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University buildings and grounds

Gerrard Hall

Gerrard Hall is the university chapel that state architect William Nichols designed in 1822, the first campus building in the Romantic Classical mode; it was named in 1833 for Major Charles Gerrard and finished in 1837. It held commencements and daily chapel and heard speakers such as Langston Hughes, who read there on November 19, 1931.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

People in its history

People named in events about this site, ordered by number of mentions. Each example links to an entry with a source citation.

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Sites linked through the same people

Indexed works

Books, articles, records, and images about Gerrard Hall. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

Inspection of "Gerrard Hall," "Gymnasium"

North Carolina. Department of Insurance · 1935 · Insurance Commissioners' Office

An inspection report from the North Carolina Department of Insurance, issued at Raleigh in 1935, on two buildings at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The report condemns Gerrard Hall for structural damage and directs that the gymnasium known as the Tin Can be cleared of equipment unrelated to athletics and used only for the purposes its original plans set out.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Gerrard Hall, University of North Carolina. Chapel Hill, N.C.

1915 · Albertype Co., Brooklyn, N.Y

Gerrard Hall, an ivy-covered building on the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill, on a 1915 Albertype Co. postcard.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

Gerrard Hall: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

1890

Eight photographs of Gerrard Hall on the UNC campus, dated 1890. Views include three men near the hall, one with a tennis racket, students around the building, a delivery truck at its side, and a view toward South Building and the YMCA. From the UNC Campus binder, Prints and Photographs Collection (CHHS.002).

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

CH Historical Society

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Gerrard Hall alone: the architectural surveys that cover its town or the county, and maps drawn while it stood. Several of the surveys can be read free online at NC Digital Collections.

The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina: 1795-1975

Little-Stokes, Margaret Ruth · 2006

Margaret Ruth Little-Stokes's survey of Chapel Hill's town and campus buildings from 1795 to 1975, published by the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill in 2006. Chapters run from the first campus buildings through David Swain's romantic campus to midcentury modernism, followed by area surveys of the campus, east and west Chapel Hill, downtown, Northside and the suburbs.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

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

The town and gown architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975

Little, M. Ruth · 2004 · Preservation Society of Chapel Hill

M. Ruth Little's 2004 architectural history of Chapel Hill and the university campus from 1795 to 1975, written for the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill. A 99-page survey with a bibliography.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

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

Chapel Hill historic sites survey : final report.

Gatza, M. B. · 1992 · Chapel Hill Planning Department

M. B. Gatza's final report of the 1992 Chapel Hill historic sites survey for the town Planning Department, with contributions by Beverly C. Kawalec and Catherine Bishir. It covers historic buildings and districts in Chapel Hill in 80 pages.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

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

When Chapel Hill was a village

Love, Cornelia Spencer, 1892-1981 · 1976 · Chapel Hill Historical Society

Cornelia Spencer Love's recollections of Chapel Hill as a village, published by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1976 with drawings by John V. Allcott. Love lived from 1892 to 1981, and the book covers Chapel Hill biography, the town's social life and customs, and the faculty of the university before 1962. viii and 87 pages with illustrations.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC Library of Congress CH Historical Society NC Cardinal

Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 5-Year Intervals, 1793-1998

Bryant, Bernard Lee · 1999 · Chapel Hill Historical Society

Bernard Lee Bryant's compilation of who occupied each structure on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill at five-year intervals from 1793 to 1998, issued by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1999 as a photocopy of his original computer printout on cotton paper. 191 leaves.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

Plan of the village at the University with the adjoining lands belonging to the institution.

1804

Early hand-drawn plan of the University village at Chapel Hill and the lands around it, which Archibald Henderson dated to between 1797 and 1812. It shows town lots with owners' names, Main Building (South Building), the steward's and president's houses, the chapel, Franklin Street and a Grand Avenue, plus a partial list of buyers at the 1793 lot sale.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC DPLA
Show 6 more surveys and maps

Plan of the village of Chapel Hill on a scale of 200 yards to an inch.

1812

An early manuscript plan of Chapel Hill drawn at 200 yards to the inch, dated 1812, with a note on the verso reading September 4, 1817. It copies an earlier pen and ink plot in the possession of William Pannill, taken in turn from one by John Craig, and it marks boundary lines, town lots with some owners named, the University buildings, the president's lot, the chapel and the preparatory school.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

Map of Chapel Hill as it was in 1875 to 1885

Carter, H. D. (Henry Dennis), -1941 · 1934

Henry Dennis Carter's reconstruction, drawn as a blueprint in 1934, of Chapel Hill as it stood between 1875 and 1885, showing the buildings of the village. A note on the map says the information came from old residents who gave it to Mary L. Thornton.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

[Map of Chapel Hill and vicinity].

