Local figure

Robert W. Scott

Governor Robert W. Scott sent riot-trained Highway Patrol squads to Chapel Hill in March 1969 to keep Lenoir Hall open during the UNC foodworkers' strike and later directed police to arrest students who refused to leave Manning Hall. The strike ended on March 21, 1969, after he met the workers' demands for a wage increase.

Source: UNC Libraries: Foodworkers' Strike (I Raised My Hand To Volunteer)

Also found in catalogs as Robert Walter Scott.

1929–2009 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

9 works about Robert W. Scott are indexed here, as is one work by Scott.

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

StorylineResidence colleges and Hinton James, 1965–19711965–1971 · 20 events · UNC's residence college system began in March 1965 with Morehead College, and that year Morrison Residence Hall opened, Scott Residence College was dedicated and Chancellor Paul F. Sharp grouped the remaining men's halls into provisional colleges. Ground was broken in 1966 for the ten-story Hinton James Residence Hall, named for the first student to reach Chapel Hill, and it opened in 1967 to about 1,000 men. The colleges' names became official in 1967 and classes began meeting in residence halls, and in 1968 Scott and Hinton James were chosen for experimental programs with faculty fellows. In 1969 Project Hinton put women and men on neighboring floors of Hinton James in a living-learning experiment. Hinton James became coeducational in 1971, the year Project Hinton was suspended. StorylineThe trustees’ disruptions policy, 1969–19741969–1974 · 16 events · During the March 1969 food workers' strike the UNC trustees' executive committee made disrupting the University grounds for expulsion or dismissal, and over the following months the trustees adopted a full policy against disruption by force, threat or intimidation, with hearing boards on each campus. Student leaders said it ran against the student-run judicial tradition at Chapel Hill. The full board made the policy permanent in October 1969, and in November a hearings committee took up the case of a lecturer who had skipped a class on Moratorium Day. In May 1970 students sat in at South Building against the policy's use after the December cafeteria strike. The University brought its first charges under the policy in April 1970, the trustees revised it that October, and the UNC-Chapel Hill trustees rescinded it in October 1974. StorylineSelling the University’s utilities, 1970–19771970–1977 · 61 events · From 1970 Chapel Hill and Carrboro pressed to take over the water, electric and telephone systems the University owned. Carrboro lost a court fight over a 1970 water rate increase, and in 1972 a state study commission recommended that the University sell its utilities. Bids were opened in April 1974, and that fall the commission chose Southern Bell for the telephone system and Duke Power for electricity and water, over a nonprofit backed by the towns. The trustees asked that the water system go to a local authority, and OWASA, created in 1975, took over the water and sewer systems in 1977.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 13 dated events in the chronology →

