in color, carry the account of the Chapel Hill campus, with Powell's text between them. 389 pages in a large format.

NC Cardinal UNC Duke Durham Chapel Hill PL Library of Congress CH Historical Society

University Days of the past

Powell, William S., 1919-2015 · 1975

Delivered on University Day, October 12, 1975, William S. Powell's address looks back at earlier University Days at Chapel Hill. Seven leaves, published in the town without a named publisher. It concerns the celebrations and the history of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the short anniversary talks the campus produced each October.

UNC

The North Carolina Collection : acquisition policy

Powell, William S., 1919-2015 · 1959

A statement of acquisition policy for the North Carolina Collection, written by William S. Powell and issued at Chapel Hill in 1959. Topics include library acquisitions in North Carolina and the university library, so the document records the collecting scope set for its North Carolina material.

UNC

About William S. Powell

Recording with William S. Powell, 1983 (Chapel Hill Historical Society cassette)

1983

Historian William S. Powell, who taught North Carolina history at UNC, recorded in 1983 for the Chapel Hill Historical Society. Oral history cassette in the Society's Audiovisual Materials Collection, CHHS.012.

Included because: Its title names this person.

CH Historical Society

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this person. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 378.756 POW The First State University: A Pictorial History of the University of North Carolina Powell, William Stevens · 1972

    William S. Powell's pictorial history of the University of North Carolina from its founding in 1793, published by the University of North Carolina Press in Chapel Hill in 1972. Powell, the university's longtime historian, presents the institution's past through photographs and drawings with connecting text. 348 pages with illustrations in a large format.

  • Start here · NC 917.56 POW The North Carolina Gazetteer Powell, William Stevens · 1968

    William S. Powell, curator of the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina, compiled this dictionary of North Carolina places, from towns and communities to rivers, creeks, mountains and other natural features, giving the location of each and notes on the history of many. University of North Carolina Press, 1968; 561 pages with maps. A revised edition with Michael Hill appeared in 2010.

  • Start here · 975.6 POW North Carolina Through Four Centuries Powell, William Stevens · 1989

    William S. Powell, for years librarian and curator of the North Carolina Collection at Chapel Hill and later a professor of history there, wrote this one-volume history of the state across four centuries, covering its politics and government. It won the Mayflower Cup for nonfiction in 1989. Published by UNC Press; 652 pages, illustrated, with a 23-page bibliography and an index.

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  • Foundational · NC 975.6 POW North Carolina: A Bicentennial History Powell, William Stevens · 1977

    William S. Powell, curator of the North Carolina Collection at Chapel Hill from 1958, wrote this history of the state for Norton's States and the Nation series, issued for the national bicentennial. It carries North Carolina from colonial days to the 1970s through its main events and portraits of notable men and women. Published in 1977, 221 pages with plates, a bibliography and an index; later reissued with a new chapter reaching into the 1980s.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 378.73 POW Higher Education in North Carolina Powell, William Stevens · 1970

    A brief history of higher education in North Carolina by William S. Powell, with short accounts of the state's colleges and universities, including some that no longer exist. The State Department of Archives and History first issued it in 1964; this second edition of 1970 has 80 pages with illustrations, a map and a group portrait.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.657 POW When the Past Refused to Die: A History of Caswell County, North Carolina, 1777-1977 Powell, William Stevens · 1977

    Caswell County's first two centuries, from its creation out of Orange County in 1777 to 1977, in a history by the Chapel Hill historian William S. Powell. Moore Publishing Company of Durham issued the 619 pages, with illustrations, maps, portraits and an index, in 1977.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.6 POW The War of the Regulation and the Battle of Alamance, May 16, 1771 Powell, William Stevens · 1975

    William S. Powell's short account of the War of the Regulation and its end at the Battle of Alamance on May 16, 1771, when Governor Tryon's militia defeated the backcountry Regulators. The fighting took place in what was then Orange County, and Hillsborough, the county seat, had been the center of the Regulators' grievances and riots. Issued by the State Department of Archives and History, 32 pages with illustrations, facsimiles, a portrait and a folding map; this printing is dated 1976.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.6 POW The Proprietors of Carolina Powell, William Stevens · 1963

    Biographical sketches by William S. Powell of the eight Lords Proprietors, to whom Charles II granted Carolina by the charter of 1663. The Carolina Charter Tercentenary Commission published it in 1963 for the charter's three hundredth anniversary; 70 pages, illustrated.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.6 POW The Carolina Charter of 1663: How It Came to North Carolina and Its Place in History, With Biographical Sketches of the Proprietors Powell, William Stevens · 1954

    In 1947 the original Carolina Charter of 1663, by which Charles II granted Carolina to eight of his favorites, turned up for sale in England; William S. Powell tells how it came to North Carolina. He also covers its origin, prints the full text and sketches the eight Lords Proprietors, from Clarendon and Albemarle to Sir John Colleton. State Department of Archives and History, 1954; 79 illustrated pages with maps.

Places in this person’s story

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  • UNC Libraries University schools and programs · Chapel Hill · 4 events here

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Picture: William S. Powell, 2015. No known copyright restrictions. Photograph by State Archives of North Carolina; www.flickr.com; via Wikimedia Commons

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