Harris, Hunter Lee, 1866-1893 · 1888 · Hunter Lee Harris?

Dating from 1888 and attributed to Hunter Lee Harris, a map of Chapel Hill and its vicinity, reproduced as a photocopy measuring 22 by 37 centimeters. Harris died in 1893, which brackets the drawing to the late nineteenth century. An early depiction of the streets of the village and the land around it.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

[Map of Chapel Hill].

1895

Pen-and-ink manuscript map of Chapel Hill dated 1852, with a table of measurements, showing the University campus, the village around it, street widths and layout, and the town limits. Later notes attributed to Kemp P. Battle give the longitude and latitude of landmarks as measured from atop New East Hall in 1880.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC DPLA

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina.

1925

Sanborn Map Company fire insurance map of Chapel Hill, June 1925, on eleven sheets, with Carrboro also drawn. Sanborn maps recorded the outline, construction and use of each building for fire insurers, so the set shows both towns block by block in the mid 1920s.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Library of Congress Digital Collections

Map of Chapel Hill & vicinity.

1933

Street and property map of Chapel Hill and the surrounding country, revised to 1 January 1933 and printed in the town. Topics include streets, real property and the historical geography of Chapel Hill along with maps of the University of North Carolina in its 1793 to 1962 period. A useful sheet for tracing lot lines and street names as they stood at the start of the 1930s.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

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

Start at OCPL

    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Gerrard Hall, but they cover where it stands, its kind of building and the land, family and burial records behind it, and they are where a search for a place like this usually goes next. All are at OCPL, most in the Wall Collection.

    Histories of the town and county

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 STO Chapel Hill: A Pictorial History Stolpen, Steven · 1978

      Steven Stolpen's pictorial history of Chapel Hill, one of the Donning Company's photographic town histories, published in Norfolk, Virginia in 1978. Photographs and portraits carry the story of the town and the university, including references to Thomas Wolfe's years as a student at Carolina. 156 pages with illustrations.

    • Foundational · 975.656 RYAN Orange County Trio: Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, North Carolina, Histories and Tour Guides Ryan, Elizabeth Shreve · 2004

      Elizabeth Shreve Ryan's combined histories and tour guides for Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the three towns of Orange County, with the University of North Carolina treated alongside Chapel Hill. Each town gets a narrative history and a tour of its streets and buildings. Published by Chapel Hill Press in 2004, 369 pages with illustrations and maps.

    Buildings and surveys

    • Foundational · NC 720.975 BIS A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina Bishir, Catherine W. · 2003

      Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern's field guide to the historic buildings of the North Carolina Piedmont, arranged county by county from Wake and Franklin in the east to Mecklenburg and Gaston in the west. The Orange County section takes in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro along with the rural county, with entries on individual buildings and maps for finding them. Published 2003, 596 pages with illustrations and maps.

    • Foundational · NC 917.56 HIS Historic Buildings and Landmarks of Chapel Hill, N.C Chapel Hill Historical Society · 1973

      A pocket-sized guide to the historic buildings and landmarks of Chapel Hill, prepared by the Chapel Hill Historical Society and printed by Creative Printers in 1973. Forty pages with illustrations and maps, 14 by 22 cm. Topics include architecture, historic buildings and historic districts in Chapel Hill, and the guide is useful for a walking tour of the older parts of town.

    In the chronology

    Storyline about this site, with a page of its own:

    1. Trustees vote to raise Old East a story and build Old West At Caldwell's urging, and against the faculty's plea to spend on books and apparatus, the board voted to enlarge Old East, build Old West to match and start a new chapel, borrowing from banks against Tennessee land sales. Architect William Nichols ran the work, and the South Building's Prayer Hall became a chemistry laboratory. People: Joseph Caldwell, Elisha Mitchell, William Nichols Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 280
    2. State architect William Nichols designs Old West and Gerrard Hall In 1822 William Nichols, the English-born architect who was North Carolina's first state architect, drew Old West as a match for Old East and designed a new chapel, Gerrard Hall. Gerrard's south portico of four two-story Ionic columns made it the campus's first building in the Romantic Classical mode. People: William Nichols NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 16
    3. Trustees name the new chapel Gerrard Hall The trustees sold Major Charles Gerrard's 2,560-acre service tract in Tennessee for $6,400, voted $2,000 of it toward finishing the new chapel that had stood unfinished since about 1824, and resolved that the building be known forever as Gerrard Hall in his memory. People: William Gaston, George E. Badger, William Polk Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 350
    4. Philanthropic Society has a cast made of Caldwell's features In November 1835, at the Philanthropic Society's request, Caldwell's body was taken up so that the artist Alfred S. Waugh could make a plaster cast of his face. The bust made from it stands in Gerrard Hall. Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 414
    5. Gerrard Hall is finished and holds its first commencement Gerrard Hall, the new chapel begun more than a decade earlier, was completed in 1837 under carpenter Thomas Waitt, and that year's commencement was held in it. The Raleigh Register described a roomy building with large galleries, and the old chapel, Person Hall, was soon given over to classrooms. People: Thomas Waitt Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 431
    6. Elisha Mitchell preaches the university's first baccalaureate sermon At the 1839 commencement Mitchell, chosen by the faculty, preached the first of the baccalaureate sermons to the graduating class. The choice of preacher was later given to the senior class. Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 456
    7. Faculty appoints the first chief marshal of commencement For the commencement of June 27, 1839, attended by every living former governor but one, the faculty named the first chief marshal, Thomas Davis Meares, who had led the Delphian seceders. The choice of marshal soon passed to the students. Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 456
    8. Graduates receive Bibles at commencement for the first time The 1842 commencement was the first at which each member of the graduating class was given a Bible bearing the president's autograph, a custom still kept in 1907. People: David L. Swain Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 475
    9. Mitchell demonstrates electromagnetic motion at commencement When the 1842 society orator could not come, Elisha Mitchell showed the audience electromagnetic apparatus the university had just bought in Boston and produced rapid motion by magnetism alone. He judged that the cost of copper and zinc would keep it from competing with steam. Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 475
    10. Person Hall is partitioned into four classrooms With Gerrard Hall now the chapel, the old chapel, Person Hall, was divided by thick walls and chimneys into four recitation rooms for the professors of Latin, Greek and rhetoric and the tutor of ancient languages. Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 554
    11. False alarm sets off a panic in the chapel at commencement During the 1846 commencement someone shouted that the gallery was falling, and the packed crowd rushed for the doors while some jumped from windows, until President Swain, Governor Graham and other trustees calmed it. No one was hurt, and more pillars were placed under the galleries before the next commencement. People: David L. Swain, William A. Graham Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 503
    12. Trustees let student church members worship at their own churches Petitions from several denominations reached the board in December 1849 asking to ease compulsory Sunday worship in the college chapel. On January 4, 1850 the trustees voted down a broader plan and adopted Samuel F. Patterson's rule letting communicants attend the church of their choice while all others still attended chapel, a rule that stood about ten years. People: David L. Swain, William Mercer Green, Samuel Finley Patterson Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 519
    Show all 77 dated events
    1. Henry W. Miller of Raleigh addresses the two literary societies at commencement After a procession led by the Richmond Brass Band, Henry W. Miller of Raleigh spoke for two hours to the Dialectic and Philanthropic societies in the chapel. The societies arranged to print the address, and the Gazette later quoted his passage on resisting Northern assaults on Southern rights. The Chapel Hill Gazette, June 6, 1857, p. 2
    2. Ten senior orators, John W. Graham and the valedictorian speak on commencement day On commencement day ten seniors spoke in Gerard Hall between pieces by the band, among them J. L. A. Webb with the Latin salutatory, Robert Bingham of Orange on the teacher and Charles A. Mitchell of Chapel Hill on Dr. Kane. In the afternoon Joseph Venable gave a French oration, John W. Graham of Hillsborough spoke on 'Action rules the world', and a senior named Wharton of Guilford gave the valedictory. People: Robert Bingham, John W. Graham The Chapel Hill Gazette, June 6, 1857, p. 2