July 21, 1905 A farmers' institute meets at the Hillsborough court house The county's farmers' institute met in the court house on July 21, with talks by State Veterinarian Tait Butler, R. W. Scott of Alamance County, C. K. McQuarrie of Florida and T. B. Parker; attendance was small. People: Tait Butler, Robert W. Scott Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: C. K. McQuarrie, T. B. ParkerSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 27, 1905, p. 3
July 21, 1906 Several hundred people attend a Farmers' Institute at Occoneechee Farm A Farmers' Institute drew several hundred men, women and children from every section of Orange County to Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm near Hillsboro, where Carr gave the address of welcome. A Women's Institute held with it heard Mrs. L. L. Brooks of Guilford County, Viola Boddie of the State Normal and Industrial College and R. W. Scott. People: Julian S. Carr, Robert W. Scott Place: Occoneechee Farm, near Hillsborough · Also named: L. L. Brooks, Viola BoddieSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 26, 1906, p. 3
October 31, 1965 Lieutenant Governor Robert W. Scott dedicates Scott Residence College Nearly 400 people saw Lieutenant Governor Robert W. Scott dedicate the residence college of Avery, Parker and Teague halls, named for his father, Governor and Senator W. Kerr Scott. Scott said trustees should control university policy, Chancellor Paul F. Sharp said the residence college system would take in all men's halls within a year if students backed it, and Mrs. W. Kerr Scott dedicated the new Teague social room. People: Robert W. Scott, Paul F. Sharp Place: Teague, Avery and Parker residence halls, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: W. Kerr ScottSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 2, 1965, p. 1
February 23 – March 21, 1969 UNC food workers' strike On February 23, 1969 food service workers at UNC's Lenoir Hall left their counters and sat down at the cafeteria tables, and by the next morning nearly 100 dining hall employees had refused to report for work. The strike ended on March 21 when the University agreed to raise the hourly minimum from $1.60 to $1.80, pay roughly $180,000 in back wages, and appoint a Black supervisor. People: Mary Smith, Elizabeth Brooks, J. Carlyle Sitterson, Robert W. Scott, Julius L. Chambers, Preston Dobbins Place: Chapel HillUNC Libraries: Foodworkers' Strike, I Raised My Hand To Volunteer · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, February 25, 1969, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, March 22, 1969, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, February 2, 1976, p. 6; The Daily Tar Heel, April 29, 1982, p. 5; The Daily Tar Heel, February 22, 1985, p. 1
March 5–6, 1969 Governor Scott orders Lenoir Hall reopened under Highway Patrol guard After Chancellor Sitterson closed Lenoir Hall on March 5 during the foodworkers' strike, Governor Bob Scott ordered it reopened, sent at least 50 state patrolmen to Chapel Hill and mobilized a National Guard unit in Durham. The dining hall opened the next morning with more than 40 riot-equipped troopers and about 25 Chapel Hill police at its entrances while as many as 300 people picketed. People: J. Carlyle Sitterson Place: Lenoir Hall, Chapel Hill · Also named: Bob ScottSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 7, 1969, p. 1
March 13, 1969 State troopers clear Manning Hall on Governor Scott's orders About 75 state troopers ringed Manning Hall, the striking food workers' headquarters, on the afternoon of March 13 after Governor Bob Scott ordered it vacated. Students left before police arrived, and a crowd of up to 1,000 then rallied on the steps of South Building. People: J. Carlyle Sitterson Place: Manning Hall, Chapel Hill · Also named: Bob ScottSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 14, 1969, p. 1
March 14, 1969 The trustees' executive committee makes campus disruption grounds for expulsion or dismissal During the food workers' strike, the executive committee of the University Board of Trustees resolved that any student who disrupted the University's work, or urged others to, could be suspended or expelled, and passed a like rule for faculty members. It also commended President William Friday and Governor Bob Scott's pledge that the state's campuses would not be closed by disruption. People: William C. Friday, Robert W. Scott Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (meeting place not stated) · Also named: Bob ScottThe Daily Tar Heel, March 16, 1969, p. 1
March 21, 1969 A Polk Place rally learns that Governor Scott has ordered a $1.80 minimum wage for state workers As about 500 people gathered in Polk Place for a rally with Durham activist Howard Fuller, workers' association officer Amy Lyons announced that Governor Bob Scott had ordered a minimum of $1.80 an hour for state employees from April 1, the strikers' chief demand. Fuller and BSM co-chairman Preston Dobbins told the crowd the Black Student Movement's own demands were still unmet. People: Robert W. Scott, Preston Dobbins Place: Polk Place, University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Howard Fuller, Amy Lyons, Bob ScottThe Daily Tar Heel, March 22, 1969, p. 1
March 22, 1969 The striking food workers vote to go back to work, ending their month-long strike The food workers' bargaining committee announced that the workers had voted unanimously to accept the settlement reached between Governor Bob Scott and their attorney Julius Chambers: double back pay for unpaid overtime as federal law provided, six Black workers made supervisors, and 155 of about 175 workers upgraded. Lenoir Hall was back in full operation on March 24, though Chase Cafeteria stayed closed. People: Elizabeth Brooks, Robert W. Scott Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Julius Chambers, Ralph Scott, Bob Scott · Also mentions: Chase Cafeteria, Lenoir HallThe Daily Tar Heel, March 23, 1969, p. 1
March 27, 1969 242 faculty members ask Governor Scott to act through University officials A letter signed by 242 UNC faculty members reached Governor Bob Scott, praising the administration's efforts to right the cafeteria workers' pay and working conditions and asking that any future action against violence on the campus go through the University's chain of command. The governor's office had no comment. People: Robert W. Scott Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Bob ScottThe Daily Tar Heel, March 28, 1969, p. 1
October 27, 1969 UNC trustees make the campus disruptions policy permanent Meeting at the Morehead Planetarium with Governor Robert W. Scott presiding, the full Board of Trustees approved by unanimous voice vote the disruptions policy its executive committee had adopted July 7, after Archie K. Davis traced it to the March 1969 seizure of Lenoir Hall. The day before, the executive committee had turned down changes from a student, faculty and administration reform committee and heard faculty pleas for delay. People: Robert W. Scott, William C. Friday Place: Morehead Planetarium, Chapel Hill · Also named: Archie K. Davis · Also mentions: Lenoir HallSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 28, 1969, p. 1
November 1971 The governor appoints a commission to study the future of the university's utilities Governor Robert W. Scott named the Utilities Study Commission, authorized by the 1971 General Assembly, to weigh whether the University of North Carolina should keep, sell or otherwise dispose of the telephone, electric, water and sewer systems it operated for Chapel Hill and Carrboro. On May 28, 1976 the commission concluded that divesting most of the university's utility holdings was the best course. People: Robert W. Scott Place: Chapel HillOrange Water and Sewer Authority: Learn (History of OWASA) · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, December 3, 1971, p. 2; The Daily Tar Heel, October 11, 1974, p. 1

