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University buildings and grounds

Saunders Hall (later Carolina Hall)

In Chapel Hill. 9 dated events, 1922–2015.

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.

Sites linked through the same people

  • Memorial Hall through Arthur Cleveland Nash, Thomas C. Atwood and 1 more
  • Alumni Building through Arthur Cleveland Nash and Thomas C. Atwood
  • Kenan Stadium through Arthur Cleveland Nash and Thomas C. Atwood
  • Manning Hall through Arthur Cleveland Nash and Thomas C. Atwood
  • Murphey Hall through Arthur Cleveland Nash and Thomas C. Atwood
  • Polk Place through Arthur Cleveland Nash and Thomas C. Atwood

In the chronology

  1. Murphey, Saunders and Manning halls are designed in the university's building office On the east side of the new south quadrangle, H. P. Alan Montgomery, architect in the university's building office under Thomas C. Atwood, laid out a smaller court of classroom buildings, with McKim, Mead and White as consulting architects: Murphey Hall for languages and literature, Saunders Hall (now Carolina Hall) for history and social science, and Manning Hall, with an Ionic portico and cupola, for the law school. People: Arthur Cleveland Nash, Thomas C. Atwood NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 53 · Also: UNC Names in Brick and Stone: Grimes Residence Hall; NC State Historic Preservation Office: Arthur C. and Mary S. A. Nash House nomination
  2. UNC trustees name a new classroom building for William L. Saunders The trustees named one of the new buildings Saunders Hall to honor Saunders as a Confederate veteran, a university trustee and a leader of the state Ku Klux Klan. It was built for the history department. UNC Libraries: A Guide to Researching Campus Monuments and Buildings: Carolina Hall (formerly Saunders Hall)
  3. Odum's institute wins a $240,000 Rockefeller grant The Institute for Research in Social Science secured $240,000 from a Rockefeller foundation for studies of social and child welfare, crime and justice, taxation, industry and cooperatives. Howard E. Covington Jr., The Good Government Man: Albert Coates and the Early Years of the Institute of Government (2018), p. 101
  4. Telephoned bomb threats empty Saunders and Bingham halls at the University After two calls on a Wednesday night warned of bombs at Chapel Hill High School and Bingham Hall, two more calls on Friday brought searches of Saunders Hall, home of the history department, and of Bingham Hall; classes in both buildings were called off and no bombs were found. The paper tied the hoaxes to a series of bomb threats across North Carolina. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 18, 1958, p. 1
  5. A Church of Christ congregation is formed in Chapel Hill A new congregation of the Church of Christ began holding Sunday services at 111 Saunders Hall on the University campus, with financial help promised by a congregation in Birmingham, Alabama. An evangelist was to be chosen as soon as possible. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 20, 1960, p. 6
  6. Students Seeking Historical Truth post signs calling Saunders Hall a Klan memorial A newly formed student group, Students Seeking Historical Truth, hung signs labeling Saunders Hall with KKK, Murphey Hall "Hitler Hall" and the Steele Building "David Duke KKK" to draw attention to the university's racist past; members called William L. Saunders a Klan leader. University police took the signs down and called it vandalism. Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), December 1999, p. 7
  7. The Freedom Legacy Project and the Campus Y hold a two-day forum on institutional racism The Freedom Legacy Project and the Campus Y held two days of events on institutional racism at UNC, opening with a dinner discussion the day students marched to South Building over a David Horowitz column. Yonni Chapman described the project's petition for a new Saunders Hall marker that would note William L. Saunders's role in founding the state's Ku Klux Klan. People: Yonni Chapman Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), May 2001, p. 9
  8. Students call for William L. Saunders's name to come off Saunders Hall The Real Silent Sam Coalition, a student group, began a campaign to remove Saunders's name from the building because of his leadership in the Ku Klux Klan. The trustees renamed it Carolina Hall in May 2015. Carolina Story: Virtual Museum of University History: William L. Saunders (1835-1891)
  9. Saunders Hall is renamed Carolina Hall UNC trustees approved the name change in May 2015; the building received its new name that August. People: William L. Saunders UNC A to Z — Carolina Hall

Open these in the chronology →

Indexed works

The index has no works about Saunders Hall itself yet. The surveys and maps below cover where it stands. Search the index for Saunders Hall, or tell us about a book or record we have missed.

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Saunders 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

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.

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    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Saunders 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.

    Research sources

    Sources cited in this site’s history, National Register documents, and places to get research help. Research guide: Investigate a school or community institution.

    Background

    Historic sites, markers, and maps

    Records of the time 10

    Show all 10

    Collections and databases

    Local help 5

    Nearby

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