    3. The university confers degrees on sixty-nine graduates After the annual report was read on commencement day, the university conferred degrees on sixty-nine members of the graduating class, the faculty giving each a bound Bible, and awarded master's degrees in course to about twenty earlier graduates. Governor Bragg and nine other trustees attended. People: Thomas Bragg, David L. Swain, William A. Graham, William Horn Battle, Charles Manly, Giles Mebane The Chapel Hill Gazette, June 6, 1857, p. 2
    4. Chapel Hill citizens hold a town meeting in the University Chapel to mourn Elisha Mitchell Once word came that Mitchell had died on Black Mountain, the townspeople met in the University Chapel, adopted resolutions on his forty years as a resident and agreed to wear mourning for thirty days. They then walked in procession to his house to give the resolutions to his family, and the town's stores closed for the meeting. People: Jones Watson, Francis L. Hawks, Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips, David L. Swain A Memoir of the Rev. Elisha Mitchell (1858), scan p. 34
    5. Students meet in Gerard Hall to mourn Elisha Mitchell Students of the university met in Gerard Hall and adopted resolutions on the death of Professor Elisha Mitchell, calling him a model for every student, and agreed to wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. The Chapel Hill Gazette, July 25, 1857, p. 2
    6. Archbishop John Hughes preaches the commencement sermon Invited again by the senior class, the Roman Catholic Archbishop Hughes preached the baccalaureate sermon, speaking without notes for an hour and three quarters on love of God and of neighbor. Some Protestant critics attacked the choice, and a Hillsborough Recorder correspondent charged that he was treated discourteously, which the university denied. People: Fordyce M. Hubbard Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 707
    7. Trustees allow students to be excused from chapel worship Answering a memorial from the Episcopal convention that compulsory chapel on Sunday violated conscience, the trustees adopted Judge Matthias E. Manly's scheme letting the president excuse students whose parents lived in the village, who belonged to another church in town, or who or whose parents objected in writing. Morning and evening prayers stayed compulsory. People: William Horn Battle Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 714
    8. Seniors in the army granted diplomas without examinations With the consent of the trustees, the faculty granted degrees to all members of the senior class, though many had joined the army and did not stand their examinations. Only thirty of the eighty-seven graduates were present in person, and the Latin salutatory was dropped because its speaker was with his regiment at Yorktown. Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 722
    9. Commencement held without its ball or marshals The ball managers told the trustees the seniors' ball could not be held unless the board gave $200 or $300, and the trustees did not answer, so it was omitted for the first time. A quarrel between seniors and juniors over the marshal left the commencement without marshals or music. Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 728
    10. James Phillips dies in the college chapel On the morning of March 14, 1867, James Phillips went early to the college chapel to lead morning prayers and was found dead on the rostrum as the bell rang. He had taught at the university since 1826 and was buried in the Chapel Hill Cemetery. Hillsborough Recorder, March 20, 1867, p. 2 (President Swain's letter of March 14, 1867) · Also: NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Phillips, James
    11. Governor Vance closes the first summer normal school at Chapel Hill The university's first summer normal school ended with a week of closing events: lectures by George W. Graham and Paul C. Cameron, a concert in the college chapel, and closing exercises on Thursday, August 9, at which Governor Zebulon Vance gave the final address. The session had drawn 235 teachers from 44 counties. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, Paul C. Cameron Hillsborough Recorder, August 15, 1877, p. 3
    12. University Day is established At Kemp P. Battle's request, seconded by Zebulon B. Vance, the executive committee in September 1877 made October 12, the anniversary of the laying of Old East's cornerstone in 1793, a permanent holiday. At the first observance in Gerrard Hall on October 12, 1877, decorated by Cornelia Phillips Spencer and village women, Battle spoke on the charter and the cornerstone. People: Zebulon B. Vance, Cornelia Phillips Spencer, Kemp Plummer Battle Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 135 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, October 12, 1983, p. 1
    13. Robert W. Winston wins the Mangum Medal for oratory at commencement On commencement day eight seniors gave orations, and the gold medal for oratory given by the daughters of Willie P. Mangum went to Robert W. Winston of Windsor. Governor Jarvis delivered the diplomas, and other medals went to L. Patterson for Latin, C. D. McIver and another student for Greek, and A. S. Grandy for the Bingham prize. People: Thomas Jordan Jarvis, Robert Bingham The Chapel Hill Ledger, June 7, 1879, p. 2
    14. The university gives honorary doctorates of laws to Samuel F. Phillips and Justices Ashe and Dillard At the eighty-fourth commencement the university conferred the LL.D. on Solicitor General Samuel F. Phillips and on Judges Ashe and Dillard of the state Supreme Court, a Ph.D. on state geologist W. C. Kerr, and the D.D. on several ministers including D. S. Sanderson of Eutaw, Alabama, and John T. Pickett of Vicksburg. People: Washington Caruthers Kerr, Kemp Plummer Battle, Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips The Chapel Hill Ledger, June 7, 1879, p. 2
