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Indexed works

Books, articles, records and pictures in the index about WCHL radio, found by its names in titles, catalog subjects and the index’s descriptions, and read one by one. Those held at OCPL come first.

About the site

The first 25 years : WCHL 1360

1978 · WCHL?

Anniversary booklet for the first twenty-five years of WCHL, the Chapel Hill radio station at 1360 on the AM dial, published in 1978. Topics include radio broadcasting and Chapel Hill history, with advertisements included. 20 unnumbered pages with illustrations and portraits.

NC Cardinal UNC Duke Durham

Celebrating 50 years on the air and 50 who made a difference : WCHL 1360

2003

Anniversary booklet marking fifty years of WCHL 1360, the Chapel Hill radio station, with profiles of fifty people from Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Published in 2003, 36 pages with portraits. Contributors include Roland Giduz, Jim Heavner, Jonathan Howes, Neil Offen and Rosemary Waldorf.

UNC CH Historical Society

1360 WCHL : commemorating forty years of excellence

1993 · Village Sports, Inc.

Forty years of WCHL, the Chapel Hill radio station at 1360 on the dial, marked in an illustrated commemorative volume published in 1993 by Village Sports. Dan Dunlop, George McCall, Zora Rashkis, Jim Heavner, Jim Shumaker, Roland Giduz, Lee Pace, Larry Stone and Beth Tatum contributed the writing, and the volume carries portraits.

UNC

Published by or for it

Tar Heel traditions : in conjunction with the North Carolina Collection at Wilson Library

2003 · WCHL

Interviews on Carolina customs that WCHL broadcast during University of North Carolina football games in the fall of 2003, made with the North Carolina Collection at Wilson Library and gathered on a 28 minute compact disc. Three segments are missing from the disc, among them talks on Hinton James and the opening of the university and on Old East.

UNC

UNC-related stories that aired on WCHL-AM radio

2002 · M. Kokai

Compact disc gathering stories about the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that aired on WCHL-AM, the Chapel Hill radio station. Running 43 minutes and issued by M. Kokai in 2002, it takes in Michael Jordan, Marion Jones, Dean Smith, Charles Kuralt and the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, along with Carolina basketball and soccer.

UNC

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

In the chronology

January 1953 WCHL begins broadcasting WCHL, Chapel Hill's new commercial radio station, went on the air in January 1953 at 1360 on the dial with 1,000 watts, broadcasting from sunrise to sunset from a site on the Durham highway. General manager Sandy McClamroch ran it with partners Roy E. Fullen and Lonnie Dark; its first broadcast was set for January 18.
November 1969 WCHL declines to publicize the Walk Against Hunger during the Community Chest drive General manager Jim Heavner, that year's chairman of the local Community Chest, said WCHL would not give public service time to the Walk Against Hunger because the station gave all its spots to the Community Chest during its campaign.
1996 The Village Companies sells WCHL to Curtis Media Group The Village Companies sold WCHL, then the smallest of its dozen or so media outlets, to Curtis Media Group, which paired it with Durham's WDNC and moved it out of Chapel Hill.
August 30, 2002 VilCom takes over WCHL's operations and brings the station back to Chapel Hill Curtis Media kept ownership, but Heavner's VilCom took charge of the station's operations, planned a move to VilCom Circle in Chapel Hill by November 1 and an all-news and talk format, and aimed to make WCHL again the reference point for news of Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

Open these in the chronology →

Research sources

Read contemporary evidence 5

Newspapers, photographs, and records of the time

DigitalNC: The Daily Tar Heel, September 10, 2002, p. 9 (WCHL to Reconnect With Chapel Hill) cited by 2 events here
Chapel Hill Weekly (January 16, 1953): WCHL's First Broadcast cited by an event here
DigitalNC: The Daily Tar Heel, November 21, 1969, p. 1 (WCHL Won't Publicize Walk) cited by an event here
The Chapel Hill Weekly, 1923–1972 DigitalNC Digitized issues, searchable by name; this paper covers years the site stood
Chapel Hill News Leader, 1954–1959 DigitalNC Digitized issues, searchable by name; this paper covers years the site stood

Ask locally 5

Local organizations that preserve the story and can help you go further

Chapel Hill Historical Society Photographs, maps and papers on Chapel Hill and Carrboro, with a research links page
Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
Local History Help Hours and request form The library’s Local History Liaison helps in person most Mondays, 12 to 3, at the Main Library, or by the online request form
Preservation Chapel Hill Chapel Hill buildings and neighborhoods
Orange County Historical Museum Orange County history, objects, and interpretation

Additional research sources

Other sources to search and local organizations that can help.

Search beyond the index: NC LIVE: prepared search for WCHL radio NC LIVE Articles, e-books and newspapers across the state’s shared databases, already scoped to this site’s names and the county; sign in through your North Carolina library to read