Show all 13 dated events

February 11-12, 1972 An NAACP youth conference on politics meets at UNC Between 300 and 500 young people came to the campus for an NAACP conference on youth in the political process, a voter registration and membership drive aimed at new voters aged 18 to 20. Speakers included Governor Robert W. Scott, governor's race candidates Hargrove Bowles and James Holshouser, Clarence Mitchell of the NAACP's Washington bureau and Mayor Howard Lee, and workshops met in the Union and four campus halls. People: Robert W. Scott, Howard N. Lee Place: Carolina Union, University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Hargrove Bowles, James Holshouser, Clarence MitchellSearch the index · Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), February 1972, p. 4

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Robert W. Scott, 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.

J. Carlyle Sitterson 3 entries, including UNC food workers' strike (February 23 – March 21, 1969)
Elizabeth Brooks 2 entries, including UNC food workers' strike (February 23 – March 21, 1969)
Preston Dobbins 2 entries, including UNC food workers' strike (February 23 – March 21, 1969)
William C. Friday 2 entries, including The trustees' executive committee makes campus disruption grounds for expulsion or dismissal (March 14, 1969)
Howard N. Lee 1 entry: An NAACP youth conference on politics meets at UNC (February 11-12, 1972)
Julius L. Chambers 1 entry: UNC food workers' strike (February 23 – March 21, 1969)
Mary Smith 1 entry: UNC food workers' strike (February 23 – March 21, 1969)

Indexed works

Works about or by Robert W. Scott. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

By Robert W. Scott

Oral history interview with Bob Scott, April 4, 1990 interview L-0193, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).

Scott, Robert Walter · 2007 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Robert W. Scott (1929-2009), North Carolina's governor between 1969 and 1973 and son of Governor Kerr Scott, interviewed by William Link on April 4, 1990 for the Southern Oral History Program. Scott discusses his student years at North Carolina State College in the early 1950s and his dealings with university president William Friday, including the food workers' strike at Chapel Hill, college integration, and the consolidation of the state's universities into the UNC System during his term. One hour thirty-seven minutes. Electronic edition 2007.

NC Cardinal UNC

About Robert W. Scott

Oral history interview with Elizabeth Brooks, October 2, 1974: interview E-0058, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Brooks, Elizabeth · 2006 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Elizabeth Brooks, a cafeteria worker at UNC and a leader of the 1969 food workers' strike, speaks in a Southern Oral History Program interview recorded October 2, 1974, by Beverly Jones. Born in Caswell County, Brooks had made her home in Hillsborough since 1949 and raised nine children before her first paid job, at the university. She describes the strike, the Black Student Movement's support for the workers, and the response of Governor Robert W. Scott. Published online in 2006 in Documenting the American South.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Scott, Robert Walter, 1929-2009.

NC Cardinal UNC

President Clinton at UNC bicentennial, October 12, 1993

Morton, Hugh M. · 1993

Bill Clinton at the podium during University Day, 12 October 1993, when UNC at Chapel Hill marked its 200th year. Two former North Carolina governors, Robert W. Scott and James Holshouser, appear behind the president in Hugh Morton's color slide.