    15. The University Normal School opens its third session, with women admitted on equal terms President Battle opened the third Normal School in the college chapel, crediting Dr. Barnas Sears and the legislature, and announced that women teachers now attended with full rights rather than as invited guests. John J. Ladd again served as superintendent with a faculty including Charles D. McIver, J. L. Tomlinson, W. F. Tillett, W. B. Phillips and Miss E. M. Coe in the kindergarten, and about 150 were enrolled by the fourth day. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, William Battle Phillips The Chapel Hill Ledger, June 21, 1879, p. 2
    16. The State Teachers' Association holds its annual meeting at the Normal School The State Teachers' Association, formed at the Normal School the summer before, met at Chapel Hill with an opening speech by President Battle and an address by State Superintendent John C. Scarborough on the common school system. It discontinued its bureau, discussed founding an educational journal and recommended women teachers for the public schools; the paper noted that the year's effort to form county associations had failed. People: Kemp Plummer Battle The Chapel Hill Ledger, July 5, 1879, p. 2
    17. President Battle lectures the Normal School on the history of Chapel Hill President Kemp P. Battle gave the Normal School a lecture on the geography and history of Chapel Hill: how the university's site was settled by ballot and a committee, how the campus and its first buildings were laid out, and the local place names. The Chapel Hill Ledger, July 26, 1879, p. 2
    18. The third University Normal School closes with its commencement The university's third summer Normal School, which had about 250 teachers in attendance in early July, closed with a concert, a commencement of debates, essays and orations before a crowded chapel, and a promenade. During the session the people of Chapel Hill and the teachers gave the school a melodeon, and afternoon classes and examinations for teachers' certificates were added. People: Kemp Plummer Battle The Chapel Hill Ledger, July 26, 1879, p. 2
    19. Governor Jarvis promises a commencement crowd a hall large enough for all With Gerrard Hall overflowing at the 1883 commencement, President Kemp Battle asked Governor Thomas J. Jarvis to promise a bigger building, and Jarvis made the promise to applause. He backed the plan at the next trustees meeting and offered bricks from the state penitentiary on easy terms, and the project became Memorial Hall. People: Kemp Plummer Battle Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 315
    20. Kemp P. Battle gives a University Day address on the history of the campus buildings In Gerrard Hall on University Day, President Kemp P. Battle traced each university building from the laying of the Old East cornerstone in 1793 to Memorial Hall, then under construction. The address was printed as a pamphlet. Kemp P. Battle, An Address on the History of the Buildings of the University of North Carolina (1883), scan p. 5
    21. Randall speaks on North Carolina folklore at commencement Graduating with the class of 1884, Randall was class prophet at the Class Day exercises in the Chapel and gave the commencement speech 'North Carolina Folk Lore', which met with unusual applause. Internet Archive: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. 2 (1912), full text
    22. The faculty revives the valedictory honor and gives it to James Lee Love At the 1884 commencement the faculty brought back the old custom of naming a valedictorian for the best standing over the whole course and gave the honor to Love, who also won the Mangum Medal for his graduating speech, "The New North State." Memorial Hall was not finished, so his class was the last to graduate in Gerrard Hall. James Lee Love, Recollections (1920-1921), scan p. 213 · Also: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II
    23. The university opens a free series of monthly popular lectures Henry E. Shepherd's address on Sir Walter Raleigh opened the university's new series of popular lectures at Chapel Hill, which went on through the fall on the first Saturday evening of each month, free to all. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), October 2, 1886, p. 3
    24. Professor Adolphus W. Mangum dies Mangum, a Methodist minister who had taught mental and moral science, history and English since the reopening, died after a long illness. Josephus Daniels gave a memorial address in Gerrard Hall on May 31, 1891. People: Josephus Daniels, Adolphus Williamson Mangum Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 446 · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 17, 1890, p. 2
    25. David G. Worth pays to refit Gerrard Hall with numbered chairs David G. Worth of Wilmington gave $500 toward remodeling the university chapel, Gerrard Hall, where chairs replaced the old benches. Each student was given a numbered seat so monitors could report absences from morning prayers. NCpedia: Worth, David Gaston (Leora Hiatt McEachern, 1996)
    26. Students merge the football and baseball associations into the Athletic Association of the University Meeting in the chapel, the university's foot-ball and base-ball associations united as the Athletic Association of the University of North Carolina. They elected George Ransom president, R. Johnston vice-president and Mike Hoke secretary and treasurer, and named Busbee, Patterson and Gaither to draft a constitution. The Chapel Hillian, April 16, 1891, p. 1
    27. The new Glee Club gives its first concert The Glee Club, formed in 1891 under Professor Karl P. Harrington, gave its first concert in Gerrard Hall and then toured Raleigh, Salem, Greensboro, Durham, Wilmington and other towns, giving its profits to the athletic association. Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 515
    28. President Winston turns back a legislative effort to cut the university's funding Two years after the move to confine the university to graduate study failed, church-college allies in the 1895 General Assembly tried to shrink its state appropriation; Winston rallied alumni legislators and prevailed after Populist leader Marion Butler came out for the university. Students met him at the west gate on his return and escorted his hired coach and four to a bonfire and celebration at Gerrard Hall. People: Marion Butler 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. 18
    29. Edwin Alderman is inaugurated as president in Gerrard Hall About a hundred legislators and Governor Daniel L. Russell rode a special train from Raleigh through sleet for the ceremony, where Kemp P. Battle presented Alderman and the new president spoke for an hour and a half on the university as the people's school. The lawmakers were made honorary members of the Di and Phi societies and met with school superintendents who had come to honor one of their own. People: Daniel Lindsay Russell, Kemp Plummer Battle 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. 31
    30. Kemp P. Battle opens the university faculty's spring lecture series Kemp P. Battle gave the first of a series of public lectures by the university faculty in Gerrard Hall, speaking on the Anti-Federalists' objections to the Constitution. Lectures by Gore, Hume, Wilson, Ball, Williams and Cobb were set for the rest of the spring term. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), February 18, 1897, p. 2
    31. The university holds a memorial service for David Gaston Worth Five days after Worth died, the university held a memorial service for him in Gerrard Hall, with a prayer by the Rev. N. H. D. Wilson and talks by Dr. John Manning, Kemp P. Battle and President Edwin A. Alderman, who said a tablet in Memorial Hall would bear his name. People: John Manning, Kemp Plummer Battle, Edwin Anderson Alderman Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 550
    32. Gerrard Hall is renovated and its south portico torn down Gerrard Hall got a new roof and interior: chairs replaced the pews, the old doors were walled up and two new doors opened on the east. The decaying south porch and its columns were pulled down. Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 595
    33. The Leonidas Polk Chapter of the UDC holds Confederate memorial exercises On May 10, 1905, the Leonidas Polk Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy held memorial exercises in Gerrard Hall, reading the roll of students who had served in the Confederate army. Children and adults then carried flowers to decorate soldiers' graves in the village cemetery. People: Thomas Hume, Leonidas Polk Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 826
    34. Chapel Hill holds a memorial service for Cornelia Phillips Spencer Cornelia Phillips Spencer died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 11, 1908. On May 17 the university held a service in her memory in Gerrard Hall, opening with the hymn she wrote for the 1875 reopening. People: Collier Cobb, Kemp Plummer Battle Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 674
    35. Gerrard Hall is refitted and daily chapel resumes for every undergraduate With money Venable got from the legislature, Gerrard Hall's interior was renovated so that all undergraduates fit, and Dean Graham set a half-hour program before noon with ministers, faculty, trustees and other guest speakers. Upperclassmen had been excused from chapel for want of seats. People: Edward Kidder Graham, Francis Preston Venable 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. 59
    36. Woodrow Wilson speaks in Gerrard Hall on Robert E. Lee's centennial On January 19, 1909, the university marked the hundredth birthday of Robert E. Lee in Gerrard Hall, with Princeton president Woodrow Wilson as the speaker. People: Francis Preston Venable, Robert E. Lee, Woodrow Wilson Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 685
    37. Orange County holds a Fourth of July war rally on the UNC campus At the Governor's request the UNC Summer School invited the county to its July 4, 1918 celebration, and at least 3,000 people came for a parade, a flag raising and S. M. Gattis's address in Memorial Hall. The county Council of Defense met in Gerrard Hall, and Adolph Vermont's pageant on French-American friendship played in Battle's Park. People: M. C. S. Noble, J. Cheshire Webb, Samuel Mallett Gattis, Adolph Vermont Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 20
    38. The university Woman's Association holds a Thanksgiving peace festival To pay for layettes and other war relief, the Woman's Association planned a Thanksgiving Peace Celebration: a Gypsy Festival moved by rain into the Y.M.C.A., ending with a pageant in Gerrard Hall. It raised $350, $150 of it for the United War Fund. Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 17
    39. 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 Graham 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
    40. Frederick Koch reads A Christmas Carol in Gerrard Hall Koch brought his annual reading of Dickens's A Christmas Carol to UNC when he arrived in 1918. The Raleigh News and Observer described a 1919 reading in Gerrard Hall, with carols by university singing groups in the two intermissions. His reading in Memorial Hall on December 10, 1943 was his 39th annual reading of the Carol, a series he had begun at the University of North Dakota. UNC Libraries For the Record: A Holiday Tradition: Frederick Koch's Reading of a Christmas Carol
    41. Students open the Graham Memorial fund drive in Gerrard Hall At a student rally led by Albert Coates, with William H. Bobbitt and Luther Hodges also speaking, students and faculty pledged $20,000 toward a building now budgeted at $150,000. The drive reached about $70,000 by its June deadline and $120,000 by the end of 1919. People: Albert Coates, William H. (William Haywood) Bobbitt, Luther H. Hodges Howard E. Covington Jr., The Good Government Man: Albert Coates and the Early Years of the Institute of Government (2018), p. 39 · Also: The News (Chapel Hill), February 20, 1919, p. 1
    42. Gerrard Hall memorial service for Marvin H. Stacy Students, faculty and friends met in Gerrard Hall to remember Stacy, who had died of influenza on January 21. Former president Francis P. Venable, a childhood friend, and Albert Coates for the students spoke. People: Francis Preston Venable, Albert Coates Howard E. Covington Jr., The Good Government Man: Albert Coates and the Early Years of the Institute of Government (2018), p. 38
    43. Tuskegee principal Robert Russa Moton speaks in Gerrard Hall Moton, Booker T. Washington's successor at Tuskegee Institute, told his campus audience that he accepted social separation of the races and promised good relations so long as whites gave Black people education and industrial fairness. 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. 360
    44. The University Y.M.C.A. runs a picture show in Gerrard Hall after the Pickwick fire With the Pickwick Theatre burned and the town left without a movie house, the University Y.M.C.A. took over the running of a motion picture show in Gerrard Hall as an experiment, the News reported in late February 1924. Any profits were to go back to the students as lower prices. The News (Chapel Hill), February 28, 1924, p. 5
    45. George Washington Carver speaks in Gerrard Hall The Tuskegee scientist visited the campus, speaking from the platform of Gerrard Hall and showing a display at the YMCA, without the outcry that met James Weldon Johnson's classroom visits two years later. 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. 363 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, January 22, 1925, p. 3
    46. The North Carolina Library Association meets in Chapel Hill The North Carolina Library Association held its tenth biennial convention in Chapel Hill, with the new Carolina Inn as headquarters. The University gave the delegates a dinner, and the meeting closed with a lecture by the critic Carl Van Doren in Gerrard Hall. People: Archibald Henderson The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 20, 1925, p. 1
    47. Kay Kyser takes over the UNC campus band from Hal Kemp Kay Kyser, a UNC student and cheerleader who could not read music, took over leadership of the campus dance band in 1926 when Hal Kemp graduated. The new band held its first rehearsal in Gerrard Hall. UNC Libraries, History on the Hill: The "Ol' Professor" of the "Kollege of Musical Knowledge"
    48. Nash renovates South Building and adds its portico Nash carried out the renovation of South Building and added the portico in 1926 and 1927, part of his remodelling of older campus buildings that also took in Old East, Old West and Gerrard Hall. NCSU Libraries, North Carolina Architects and Builders: Nash, Arthur C. (1871-1969) · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 26, 1926, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, August 20, 1926, p. 1
    49. University alumni switch class reunions to the Dix plan A midwinter conference of University alumni leaders in Chapel Hill decided to replace five-year class reunions with the Dix plan, under which classes that were in college together return together. To bridge the change, 1926 was made a reunion year for three fifths of all classes. People: Daniel Lindsey Grant The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 5, 1926, p. 1
    50. The Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education meets in Chapel Hill More than 300 engineering educators from across the country met in Chapel Hill June 26-29, 1928, for the 36th annual meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, hosted by the University's engineering school. The Weekly called it perhaps the largest convention ever held in the village; guests overflowed the Carolina Inn into private homes, the Kenan Stadium field house and Durham. People: Harry Woodburn Chase, Gustave M. Braune, Peter L. Burch The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 29, 1928, p. 1
    51. Langston Hughes reads in Gerrard Hall after Contempo prints "Christ in Alabama" Milton Abernethy of Contempo invited Langston Hughes to Chapel Hill and printed his Scottsboro poem "Christ in Alabama" in the issue dated December 1, timed to appear days before the visit. Hughes spoke and read to students and townspeople in Gerrard Hall on the night of November 19, 1931. People: Guy Benton Johnson, Langston Hughes The Daily Tar Heel, November 21, 1931, p. 1 (Negro Lecturer Gives Humorous History of Life)
    52. Albert Coates convenes the Institute of Government's first statewide school for public officials About six hundred officials and citizens from nearly every county came to Chapel Hill for a two-day meeting Coates had promoted all summer. Frank Graham opened the Friday evening session in Gerrard Hall and Harvard law dean Roscoe Pound gave the closing address on Saturday, when the organizing committee approved hiring Coates as director with a staff. People: Frank Porter Graham, O. Max Gardner Howard E. Covington Jr., The Good Government Man: Albert Coates and the Early Years of the Institute of Government (2018), p. 121 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, September 9, 1932, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 16, 1932, p. 2
    53. Catholics organize a congregation in Chapel Hill The Catholic Church of Chapel Hill was organized under its first priest, Francis J. Morrissey. With no building of its own, it held services in Gerrard Hall on the university campus. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 310
    54. Gerrard Hall is condemned as unsafe Gerrard Hall, the University's old assembly hall, was condemned as unsafe in early June 1935, and the commencement week meetings planned for it were moved to the Hill Music Hall. The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 7, 1935, p. 1
    55. PWA inspectors certify the rebuilt Gerrard Hall as ready for use The PWA made its final inspection of Gerrard Hall in the week before August 25, 1939, and certified the reconstruction of the building, which had been closed for several years after the state insurance department condemned its weakened roof. The hall got a new roof on steel trusses, new floor, balcony columns, lighting and chairs, and seats 476; the state paid 55 percent of the cost and the PWA 45 percent. The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 25, 1939, p. 1
    56. A Chapel Hill chapter of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies is organized Frank Graham and Durham banker George Watts Hill were among the first North Carolinians to sign on with the national committee formed in 1940 under William Allen White. The Weekly reported that a Chapel Hill branch was organized in the first week of June 1940, with Archibald Henderson as chairman, L. C. MacKinney as vice-chairman and W. T. Couch as secretary, and held a meeting in Gerrard Hall on June 6; it said the movement in North Carolina began in Chapel Hill. A chapter was also organized in Asheville. Covington describes Chapel Hill as a center of support for the Allies while both of the state's senators opposed involvement. People: Frank Porter Graham, Archibald Henderson, William T. Couch Howard E. Covington Jr., The Good Government Man: Albert Coates and the Early Years of the Institute of Government (2018), p. 194 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, June 7, 1940, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, June 14, 1940, p. 2; Chapel Hill Weekly, December 13, 1940, p. 5
    57. Chapel Hill high schoolers organize a Civil Air Patrol cadet unit Chapel Hill high school students recruited in an October 1944 Civil Air Patrol drive organized a cadet unit at Gerrard Hall, naming provisional flight and section leaders and meeting weekly for training films and courses in drill, theory of flight, meteorology and navigation. About thirty-five cadets took their first flights at the Chapel Hill airport in an Army liaison plane on November 19. Chapel Hill High School student newspaper, October 26, 1944, p. 1
    58. Economist Friedrich A. Hayek lectures in Gerrard Hall Friedrich A. Hayek of the University of London, author of The Road to Serfdom, gave a public lecture in Gerrard Hall on planning and reconstruction in Europe, paid for by a gift from a university alumnus. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 15, 1948, p. 1
    59. Binkley Church holds its Sunday services in Gerrard Hall For about six years after its founding the Binkley congregation worshipped in Gerrard Hall on the UNC campus, held church school in other university buildings and used a large house at 508 East Franklin Street as its church house. Courtland Smith and John L. Humber, Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church: A Twenty Year View, 1958-1978 (1978), scan p. 4 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 1, 1959, p. 4; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 14, 1961, p. 3; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 14, 1962, p. 17; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 1, 1964, p. 12
    60. Classics professor George Kennedy re-enacts Joseph Caldwell's 1800 eulogy of George Washington On Washington's birthday, classics professor George Kennedy delivered again in Gerrard Hall the eulogy for George Washington that University president Joseph Caldwell gave there in 1800, a year after Washington's death. People: George A. (George Alexander) Kennedy The Daily Tar Heel, February 23, 1976, p. 1
    61. BSM and student government leaders object to parts of the new curriculum plan At an open hearing in Gerrard Hall on the revised undergraduate curriculum report, BSM chairperson Mark Canady and student body president Bob Saunders objected to a required Western history course on the period before the 18th century, which Afro-American Studies courses could not fully meet, and to dropping first-semester foreign language credit. A Black Faculty-Staff Caucus subcommittee also reviewed the report. Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), November 11, 1980, p. 1
    62. Two curricula hold a lecture series on Black and white relations in Gerrard Hall The curricula in American Studies and African and Afro-American Studies held evening lectures and discussions on Black and white relations, with UNC faculty and National Humanities Center fellows. Sylvia Wynter of Stanford was scheduled on Black fiction and Thomas Cripps of Morgan State on World War II and the end of race films. Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), February 24, 1981, p. 3
    63. The Carolina Gay Association holds a fall Gay Awareness Week with a talk by Tom Chorlton Moved to the fall, the week opened with Elizabeth Gurley of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays on coming out to parents, and Tom Chorlton of the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Democratic Clubs spoke on post-election strategy in Gerrard Hall on November 28. Programs by the N.C. Lesbian and Gay Health Project and Triangle Area Lesbian Feminists, a session on coming out in the Black community and a talk by the Rev. June Norris led to a Blue Jeans Day dance in Craige dormitory that drew nearly 150. Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, UNC), November 1984, p. 1
    64. Joe and Odell Thompson give a free concert in Gerrard Hall The Mebane fiddle and banjo duo played a free folk concert at 7:30 p.m. in Gerrard Hall during Graduate and Professional Student Federation Week. The federation and the UNC Curriculum in Folklore sponsored it. The Daily Tar Heel, March 15, 1988, p. 4
    65. Jill McCorkle speaks in the Carolina Union's Southern Writers Series at Gerrard Hall Jill McCorkle, author of The Cheerleader, July 7th and Tending to Virginia, gave a free evening talk in Gerrard Hall as the third speaker in the Carolina Union Forum Committee's Southern Writers Series. People: Clyde Edgerton The Daily Tar Heel, December 4, 1989, p. 3 (Southern writer to speak)

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